The Dissolution Act in 1536 to dissolve the lesser monasteries was done by contrasting them to the greater monasteries where “ religion was right well kept”, thus labeling them corrupt from a religious point of view.Thiswould have reduced opposition considerably, although only monasteries worth under ₤200 were closed in this Act, whether the visitors had found corruption within them or not. Other abbots that opposed to the dissolution of the monasteries such as Reading, Colchester, and Glastonbury and would not ‘voluntarily dissolve’ their monasteries were hanged outside their building as a display of how serious the reformation was; and thus persuading other Abbots to not oppose Henry.
Cromwell was also skilful in using correspondence to create fear and obedience. For example on 16 April 1535,letters were sent to JP’s orderings them to arrest anyone supporting the Pope. This system was responded to well; In essence, Cromwell had created an informal police force, allowing him to control potential rebels.
According to Elton the government undertook a ‘full-scale propaganda campaign’ using the printing press. A great deal of this propaganda was written in an accessible form and it defended the King’s position and helped to deplore rebellion. For example, the ‘Glass of truth’ was published in which Henry (partly with his own hand) wrote a clear and short version of the law of Leviticus that he argued required him to divorce Catherine of Aragon. The government also prefaced all its new statutes with propagandist material before they were distributed throughout the country. However, it is difficult to determine just how much effect propaganda had upon the people, as a great majority of them were illiterate. This problem of illiteracy was why the pulpit was used as a major force of propaganda. Priests were told to preach sermons in support of the Royal Supremacy, and as the people listening wanted to believe everything their priest told them, they soon accepted the new ideas.
Many of Henry’s critics did not share the same views in their opposition to the reformation. They all came from different backgrounds and therefore had different reasons for opposing. Some protested against the divorce, some with the dissolution of the monasteries, some against the changes to doctrine and some against the break with Rome. A.G. Dickens said that there was “No one organized group, there was no leader….and it seemed to have very different objectives”. The Pope gave no lead to English Catholics to encourage them to oppose or rebel against the reformation. Clement VII, until his death in 1535, remained almost silent throughout the reformation; assuming that Henry’s Catholicism would not abandon the Papacy. It was only when Paul III took over as Pope that any efforts were made to stop Henry. However, it was too late by this stage and when a bull was issued to depose and excommunicate Henry in 1538, he simply ignored it.
There was also an element of luck surrounding the reformation. Before 1532, Warham, Fisher, Tunstall and Gardiner all strongly opposed the attacks on the church. Yet the conveniently timed death of Archbishop Warham in 1532 and his replacement by the reformist Cramner meant most of this opposition collapsed. Most the Bishops were loyal and obedient to Henry and the unity of Christendom was less important than the unity of the realm. When Cramner recommended new Bishops to Henry such as Hugh Latimer of Worcester, he made sure they were reformists and thus would not oppose the reformation. Henry was also lucky in that he chose right time to initiate a reformation as European leaders were pre-occupied; such as Charles V facing spreading Protestantism and the Turks. This meant they expressed little interest in England and Henry remained relatively safe from foreign invasion, or a Catholic crusade against England.
Another reason that the reformation went without a great deal of opposition was the fact it occurred in such a piecemeal manner and only stimulated one mass opposition. The dissolution of the monasteries was an example of this subtle approach as it started with the lesser monasteries and slowly worked its way up to the greater ones in 1538. Cromwell promised the Abbots of the greater monasteries that they were safe from being dissolved; ‘ You may be sure that you shallnot be impeached by his majesty, but that his Grace will be our shield and protector’. The piecemeal nature of the reformation may however have suggested that Henry stumbled into it without any definite plan; he was lucky to have succeeded in defeating the only substantial rebellion, the Pilgrimage of Grace. Christopher Haigh wrote ‘Because the Reformation came piecemeal, the significance of the pieces was not recognized, and this was the key to its success….it was a peaceful reformation’
Anti-clericalism that existed in small pockets around the country would have welcomed the reformation; Dickins suggests that the clergy were unpopular and therefore people went along with the changes. Henry captured these feelings to ensure support for his attacks on the Papacy and the Church. Revisionist historians, such as Scarisbrick however, have argued that the papacy was not unpopular and research shows contentment with the church. However, the pockets of anti-clericalism existed in places of importance such as in parliament, in court or amongst lawyers, which meant the reformation had support in places of influence. Many lay people, especially the nobility, did not oppose the changes because they gained through the buying of land after the dissolution of the monasteries. J.J.Scarisbrick referred to it as ‘ the single greatest transfer of land in English History’.
Many people also believed that the reformation and the changes it brought would not last and that Henry would continue to fight heresy and Protestantism. They also may not have been aware of the changes happening to them,( except the obvious changes such as the dissolution of the monasteries) as many of the fundamental aspects of people’s remained unchanged during the 1530’s; such as their lifestyle and to some extent the doctrine remained mainly Catholic e.g. belief in transubstantiation). It was also far from clear what the end result would be of the Reformation. Even those few in touch with the events of the reformation had little idea that the changes would finally produce reformist ideas. Some people however welcomed the reformation and Protestantism, especially in court in the forms of Cromwell, Anne Boleyn and Cramner. Consequently, it can be understood why there was little cause for opposition to the reformation, when it caused little disruption and for many brought benefits to some people.
Therefore it seems that a combination of tactics meant there was little opposition to the Henrician Reformation. Cromwell was an essential catalyst in making the reformation work; without his level of intelligence and ability to manipulate the reformation quite possibly may have encountered a great deal of opposition. The piecemeal and indeed relatively peaceful way in which the reformation occurred meant that people were rarely shocked by sudden change and that many would remain ignorant or unaffected by the changes that did occur. A lesser monarch might have been engulfed by the challenges such as the Pilgrimage of Grace, yet Henry and Cromwell remained consistent, and with an element of luck about the time that the changed were introduced, the Henrician reformation was successful and faced surprisingly little opposition.