Henry Viii and His English Reformation
November 19, 2012
Honors European Studies
King Henry VIII and his English Reformation When Henry VIII took the throne of England in 1509, he entered a world that teetering on the edge of catastrophe. Inter-marriages between thrones were the only strands keeping countries together and the Reformation and had already begun to sweep through Europe; weakening the social and religious constant that was the Roman Catholic Church. While there was support for an English Reformation; ultimately King Henry VIII separated the Church of England from the papacy in Rome to legitimize an heir to the throne of England, and ensure that a Tudor posterity would reign unchallenged. When considering England in the 1500’s, it cannot be overlooked that while Henry played an ambitious role, the true power lay invested in his consulates; especially Sir Thomas Wolsey his Lord Chancellor and chief advisor. Henry was unique, in that unlike most nobility, he possessed “the heart of learning” according to Erasmus and was so dedicated to attaining an education that one of his court, Sir Thomas More commented that “he has more learning that nay English monarch ever possess before him” (Durant, 523). This, coupled with his deep religious faith, (he was known to be able to cite scripture for any occasion), lent him a participant in the international game of religious allegiance. Henry rebuked the reformer Martin Luther, in his work Assertion of the Seven Sacraments against Martin Luther, which gained him the title of Defensor Fidei, by Pope Leo X (Durant, 532). The true heart of the religious power however, remained in the hands of Sir Thomas Wolsey, the Archbishop of York; whom at the zenith of his reign received a third of all the ecclesiastical revenues of England and was seven times more powerful than the pope (Durant, 527). All of Wolsey’s affairs, both international and domestic, were claimed to be in the name of the King, but even the common man could see that Wolsey was Henry’s
Honors European Studies
King Henry VIII and his English Reformation When Henry VIII took the throne of England in 1509, he entered a world that teetering on the edge of catastrophe. Inter-marriages between thrones were the only strands keeping countries together and the Reformation and had already begun to sweep through Europe; weakening the social and religious constant that was the Roman Catholic Church. While there was support for an English Reformation; ultimately King Henry VIII separated the Church of England from the papacy in Rome to legitimize an heir to the throne of England, and ensure that a Tudor posterity would reign unchallenged. When considering England in the 1500’s, it cannot be overlooked that while Henry played an ambitious role, the true power lay invested in his consulates; especially Sir Thomas Wolsey his Lord Chancellor and chief advisor. Henry was unique, in that unlike most nobility, he possessed “the heart of learning” according to Erasmus and was so dedicated to attaining an education that one of his court, Sir Thomas More commented that “he has more learning that nay English monarch ever possess before him” (Durant, 523). This, coupled with his deep religious faith, (he was known to be able to cite scripture for any occasion), lent him a participant in the international game of religious allegiance. Henry rebuked the reformer Martin Luther, in his work Assertion of the Seven Sacraments against Martin Luther, which gained him the title of Defensor Fidei, by Pope Leo X (Durant, 532). The true heart of the religious power however, remained in the hands of Sir Thomas Wolsey, the Archbishop of York; whom at the zenith of his reign received a third of all the ecclesiastical revenues of England and was seven times more powerful than the pope (Durant, 527). All of Wolsey’s affairs, both international and domestic, were claimed to be in the name of the King, but even the common man could see that Wolsey was Henry’s
Cited: "Church of England:Hisotory and Role." BBC News. BBC, 30 June 2011. Web. 02 Nov. 2012. Durant, Will, and Ariel Durant. The Story of Civilization. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1935. Print. Hengeveld, Nick. "Deutoronomy:25:5/ Leviticus 20:21." Bible Gateway. Biblica/ The Lockman Foundation, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. Jokinen, Anniina. "The Act of Succession, 1534." The Act of Succession, 1534. N.p., n.d. Web. Kuiper, Kathleen. The Britannica Guide to Theories and Ideas That Changed the Modern World. New York, NY: Britannica Educational Pub. in Association with Rosen Educational Services, 2010. Print. -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. “Defender of the Faith” [ 2 ]. The original marriage was only legitimized in the eyes of the church by a passage in Deuteronomy 25:5 “If brethren dwell together, and one of them die and have no children, the wife of the dead shall not mary without unto a stranger; her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife.” [ 3 ]. Charles V signed the Act of Barcelona, in which he promised to restore Florence to the Medici, Ravenna to the papacy and liberty to Clement VII; with one condition that Clement was to never agree to the annulment of Catherin’s marriage without Catherin’s full and free consent.