How Significant Were the Religious Changes Made During the Rein of Henry Viii?

The religious changes made during the rein of Henry the Eighth were very significant because it gave us the freedom and diversity that we now have today. These changes were equally significant, but it in different ways. Some of the changes that were made were short-term, therefore mainly affected the daily lives of people living at the time. Other changes that were made under Henry the Eighth’s rein were long-term, and still have an impact on our daily lives today. The religious changes made during the rein of Henry the Eighth were very significant because many affected people’s daily lives at the time. Probably the most significant change, happened in 1532-1534; when Henry declared himself, rather than the pope, to be head of the church. All payments to the pope were stopped from the English church. Now Henry was head of the church he gained a huge amount of power allowing him to make all sorts of changes to England. One of these changes was that Henry closed the monasteries, which covered a quarter of the land in England, and a lot of abbeys fell into disrepair. Many monks were left homeless with no where to go, which caused thousands of people to rebel in 1536, this rebellion was named the “Pilgrimage of Grace”. This act failed and many monks and abbots were executed. This religious change made during the rein of Henry the Eighth was more significant to the people living in England at the time, than to our daily lives today. Also in 1536 the bible was translated for the first time into English. This had a huge impact on the public, because for the first time, ordinary people could now understand the bible. The priests lost more power as they lost importance and respect from the public, as not only they could now read the bible. Now others could read the bible, they now could question what they think is the right way to live their life, as before they only knew of the priests thoughts towards it. As many could now understand the bible, they felt