How far was England a Catholic Country by the end of Henry VIII's reign in 1547

On the other hand, the argument for the view that England was Catholic in 1547 begins with the suggestion that the initial changes made during the Break with Rome were made for reasons other than religion.  Protestantism was never mentioned, and instead it is argued that a state of “National Catholicism” was created.  G.R. Elton suggests that the reformation was an “Act of State”, which would suggest that religious position of England never actually changed from that of Catholicism.  Following the Pilgrimage of Grace which can be seen as a result of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry became much more conservative in his actions.  This Bishop’s Book of 1537 included the additional four sacraments that had been omitted from the Ten Articles, showing that England may well have been moving back into a more strictly Catholic position.  The Act of Six Articles was also very conservative, with the Catholic ideas of Transubstantiation and Clerical Celibacy being enforced.  One key movement which can be used as evidence for the Catholic argument is the execution of Thomas Cromwell in 1540.  One of the leading Protestants was now out of the way and it is clear that more strictly Catholic measures followed his death.  This is shown by events such as the stopping of printing and limiting of reading of the Great Bible that occurred during the 1540s, and this shows that England was reinforcing Catholic ideologies and may well have been Catholic by the time of Henry’s death.

The argument which would appear to hold the most strength is that which suggests England still remained in a position of “National Catholicism” at the time of Henry’s death, and this incorporates many of the ideas already outlined.  The removal of the Pope meant that there was no way England could be described as being fully Catholic, however the events especially of the 1540s meant that by 1547 England fulfilled many of the Catholic ideologies.  Even with leading Protestant reformers in high ranking positions, they had not been able to undergo the full Protestant reformation that they so desired.  Christopher Haigh believes that after some initial Protestant movements in the 1530s, Henry had become much more conservative in the 1540s, and this idea links in closely with the timing of Thomas Cromwell’s death.  Finally, Henry attempted to balance the Regency Council so his son.  Henry had neither been swayed completely to either side, and also did not want to alienate either of the two extremes as this many well cause problems for Edward.  Political actions such as these may well have covered Henry’s true feelings for large parts of his reign in an attempt to appease all parties that could may well pose a problem to him of his successors.

On balance, it would appear that the final description of England’s position in 1547 holds the most strength.  With this taken into account, it is therefore reasonable to conclude that the points observed when either arguing for Protestantism or Catholicism are not incorrect, but need to be combined to fain a full reflection.  It was inevitable that with individuals such as Cranmer and Cromwell in power some Protestant ideas would be incorporated into the Church and State, but Henry’s underlying Catholic beliefs kept these in check and ensured that the doctrine remained predominantly strongly Catholic until 1547.  Although England cannot be classified as Catholic due to the lack of Papal Power, England can be seen as following largely Catholic beliefs for most of Henry’s reign and especially at the time of his death in 1547.