To what extent was England a protestant country by 1547 is a complex question and it has been argued by many that England was still a fundamentally catholic country by the death of Henry VIII, and that it was the events of the reign that followed that played the important part in making England protestant. It can also be argued that the damage done to the roman catholic church such as the dissolution of the monasteries in which Between 1536 and 1540, Henry dissolved all the monasteries that had not previously been dissolved. and also the royal supremacy made it slightly more difficult for Henry VIII to suppress the rise of Protestantism. Many of these changes also made it extremely difficult to prevent full Catholicism but there was still a small chance that a return could be enforced. Many other moves had also been previously made toward Protestantism, these include the spread of the vernacular bible which people could read and understand better than being told what the priests wanted them to hear. Another was the decline in the use of relics and the fact that churches were beginning to appear more protestant. However, the six articles of 1539 show that a catholic reaction was taking place against the Protestantism ideas. The Six Articles upheld such Catholic articles as clerical celibacy, the private mass, and confessions to a priest. It also meant that Protestants were punished for violating the Six Articles, while papists were punished for denying the royal supremacy.
Henry VIII also made the change between Catholicism and Protestantism extremely confused. After having a protestant influenced wife from Lutheran Germany the king was then married to a religiously conservative catholic. After executing Cromwell for his advanced religious ideas and arresting a religious conservative, Henry VIII also executed his Catholic wife and remarried to Catherine Parr who again had protestant sympathies. During the year of Henry VIII’s death, his regency council of extremely conservative catholic men was replaced with a group who quickly established Protestantism.
No clear direction was given in England during this period. Henry VIII had gained his divorce, remarried and received a son. This showed no interest in religion of any sort. Many of Henrys decision were made purely on greed and based around money. The ten articles of 1536 were an act of which stated the official positions of the of England. It upheld teachings on the sacraments of baptism, penance, and in the Holy Eucharist, but also introduced government opposition to traditional practices such as prayerful devotions to saints and to the virgin . The fact there are only 3 sacraments would indicate a slightly Lutheran and therefore protestant influence, however the sacraments that were included were also seen as highly catholic. The “Bishop’s book” follows almost the same ideas as the ten articles. Although this document was slightly more conservative it also contained strong hints of Protestantism and was seen as a way of testing public opinion. Each of these documents shows that England was completely undecided and very split amongst its ideas of religion.
England was still primarily catholic when Henry VIII died; however, many parts of the old church had been destroyed.
The manner in which Henry VIII played upon the anti-clerical feelings of many in Parliament was crucial to the advancement of Protestant religious doctrines in later decades. At the time of Henry's break from Rome, the English people were relatively content with the teachings of the Catholic Church, although occasionally resented hypocritical and worldly priests. The competing religious tendencies between government and people did not work themselves out in favour of a more Protestant England until after 1547. Henry always considered himself "catholic" in his beliefs and wished the Church of England to remain so as well: he considered the extremes of both Roman Catholicism and heretical Protestantism and tried contain them both in almost his own religion.
