“Her supporters and agents were soon busy and fortunate enough to allocate slightly different
dispensation in Spain than the one in England”.
This case lost momentum due to Charles V not allowing the papers to be taken out of Spain. Wolsey’s last hope was persuading the Pope to allow the case to be decided in England without the Pope being there. He felt the Pope would prefer this idea, so all responsibility wouldn’t be placed on him. However, the Pope still possessed the final decision. It was only until 1528, the Pope made an agreement with Cardinal Campeggio and Cardinal Wolsey to come to a conclusion. Wolsey thought this was great and believed he could Campeggio on his side easily. However, Campeggio ‘did not share the King’s urgency’, and in 1529 the case was dropped and there was a further delay. Henry VIII paid theologians large sums of money to vote for his cause, which edged the divorce crisis on, but the case was sent back to Rome.
Elton argues that Thomas Cromwell was key figure after the fall of Wolsey’s power in 1529. He was the king’s leading ‘man of business’. Thomas Cromwell suggested in 1531 that power be taken away from the Pope, and given to those who would back up the King’s cause. Cromwell’s idea to use Statute law to papal influence was a major reason in Henry’s decision to break away from Rome. Parliament was set up to pass laws and restrict Papal power. The King appointed the men of nobility, who granted him what he wished for. The Parliament made many changes. The ‘Act in Restraint of Appeals 1553’ finalised the concept that legal factors should reside with the monarch, and not from those outside the country, such as the Pope. There were no more appeals to be given to Rome in testamentary or matrimonial causes, which eradicated a lot of the Pope’s influence. A new Archbishop of Canterbury was appointed called Thomas Cramner; the old Archbishop despised divorce, and would have opposed Henry’s decisions greatly, but he passed away, easily clearing the way for a new appointment. Cramner was part of the Boleyn faction and supported the King. When Anne Boleyn became pregnant, Henry VIII had to break away from papal influence to get his divorce and allow his child to be legitimate. It soon became announced by Thomas Cramner that Henry and Catherine of Aragon were never legally married.
Some historians however argue:
“the reformation would have happened when it did even if the divorce had not been an issue”.
The attacks made on the church allowed the reformation to occur. Edward Hall suggests that Henry and his parliament, were backing up public statements from all over the country, letting the Pope know of the anti-clericalism within the country. Pre-reformation church was seen as a corrupt and failing institution. Henry VIII allowed three anti-clerical bills to be passed, giving him great power over the clerics, and allowing him to reform church practices. Many historians argue that the people of the early 16th century agreed with Henry’s decision because the Church was very unpopular. Anti-clericalism was widespread and popular. The clergy were widely despised, and Archbishops and Bishops were not liked because of their wealth. Bishops were seen to be ignoring their chastity by having mistresses and illegitimate children. The lower clergy and Parish priests were seen as ignorant. However, the clergy were very important for a vast majority of the English people living in rural communities. They were the only representatives of the universal church, and provided them education which most could not afford otherwise. However, Protestants felt the monasteries were corrupt places and needed to be cleansed away. Simon Fish wrote in ‘A supplication of beggars’, that:
“all the country’s economic ills were due to greed, wealth and corruption of churchmen”.
suggesting that something needed to be done. Each man had to pay annual income to the church; priests charged for weddings and confessions. There were also mortuary fees and charges for the funeral. Before Henry VIII became Supreme Head of Church, this wealth was going to the church and the Pope, and also contributed to the bishop’s income. Henry knew that becoming Supreme Head would mean all this wealth went to him, and so this leads to the revisionist argument that Henry wanted power of the church for his own wealth and greed. Revisionists such as Scarisbrick and Haigh felt the pre-reformation church was actually doing a reasonable job and the clergy did not get a great profit for them to live on lavishly. Scarisbrick felt the Bishops were ‘Fairly conscientious men trying to do a conscientious job. Many were improving education. They argue that even if he felt they were corrupt and neglecting their duties, he would have taken more care in appointing the than completely breaking with Rome and papacy problems. Therefore it must have been other causes that led to the reformation.
