Reformation in England
In France and Spain the monarchy was more closely allied with the church than in England. And although the break with Rome was precipitated by Henry’s desire for a legitimate heir, the seeds of religious reform had been sewn on English soil as early as the 14th century by one John Wycliff who advocated independence of belief. Henry had always been a faithful son of the church, quite orthodox in fact, and was a fierce opponent of the heresies of Lutheranism. After the establishment of the Church of England, the church services were still essentially the same with much of the Catholic ritual intact. But Henry was anticlerical, and like many of his countrymen, experiencing growing antipapal sentiments as well. By 1521, Henry was beginning to take away privileges of ecclesiastical autonomy, and by 1536, he began the nation-wide dissolution of the monasteries.
In 1529 Henry VIII convened Parliament for a session which lasted until 1536 and became known as the Reformation Parliament. During that time a series of legislation was enacted which officially brought about reformation in England
1533: Act of Restraint of Appeals – this stressed the sovereign authority of the English state. It not only created an autonomous Church of England with the monarch as its governor, but effectively prohibited the hearing of the King’s nullity suit by the pope and barred Catherine from appealing to the Vatican against any decision that an ecclesiastical court in England might take.
1534: Act of Succession – which conferred the right of royal succession upon the Princess Elizabeth (daughter of Anne Boleyn) and disinherited “Lady” Mary (daughter of Catherine). The act required that everyone swear an oath of agreement to it. It was later repealed.
1534: Act of Supremacy – this enshrined in law the King’s title as Supreme Head of the Church of England.
Power issues
There were two key factors which defined power during Henry’s reign:
- People served at the king’s whim – this is how the monarchy operated. Henry liked people that entertained and stimulated him and could enact his policies He surrounded himself with those whom he admired for various reasons, and if someone fell out of favor, he was usually found guilty of something (treason) and disposed of.
- The Great Matter of the king’s desire for the annulment of his marriage, which became completely dominant and corrupted everyone. This obsession turned the king away from what he could have been as an international and domestic leader. People were in and out of favor before that, but not to this same degree.
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