Introduction

During the reigns of Henry VIII (1509-1547), Edward VI (1547-1553), Mary I (1553-1558) and Elizabeth I (1558-1603), England and Wales underwent a series of religious (and social) reforms that changed the way the country was governed, the way people lived their lives and the power that the Church had. All these changes were as a result of the Lutheran, Calvinist and Zwingliism movements in the rest of Europe. However, the English Reformation was very different because it was the monarchs who led it rather than the people, as had been the case in Switzerland and "Germany".

Henry VIII

The origins of the English revolution lie with Henry VIII - king of England. He was, on the face of it, a very religious man - a devout Roman Catholic. In 1521 he wrote a book called "The Assertion of the Seven Sacraments", which was an attack on Luther. He earned Pope Leo X's respect and the title "Defender of the Faith".

What is difficult to explain, therefore, is how by 1534, only thirteen years later, he had become the only powerful monarch in Europe to defy the pope and set himself up as head of the Church in England.

The Power of the Church

At the beginning of the 16th century, about a third of the land in England belonged to the Church; it collected its own taxes; the clergy had their own legal system and exemption from taxes.

Henry's chief minister, Wolsey (in power from 1514-1529), controlled the kingdom but only because he was a cardinal as well as chief minister. He received power through the pope - as a papal legate and cardinal; through the Church in England, because of the taxes and ownership of land; and from the king, because he was ruler of the rest of the land and the most powerful single person in England.

Abuses

Wolsey, although a cardinal, was not an honest man. He took the revenues from being Archbishop of York and the wealthy Abbey of St. Albans, even though he never went to these places. He took bribes, if they were big enough, and spent this money on his personal property. He was also a womaniser and had at least two children, for whom he found good positions in life. People soon became angry at these abuses, especially when they were seen in the light of the general state of the Church at this time. 

• Continued

Henry VIII and his divorce from Catherine of Aragon (opens in a new window)

• Introduction to the Reformation
• The Church before the Reformation I : Indulgences, Relics and Pilgrimages
• The Church before the Reformation II : The Wealth and Political Power of the Church
• The Church before the Reformation III :The Clergy
• The Church before the Reformation IV : Inside a Church
• The Lutheran Revolt
• Conflict between Luther and the Church
• The Church reacts to Luther
• The Catholic and the Lutheran Church
• Huldreick Zwingli
• John Calvin
• Top of Page