Essay on The English Reformation

or the Anglican Church, which was headed by the king of England. Henry’s actions stimulated

The time of the reformation was a time of heavy politics, political wars, and religious attacks and conflicts. This was a period of growth for some countries, such as England, and a time of decline for other countries like Spain. These two particular countries, England and Spain, had two very powerful rulers who helped determine the fate of their nations. Phillip II of Spain was born into a very powerful family of extremely Machiavellian heritage. He had control of the Netherlands, Spain, parts of the North and South Americas, and parts of Asia and Brazil. He was also extremely Catholic and loyal to the Catholic Church. Queen Elizabeth I of England inherited a small country divided between Lutherans and Catholics, but she would turn out to be one of the greatest rulers of England in history. These two rulers would go head to head until their deaths, and while England rose up, Spain began to decline. Although Phillip II of Spain was a very Machiavellian ruler, Elizabeth I of England was much more Machiavellian, for Phillip of Spain was not governed by necessity, as Machiavelli advised; he was feared by his subjects, not loved; and Queen Elizabeth I of England was an effective ruler and near perfect example of the Machiavellian Prince.

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.

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.

The English Reformation was a detailed process, in 16th-century England, where the Church of England broke ties with the authority of the pope and the Roman Catholic Church. It all began with King Henry VIII marriage with Catherine of Aragon. After years of marriage Catherine had not produced a male heir who survived into adulthood angering the King. With this in mind King Henry will set his eyes own Anne Boleyn who was a maid of honor to Queen Catherine. By the late 1520s, Henry wanted his marriage to Catherine annulled, claiming it to be invalid due to the fact that Catherine was his late brothers wife making it wrong for Henry VIII to be allowed to marry her. In 1527 Henry asked the Pope, Pope Clement VII, to annul his marriage. The pope refused in fear of the Queen’s nephew, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. this

Martin Luther and Jean Calvin were the two of the most influential reformers during the Protestant Reformation. Luther began the Protestant Reformation by nailing his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Chapel in 1517 in response to the corruption and abuses of the Catholic Church. In Switzerland, Calvin also had new ideas about religion, the main being predestination (the belief that people's fates (whether they go to Heaven or Hell) are predetermined when they are born). Their reforms and ideas definitely laid the foundation for capitalism, free government/democracy, religious tolerance, and individualism, but I do not believe that the reformers (people like Luther and Calvin) had the direct intention of doing these things.

In the early 1500s, religious tension grew under the reign of King Henry VIII. England, Scotland, and Ireland intensified in their differences. Scotland was staunchly Calvinist, while Ireland was radically Catholic. England was strongly Catholic, however, it contained a large protestant minority. Henry VIII invoked political, religious, and economic strife when he separated from the Roman Catholic Church, commenced the dissolution of the monasteries, and appointed Thomas Cromwell to maintain order. Although the administrative and oppressive ruler, Henry VIII, and his aristocratic supporters may deny the harmful and corrupt impacts of these aforementioned decisions, the government was clearly guilty of being inept at providing security, abandoning

The short yet significant reign of Edward bought with it a series of severe changes to England and all those within it, many of them taking a religious nature. As the once unquestionable authority of the church became challenged by both critics and affiliates alike, England witnessed an almost inevitable reformation. However, the impact on the majority was not necessarily beneficial- as Duffy wrote, the Reformation bought with it an ‘assault on traditional religion’, leaving many men that ‘breathed easier for the accession of a Catholic queen’.

The reformation of England had been a long drawn out affair dating back to King Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy in 1534. By the accession of Elizabeth in 1558, many historians believe that she inherited a country, which was still predominantly Catholic in belief. Although people of South Eastern England were likely to be influenced by the peoples of Europe, who were experiencing reforms, Doran (1994) suggests that the number of Protestants accounted for just 14 per cent of the population of Sussex and less than 10 per cent in Kent. Whether rural lifestyles were largely unaffected by changing religious doctrine due to a primitive communications network or general disinterest, as long as the laity

The Reformation had an impact on Europe by allowing its citizens to have the ability to learn the Bible on their own, as well as, enabling government to free itself from Catholic rule. The Protestant Reformation was a movement against the unruly ways of the Catholic Church and the ways that they were abusing the people under their influence. According to Luther, he wanted the Catholic Church to change their ways and freeze all actions that obtained money for abolishment of sins (Luther, 2011). Martin Luther also saw, after a visit to Rome, that the clergy had too much power and should relinquish some of that power to help the people.

Another major reason for the Reformation was because in part of King Henry VII (True, “The Protestant Reformation” slide 18). True states, “Catherine and Henry were unable to produce a son, and Catherine faced a great deal of hardship” (True, “The Protestant Reformation” slide 19). This was big enough to cause King Henry to try and leave his wife (MacCulloch, 135). According to Diarmaid MacCulloch, author of “The Reign of Henry VIII: Politics, Policy and Piety”, stated “By the summer of 1527 Henry VIII had decided to divorce his wife of eighteen years and to marry Anne Boleyn” (MacCulloch, 135). Although the king’s mind was set, he has some challenges to face before he could get what he wanted. This problem stemmed from the Church’s beliefs on marriage. According to True, “in a lengthy back-and-forth between the king and the Pope (which was led by Cardinal Wolsey), The Pope resisted Henry’s attempt to both annul his marriage and to divorce Catherine” (True, “The Protestant reformation” slide 21). This simple refusal led to a bigger reaction from King Henry VIII. True states, “....issuing the Act of Supremacy in 1534, which declared himself head of the church in England” (True, “The Protestant Reformation” slide 21). Over the next few years that caused a dramatic switch in terms of religion (True, “The Protestant

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.

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

Also, the English Reformation produced many bad things because Henry took the power; there was an extensive persecution of Catholics.

Martyrdom. The selfish king. A young monk. All played a significant part in the Reformation. Before the Reformation, the people of England were homogenous in their beliefs as they followed the Christian teachings of the Roman Catholic Pope. The Roman Catholic Church is an ancient Church, and changes have been made over centuries. Problems arose because of corruption in the church such as the political power of the Pope and the concept of indulgences. An indulgence can be described as paying a fee to buy forgiveness. At this time the Church was very powerful and persecuted anyone with differing beliefs including burning people at the stake for having what were supposedly heretical beliefs. King Henry VIII led the English Reformation by introducing a new church and bringing an end to the power of the Pope. Because of his love and study of the Word of God, Martin Luther launched the Reformation which reached all of Europe through his 95 Theses. Each of these events working simultaneously sparked religious unrest and contention; the Reformation began to materialize. The Reformation was a time of increasing religious diversity and tolerance. In spite of centuries of violence, religious tolerance can be found in England because of the lessons learned through the Catholic-Protestant conflict during the Reformation.