Was England a Catholic or Protestant Country by January 1547?

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It can be argued whether England was Catholic or Protestant at the beginning of 1547 because it seemed Henry made contradicting church reforms himself. Personally at his death I believe Henry’s religious grounding was with the Catholics yet he left his country and heir to becoming mainly Protestant. However, this is debatable due to the Chantries Act and Protestant Council of Regency both being established within a year of each other.

Sweeping reforms were made to the church through from 1530, therefore to answer the question it is necessary to focus on those made much closer to the date. Firstly, the Act of Ten Articles in 1536 represents a firm distinction of Protestantism in England due to the fact it rejected one of the most important aspects of Catholicism, four of the Seven Sacraments. If England were to be Catholic it would need an advertisement of these and not a degradation of its key belief.

        As a consequence 1536 shows us the Protestant twist in the beliefs of many. However in the Bishops book of 1537 the Bishop flips between the two religions, claiming that the four sacraments were rediscovered just of a lesser value. Ironically, two years later the Act of Six Articles confirmed Transubstantiation and private masses, again rebuilding catholic ideas after it’s come down of 1536, but was the Act simply passed to secure the country against an attack?  

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        Yet the same year that the Act of Six Articles was passed the “Matthew Bible” obviously Protestant had been given the king’s permission. It was bizarre that Catholic and Protestant views were spread to the subjects by the king within a month.

        1538 once again saw opposing acts of religion. On the one hand Cromwell (distinctly Protestant) recognised Protestants by placing English bibles in all parishes, removing relics and discouraging pilgrimages. All of these gave a clear message that Protestantism was in control, but that same year Henry executed John Lambert for his rejection of transubstantiation. Maybe this move ...

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