How Protestant was England by 1547
How Protestant was England by 1547?
In some ways England was heading towards Protestantism in 1547, however in others ways it was still Catholic.
Henry VIII was married to Catherine of Aragon, however he met a new women at court named Ann Boleyn. Anne promised Henry that she would marry him and give him sons, something which Catherine could not give Henry. Henry decided he wanted to a divorce form Catherine, however they were hard to obtain and only the Pope could grant a divorce. However the Pope refused Henry the divorce he wished. Henry decided that if the Pope would not grant him a divorce then he would split with the Pope and Rome. This meant that Henry would be head of the Church in England and the Pope would not be. This allowed him to gain the divorce he wanted, and allowed him to become wealthy and powerful.
In 1533 the Act in Restraint of Appeals to Rome now recognised as Henry as the supreme head of the Church in England. This also said that Rome had no power to rule over matrimonial cases. This allowed Henry to gain his divorce as Cranmer declared Henry's marriage with Catherine null and void, and Henry married Anne. This moves England away from the Catholic faith as he has now split with the Rome. A major part of the Catholic Church was that the Pope decided what happened, for example who gained a divorce, and Henry has now split and undermined the Pope. This shows England moving away from the Catholic faith, but not yet towards Protestantism.
In January 1534 the Second Act of Annates was passed this said that future abbots and bishops were appointed by the King and not the Pope. This shows that Henry is assorting his authority and moving away from the Catholic Church. This gives Henry more power over the Church of England.
In November 1534 the Act of Supremacy was passed, which showed Henry justly and rightfully as the Supreme Head of the Church of England. This act also gave Henry the right to carry out visitations to the monasteries. This again shows Henry moving further away from the Pope and Rome.
In 1535 the Valor Ecclesiasticus was carried out by Thomas Cromwell this was a survey into the wealth and condition of the Church. This showed Henry how wealthy the Churches were at this time, however the Valor Ecclesiasticus lead to the 1535 act for Dissolution of Lesser Monasteries. Henry said that the monasteries worth under £200 were to be closed down. Thomas Cromwell and his commissioners would then go to the monasteries that were going to be dissolved and they would strip the monasteries of everything that was valuable, they would take crosses, candle sticks, windows and so ...
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In 1535 the Valor Ecclesiasticus was carried out by Thomas Cromwell this was a survey into the wealth and condition of the Church. This showed Henry how wealthy the Churches were at this time, however the Valor Ecclesiasticus lead to the 1535 act for Dissolution of Lesser Monasteries. Henry said that the monasteries worth under £200 were to be closed down. Thomas Cromwell and his commissioners would then go to the monasteries that were going to be dissolved and they would strip the monasteries of everything that was valuable, they would take crosses, candle sticks, windows and so on. They would take anything that was of any value. The dissolution was a popular idea with Henry as he would gain huge amounts of money and land from the dissolution. Henry had been promoting the corruption of the Churches as he had now split with Rome. However the dissolution of the monasteries and the promotion of the Church been corrupt shows that Henry was moving towards Protestantism at this time. As the monasteries were a very important part of the Catholic Church and Henry wanted the money from them.
In July 1536 the Act of Ten Articles was passed, this act was a rejecting of the Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church. The seven sacraments were reduced down to three they were baptism, the Eucharist and penance. This is a clear move towards Protestantism as this is one of the major ideas of Protestantism. Protestants reject the idea of the seven sacraments and promote the idea of there been three sacraments, this is what Henry is doing. This shows that Henry is moving further away from the Catholic Church and he is beginning to move the Church of England towards Protestantism.