The reformation parliament was minor part of the reformation; the parliament was only used to increase pressure on the Pope, and used to back up the King during the divorce crisis. Henry decided to break away from Rome, because he was afraid the Pope was still influential, and might go against the King’s ideas. Elton writes that Henry wanted the break from Rome because of what happened during the Divorce Crisis. Cromwell wanted a ‘sovereign state’. The break with Rome allowed Cramner to make all the legal decisions on behalf of the Pope, and therefore allowed the marriage to be annulled. The reformation parliament was used to pass many acts restricting papacy powers, Churchmen who mention ‘Bishop of Rome’ in his service was seen as a traitor. Henry wanted full power which the parliament was not allowing. Church was controlled by the state and clerics told what should be done within religious practices and beliefs. The Church:
“rapidly declined in political and constitutional importance after 1534”
and clerics became less important in politics and legal matters. Parliament tried to ‘demand more legislation’ against the acts of churchmen. The King was able to take the lands of the Churchmen and do what he wanted with them. He exploited the Churchmen’s vulnerability and from this he was able to get a large sum of money. Threats were made to those that were against the King’s decisions. The King taxed the clerics, and in 1540 ‘the majority of the church’s assets were confiscated’, and given to the King for his own needs.
The dissolution of the monasteries was part of the reformation. The monasteries owned most of the riches, and at first Wolsey dissolved some to build educational buildings. The Crown soon began to dissolve monasteries under the value of £200, and this wealth was given back to the him. There was opposition towards this, leading to uprisings, and so the King allowed some to be opened again. The northern uprising, famously known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, was not motivated by religious concerns but because of Cromwell’s determination to destroy the monasteries, and improve the royal taxing methods. One demand that the rebels wanted was for the King to be advised by noble councillors, and not common men like Cromwell who did not know what the people wanted. However, he continued to listen to Cromwell and those who rebelled were taken away and their possessions executed, others were given commission for giving up their houses for the King. Henry also stripped the monastic institutions from the belongings, Ornaments, statues, windows and roofing were all sold, and the wealth given to the King. In some cases he sold his monasteries to wealthy landowners to convert into homes. Catholics felt the King was a greedy man, who wanted to secure his power. It can be argued that Henry, encouraged by Cromwell and Cramner, to take over the Church as an institution, was used to secure his power both at home and abroad. He wanted sole power away from Rome and the Pope, and could only get this if he broke away from the papacy’s powers, therefore making this a factor which provoked the King to have a reformation.
In conclusion, the divorce crisis was a catalyst towards the King’s move to reformation. The King had not wanted to break with Rome or the Pope until the Pope would not grant him the divorce he wanted. Without this divorce he was not able to marry Anne Boleyn, who he felt may provide him with a male heir. The break from Rome allowed him to enforce his power, it was a time of paranoia, and the Pope was seen as a great threat to him, especially since the divorce crisis. However, the following factors cannot be ignored either. Although Protestants would argue the King reformed the Church for the interests of the people and get rid of corruption ;Revisionists would argue that the pre-reformation church was not a key reason for the reformation as a whole, because a majority of the churchmen carried out there duties efficiently. However, Henry was able to use this perceived corruption as an excuse to reform the Church and appoint himself as ‘Supreme Head’. Therefore, money ands ultimate power is a great encouraging factor for the reformation. Henry realised that if he could run the church for the crowns benefit, then it would increase his revenue. However, his need to secure dynasty would have been a strong factor towards his reasons to reform the Church also. Some historians would even argue that Lollards and Lutherans may have influenced the King; however they were a minority, and therefore had no real pressure on Henry to turn him into a Protestant ruler. Finally, it is therefore difficult to define the Reformation to just on key factor. However, I feel that it was Henry’s need for divorce that brought all the other factors to a head. It was a catalyst that helped to bring together the factors that led to the break with Rome and the changes within the country. There may have been a Henrician reformation without the Divorce crisis, but it was the Pope’s threat to Henry’s need for divorce which made the King going against the Pope, and brought about the reformation quicker than it may have been.
