Religion

• State of religion 1520’s 


  Religion was fine and henry was procalimed defender of the faith 1521
• Religious policies were also affected by religion of H8 wife. CoA = Catholic JS= protestant KP= Protestant
• The Kings great matter 


  1521-1532 dealt with pressuring clergy into supporting divorce - this suggests that Henry was religiously dominant
• Use of Parliament (1530)

  Premanure - used to charge Thomas Wolsey

  Also sent scholars to find support for divorce to pressure the pope
• Change of Church structure (1531)


  Clergy was pardoned but had to recognise h8 as supreme head of the church - extremely significant as it changed the structure of the church from the Pope to Henry
• Role of Cromwell (1532)

  • Jan - prevention of annates tax pay to Rome by clergy
  • Supplication of ordinaries to HOC called King to deal with abuses of church and clergy
  • Arch Bishop of Canterbury died and H8 appointed Thomas Cranmer (Protestant reformer) which was a challenge to the pope
• 1533 Acts 


  Act in restraint of appeals to make sure people and COA could not appeal church decisions to the pope
• Royal Supremacy 1534


  Royal supremacy was established to remove all power and influence of pope and made H8 head of the church. Stated that he always had the right but never acknowledged it
• BALANCE 


  Break from Rome wasnt that significant as the pope was never that involved in the first place
• Opposition to religion 


  Pilgramage of Grace 1536

  • Leader: Robert Ask
  • Location: Yorkshire which had strong catholic sentiments
  • People were executed and 200 died
  • Ask was hung

  it was not significant as they just protested and it was only from the North which suggests the South was climatized. Demonstrates discontent with reform and support from catholic sentiment
• Opposition to religious reform

  Thomas More:

  • was a friend of H8 but didnt recognise him as head of the church because it conflicted with catholic faith.
  • Shows that friends didn’t want to support him over catholicism
• Opposition to religious changes

  Elizabeth Barton:

  • Was a nun with prophetic visions and said if H8 marries and broke with Rome he would go to hell
  • She was executed (not significant)
• Opposition to Religious changes

  18 Carthusian monks

  • Executed for rejecting marriage to Anne Boleyn
• Religious changes:


  Act of Supremacy 1534

  ended papal jurisdiction and made H8 head of the church of England
• 1534/1535 


  Cromwell was made vice grant in spirituals

  meant that he was second to the king and had control over the church (minister ran govt and not monarch)
• Dissolution of the monasteries

  1535:

  Valour ecclesiasties - survey to see how much wealth the church had. Find evidence of corruption to close them down

  1536:

  closed all religious monasteries making less that 200 pounds per annum

  1539:

  bigger monasteries closed

  by 1540:

  All monasteries were closed
• Break with Rome: securing the divorce 1529-1532


  Henry made a great deal of progress pressuring the clergy into supporting the case for divorce

  H8 and church reformers both sought radical religious changes, their aims were hampered by church itself

  H8 in 1520s opposed to idea of reform however this view changed when relations with the pope worsened
• Break with Rome: Influence of parliament

  1529 Cromwell spent considerable time attacking abuses within the church.

  1530s scholars from England were sent to find support for H8 divorce - way of pressuring the pope

  1531 - Henry said clergy must recognise him as 'sole protector and supreme head' of the church
• Break with Rome: Influence of Parliament 


  Jan 1531 Act of parliament passed which prevented payment of annates to the pope.

  introduction of supplication against the ordinances into HOC - King deal with abuses of the church

  Death of Archbishop of Caterbury- TCromwell was appointed (protestant)
• Influence of Parliament 


  1533 marriage to Anne Boleyn

  parliment passed act in restraint of appeals --> denied people in england right to appeal to the pope.
• Establishment of Royal Supremacy

  • From 1529-1536 passed a number of measures that were designed to reorganise the church of england
  • removed the power and influence of the pope and transferred these powers to the king
• 1534 Act of Supremacy 


  Formally acknowledged H8 as head of the church of england - henry had always had the power but never took it up.
• Importance of the break with rome

  it was significant step in development of religion in England however the pope was not that involved
• What was most visible change to the church structure

  dissolution of the monasteries, they provided a lot of communities: provided education, charity and hospitals etc

  visual representation of religious change in actual ideas.
• Mostly led by Cromwell and Cranmer
• 1536 Ten Articles introduced. Designed to ensure conformity across england in terms of religious practice. Change in religious sacrament following 10 articles and bishops book in 1537.
• Translation of the Bible to english was significant.
• Henry accepted dissolution of the monasteries but these reforms were seen as going too far
• Henry agreed to the 6 articles in 1539 which restored the sacrament back to 7
• Humanism Arts and learning

  spreading of humanism was important to the breaking down of influence of the church. Anticlericalism brought further and stronger attacks on the church and institutions --> growth of other institutions of learning
• During H8 renaissance ideas and humanism growth of protestantism and break with Rome. Significantly weakened the power and influence of the church of England.