In August 1536 the Royal injunctions to the clergy were issued by Thomas Cromwell. This ordered the clergy to defend the Royal Supremacy in sermons, abandon pilgrimages, and give money for educational purposes to teach children the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments and other scriptures. This again is another step towards Protestantism. The idea of pilgrimages is an important aspect of Catholicism as they see it as a journey of sacrifice for God, it also gave the Church money. Protestantism rejected pilgrimages saying that it was just another way for the Church to gain money, and that people do not need to go on a pilgrimage to make sacrifices for God. Henry is promoting and introducing the Protestant idea of pilgrimage which shows that the Church of England was moving towards Protestantism. The other injunction was that people should give money for educational purposes. Protestantism encouraged education and encouraged people to learn things like how to read the Bible or say the lords prayer, as they thought it was important for people to be educated. However Catholicism did not want people to learn as they were afraid that people would start questioning things and that people would stop supporting Catholicism. This shows another way that Henry is moving towards Protestantism as he is encouraging people to learn the Lord's prayer, the ten commandments and other scriptures.
In 1536 the Pilgrimage of Grace occurred, this was a rebellion against the collection of taxes. It was lead by Lord Hussy, Lord Darcy and Robert Aske. The main target was Thomas Cromwell they wanted to stop his changes as he was affecting all levels of society, and people thought that Cromwell was influence Henry to make the changes.
In August 1537 Thomas Matthew published the 'Matthew Bible' which was a distinctly Protestant version of the Bible that the King gave permission to be published. This shows that the King at this time was supporting Protestantism, because if he was supporting Catholicism then Thomas Matthew would have been killed for heresy.
In September 1538 there was a second set of Royal injunctions to the clergy issued by Thomas Cromwell. These injunctions said that the English Bible was to be placed in all parishes within two years, all births, marriages and deaths were to be registered in every parish, people were to be actively discouraged from pilgrimages, and relics were to be removed from churches. This shows that Henry is moving further towards Protestantism. During Catholic services the Bible was read in Latin and they did not have an English Bible, this was tradition and was part of the Catholic faith. However Henry is introducing the English Bible into the Church of England so people can read it when they wish and so people can understand the services, this is going against Catholicism. Relics were something that Catholicism encouraged it gained them money and they were a place of pilgrimage which also gave them money. However Henry wanted people to stop worshipping relics and images and start worshipping God. This shows that Henry is moving the Catholic Church further towards Protestantism.
In November 1538 the trial and execution of John Lambert occurred, he was executed because he rejected the idea of transubstantiation. Although England seemed to be moving in a Protestant direction, this shows that Henry is beginning to move back in the Catholic direction, as transubstantiation was a Catholic idea. Henry executes John Lambert for not believing in this idea, so it shows that Henry is beginning to head towards Catholicism again.
In June 1539 the Act of Six Articles was passed, this showed a radical shift in doctrine. It confirmed transubstantiation, private masses, and the hearing of confession by priests. It banned marriage of priests, the marriage of anybody who had taken the vow of chastity and the taking of communion in both kinds by lay people. Henry also made clear that there would be server penalties for those people who went against this act.
However in 1539 the act for the dissolution of the greater monasteries was passed. Which meant that all the monasteries were now been stripped and taken over by the crown. This is a move towards Protestantism as the monasteries were so important to the Catholic faith.
In July 1540 Thomas Cromwell was executed, which shows that Henry may have listened to the rebels that were involved in the pilgrimage of grace.
In May 1548 the act for the advancement of true religion was passed which restricted the access of the English Bible to the upper classes. This moves England towards Catholicism again as Catholics only wanted the upper class people to be able to learn and read the Bible. They did not wish for the lower class to be educated.
It would seem that although England moved towards Protestantism in Henrys reign by 1547 England was not entirely Protestant however it was also not entirely Catholic. The Church was somewhere in the middle with both Protestant and Catholic ideas involved. Henry was still committed to certain aspects of Catholicism like transubstantiation. However he also liked the idea of the dissolution of the monasteries and banning pilgrimages. However the dissolution may have just been a way for Henry to gain money and land, which is what he gained from the monasteries, and this may have been his reason for the dissolution. In conclusion by 1547 England was neither Protestant or Catholic, it was somewhere in the middle.
