King Henry Viii And The Schism

One reason for the break with Rome was political reasons (power) because after losing most his finance in battle against the king of Spain, Francis I, who was angry at Henry for embarrassing his aunt Catherine of Aragon who at this time was Henry’s wife. When Henry found out the amount of power the Catholic Church in England had, he thought if he changed the Religion in England the amount of Power he would have if he was the head of it would increase by at least 1

The break from the Catholic Church began when King Henry VIII came into conflict with the Pope over the divorce he wanted to obtain from his wife Catherine of Aragon. After several years of bickering with the Papacy, Henry VIII eventually separated from the church of Rome to the church of England. But this new entity, the church of England, was basically the Catholic Church without the Pope and the monasteries. For the rest of the reign of Henry VIII, and that of following Tudor monarchs there would be vicious competition between the new Protestants and Catholics for supremacy. There was also dissension among the Protestants themselves over how far the reform of the Church should go, and over the course of some years a split began to form between the members of the Church of England.

None the less the Papacy was now divide. The saying "United we stand, while divided we fall." is very valid in this instance. The church is having many problems around this time period and many people are converting, or shale we say shifting, to other forms or Christianity. Whereas before these problems occurred the church was the central power in Western Europe and had great influence over the governments in their sphere of power. This event, the schism, caused a split in the Catholic Church and divided countries among the two popes. "Everyone realized that the schism resulting from the counter-election of Cardinal Robert of Geneva as Pope Clement VII . . . was a tragedy for the church . . ."

Henry the VIII was the second English Tudor king, after his father, Henry VII. He reigned over England from, 21st April 1509 until, 28th January 1547. During his childhood and his first marriage, Henry was a firm believer of the Catholic Church and of the Pope. However things changed and later in Henrys reign the English reformation came to England; the monasteries were closed and Henry separated himself from the Roman Catholic Church. Henry was definitely starting to look more and more like a protestant. There are many points that we can use to decipher whether or not Henry VIII was really Catholic or Protestant and in this essay these points will be discussed to draw a conclusion.

Henry VIII's Reformation In 1529 Henry VIII started to reform the Catholic Church in England, however there are different opinions as to why he began these controversial changes. The orthodox view concurs that there was a vast anti-clerical feeling in 16th century England; the corrupt church was unpopular with the masses. However the revisionist view claims that the reformation was actually due to politics. Henry needed a male heir and therefore needed a divorce.

He closed down many Catholic monasteries to seize their wealth. When he was not permitted to divorce his first wife by the Pope at the time, he split from the Catholic church entirely. Louis may have thrown several parties with the money he had collected through very high taxes, but Henry’s actions negatively helped kick-start the strenuous relationship between the Catholics and Protestants of England. This led to a very disastrous war that nearly tore Europe apart.

During the 1500s, the citizens of England were overcome with multiple transitions of religion due to their monarch. The first notable instance of religious alteration was when Henry the VIII took the throne. During his reign, he ruled the Act of Supremacy, which separated England from the Catholic Church, and so Henry VIII established the Church of England, of which he was the leader of. This individual action indirectly prompted many other spiritual changes that would take place in England during the years to come, led by his successors. Even if his ruling may have ultimately been positive, it is utterly clear that at the time, Henry VIII's reformation was motivated purely by his selfish desires for a male heir. This was very dissimilar to Martin Luther's reformation, which was led by Luther's faith and loyalty to god. Though the two men both transformed the perception of religion in Europe drastically, the advancements were made for vastly different reasons. (#8)

Catholic leaders believed they were defending traditional Christian civilization against rebellions and anarchical forces, whilst the latter argued they were restoring pure religion and defending against corruption and superstition. To them, the Pope was anti-Christ, whilst to the Catholics, Luther, Alvin and all other ‘reformers’ were heretics. Consequently, the secular rulers sought to base their political unity upon that of a religious nature, using their authority to compel their subjects into adopting one form of Christianity. In contrast to Pope Leo X, who face the Lutheran revolt, who urged secular leaders to suppress Protestant heretics by force, Luther appealed for this same force to be used against Catholics, and even Calvin, considered to be an apostle of religious tolerance didn’t permit Catholics to reside in Geneva. Meanwhile, Spain, Portugal and Italy all used methods such as the Inquisition and the Index to eliminate religious dissent and persecute Protestant subjects. Therefore, this shows that despite the argument regarding whether England was ‘torn apart’, the rest of Europe was considerably so, which could subsequently have impacted England.

In Henry V written by Shakespeare, Henry V is exhibited as an idle Christian king. But throughout the play his actions and his past show him to be a typical man. Although, some of his characteristics as a king show him to be as he was perceived. King Henry started out as a Christian king but as the play goes on he is further seen as an average man in his speeches and his actions, but is still seen by the audience as a man of God.

King Henry VIII was an important figure in helping to kick start the Reformation in England, even though it was not his intent. His break with the Papacy and his constantly changing ideas on how the new Church of England should be run gave the Protestants the foothold they needed to gain popularity in Europe. Although his intentions were purely politically motivated, he started a change in the way the layman viewed the church and how it should be run.

However, it was not the only cause. The role of Anne Boleyn and her faction is another cause of the Break with Rome. Henry had fallen in lust with her and once she was in the Privy Chamber she held great influence over him. This led to her introducing him to reformist ideas. As source 4 states, by rejecting the Pope Henry was, “opening the way” to reformist ideas. It also states that Henry had “new Lutheran influences” such as Cromwell and Cranmer who held Lutheran principles of the importance of scripture. Source 5 argues that Cromwell “showed” Henry how easy it could be to Break with Rome. The fact that source 5 also argues that until then Henry had “no coherent policy”, demonstrated by the appointment of the pro-Rome, anti-Supremacist More as Chancellor, shows how easily he was influenced either way. Indeed, Dickens argues that the surge of popularity for Protestantism caused the Break with Rome. It would seem that Henry’s personal religious convictions were not a cause of the Break with Rome, but the influence of Anne and reformers such as Cromwell were.

King Henry VIII was one of the most powerful rulers in the fifteenth century, who had a very captivating life many people are not aware of. Most people know Henry VIII as a berserk king with too many wives, but there is more to Henry VIII than that. Many few people know about his life and what he truly contributed to our world. Henry VIII was an almighty leader in England who won’t soon be forgotten.

In 1533 Henry VIII wanted to leave his wife Catherine Aragon to marry his new love Anne Boleyn, but the pope Pope Clement VII did not approve of divorce of marriage. Henry didn't approve of this because he wanted to have kids but she did not. He wanted a heir, a son to take the thrown. Henry VIII’s wanted his marriage annulled because of this. Because of this Henry was outraged and this is where the English Reformation started and which then started a series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church in England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. Henry VIII's break with Rome was an act of state, primarily by political motives of him not being able to divorce his wife due to personal issues, but

Finally, the last concept that is crucial to the change in Europe during 14th century Europe is the Great Schism. The Great Schism represented a division between the church due to 3 individuals each claiming papacy and accusing the others of heresy. There were significant reforms that occurred in the church due to this event. Initially, to solve the of having multiple popes an agreement was made at the Council of Constance to practice conciliarism. However, this concept was ultimately undermined by Pope Martin. The major result of the Great Schism was the growth of national churches. Before the Great Schism, the pope had more power over the rulers and their domains. However, after the Great Schism, Popes were forced to surrender their power

How did events during Henry VIII’s reign cause for a permanent shift in the religious system of England?