Henry VIII's key reason for the reformation.

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Henry VIII's key reason for the reformation

The break from Rome was the ending of Papal rule in England. Up until 1534 the Head of the Church in Catholic Europe (including England) was the Pope in Rome. However for several reasons which I shall discuss in this study, Henry VIII of England in 1534 decided to replace the Pope as Head of the Church in England and appointed himself as the Supreme Head of the Church of England and consequently ruling England as a Catholic country without the Pope. The points needed to be looked at in this study are the state of the pre-reformation church, power and money, and the divorce from Catherine of Aragon.

State of the pre-reformation church

It has been argued that the pre-reformation church was a corrupt and failing institution and therefore Henry had to totally overthrow the running of the church and appoint himself as the Supreme Head in order to reform church practice. Traditionally many historians have argued that the people of the early 16th century agreed with Henry in his decision because the church in England was a deeply unpopular institution. Anti-clericalism according to this line of argument was widespread. As G R Elton puts it, "People in England thought little of Priests".

The clergy were widely despised. At the top, Archbishops and Bishops were disliked for their wealth and ostentation with Wolsey being an obvious example. He was never seen without fine clothes and expensive jewellery and had several homes - Hampden Court being his prominent residence. This was in sharp contrast to the example set by Jesus in the New Testament. They were further more seen as being guilty of pluralism and therefore non-residence as they were constantly moving between their dioceses. A Bishop was also obliged to attend Parliament, as he owed the service of counsel to the king, but not many attended regularly which would obviously anger a temperamental Henry. Another grievance towards the Bishops was sexual irregularity with many Bishops seemingly ignoring their vow of chastity by having mistresses and illegitimate children. Neglect of the care of souls and simony were also attributed to the Bishops. This would almost certainly reflect badly on Henry due to the parliamentary Statute of Provisors of the 14th century which meant that the king appointed the Bishops and not the Pope. If they failed to act appropriately then Henry would be blamed. This could have in turn caused Henry to think of a total reformation of the church.

The lower clergy and parish priests on the other hand were viewed as both rapacious and ignorant. They were very important for the vast majority of the English people, living in isolated rural communities as they were the only effective representatives of the universal church. Therefore, if they were ineffective many peasants would suffer. According to figures quoted by G R Elton this could be true. Educational standards were very low, so it was fairly easy for somebody to become a parish priest. A 16th century survey of the diocese of Gloucester showed that out of 311 clergy 168 could not recite the Ten Commandments, and 33 could not locate them in the Bible. 10 could recite the Lords Prayer, and 39 did not know where to find it in the Bible. Between 1500-50, 869 East Anglian clergy died and left wills and these reveal that only 158 possessed any books at all, and only 17 left Bibles. This would undoubtedly be a problem to Henry because of the disquiet of the quality of priests which meant that he may have to been seen to act in order to keep support. Perhaps Henry acted in his reform of the church before this became a major problem.

The exactions of the church were also bitterly resented and created disharmony during the reign of Henry VIII. Most obvious was the tithe whereby each man had to pay / of his annual income to the church. But there were other payments too. Priests could charge for weddings, churchings, confessions and taking communion to the sick. There were also mortuary fees and charges for funerals, which would frequently take the form of the best animal or gown. As Henry was not Head of the church he saw that this money went straight to the church and also to the Pope via first fruits and tenths, and from the payment of one third of a Bishop's first years income. He knew that if he became head churchman in England the Bishops income and first fruits and tenths would go directly to him, and most of the exactions of the church he would receive too. This would interest Henry greatly as his war-like policy cost the country millions leaving him desperate to increase his income to maintain his lavish lifestyle, and his ability to wage war on his arch enemy France - or at various stages Spain.

Simon Fish highlighted these problems in his 'A Supplication for the Beggars', which was a vicious satire of the wealth of the clergy that accused them of making vast fortunes from tithes, probate and other exactions whilst living in idleness and sin. He also accused them of spreading leprosy and venereal diseases caught from whores. Henry would not like this but would have liked to tap into this so-called wealth.
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Almost equally unpopular in the eyes of Henry were the church courts. Henry and his council had no control of the church courts. This was unacceptable to Henry, as he wanted complete control of his kingdom. The church courts dealt with wills and property, and a wide range of matrimonial and sexual activity. They were very much part of people's everyday lives, and indeed the historian Derek Wilson has argued that, "They were closer to most Englishmen than the Royal Courts". This enraged Henry because they had the unsavoury reputation as being expensive, slow moving and corrupt. This ...

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