Role of Henry VIII

• The English Church had long been erastian (controlled by the King) and the Supremacy made this a legal fact.
• The King’s support for reform was however lukewarm.
• Henry wanted to use reforming ideas to break with Rome and achieve the annulment.
• Henry remained frightened of the dangers of reforming ideas. Once he had achieved annulment and Supremacy, his support for reformers dwindled.
• Henry at heart was a conservative Catholic in terms of his main religious beliefs - hence the conservative backlash after 1538.