In 1535 Henry gave Thomas Cromwell, his chief adviser Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kings Secretary, Lord Privy Seal and Vicar General, more powers which meant that he could get involved in the Church’s affairs.
In 1536 Thomas Cromwell began closing all the Catholic Monasteries, selling off the land to greedy local land owners. Their libraries were plundered, their religious icons were destroyed and all revenues, which had originally gone to Rome, now went to Henry which gave him twice as much income as before.
Some opposition rebels, led by Robert Aske were against the closure of the Monasteries and marched, with 30,000 men, against the King. Henry was shocked by this outbreak because no one had questioned his authority before.
Another result of Henry’s break with Rome was that Henry didn’t like the way the bible was printed in Latin because nobody except learned could read it so he had it printed in English. In 1536, Cromwell introduced the Act of the Ten Articles was passed which changed the Catholic sacraments to Protestant ones. He also abolished Holy Days which was not a popular move as many people only had these days off work. And he allowed priests to marry.
When Henry died in 1547 his son Edward VI became king. He had been brought up with strict protestant beliefs and set about dismantling Catholicism where Catholic rituals and ceremonies were banned. Strict moral behaviour was encouraged, for example having short hair, wearing simple clothes and avoiding games, music and theatre. Also the churches removed the colourful and ornamental style and became more simple.
In 1552 Edward introduced a revised prayer book, known as the Book of Common Prayer, which was more protestant than the Bible that Henry had introduced.
However when Mary I came to the throne in 1553 as a very devout Catholic (her mother was Catharine of Aragon) she was determined to return the country to Catholicism. She was under the impression that the country wanted to become Catholic again but this was not the case. In 1554 she married King Phillip of Spain and the country was concerned that England would become a Spanish province.
She had the Pope reinstated as the Head of the English Church, church services were again held in Latin, the Protestant Prayer Book was banned and priests were forbidden from marrying. The people who refused to renounce the new religion were persecuted. Many were burned at the stake. The most famous of these was Thomas Cranmer who had been Archbishop of Canterbury under the rule of Henry VIII and Edward VI. She is known as “Bloody Mary” for her actions.
Mary died in 1558 with no heir.
When Elizabeth became Queen in 1558, the country was in turmoil. The Catholics and Protestants had created a bitter divide that was tearing the nation apart she was to bring an end to the religious strife.
