Why Was Henry Viii Important

Assess the significance of Henry Viii as a renaissance monarch
Yearly essay (printed 2 Jan 2012) Henry Viii was crowned in the early 16th century, during the renaissance period. The renaissance period reflects back on the 15th century Florence, Italy where the rise of religious philosophy, nationalism and interest in the arts, humanities and architecture was dominated in pop culture. Henry Viii reflected these aspects as a renaissance monarch. However his significance to the world today was his influence in the birth of the Church of England. “In 1534 Henry Viii released the atomic bomb he had been brandishing for several years at the pope” as said by Imperato. This atomic bomb is in reference to the Henretian Act of Supremacy,
The Act of Supremacy was the act which officially turned the church in England to the Church of England (as stated by Morrill). Henry was named supreme head of the church, and England became a protestant nation. However religious philosophy wasn’t properly explored until later when the Tyndale Bible was handed to the king. Tyndale had translated to bible from Latin to English, which was a distinct maxim of Martin Luther, the reformer. Henry sentenced Tyndall to be executed for heresy. It was later that Thomas Cranmer; Henry’s self-appointed archbishop of Canterbury said that the bible should be written in English and that all church services should be celebrated in English also. So when the Matthew Bible which was another English written bible arose it was quickly adopted by the Church of England., this was Henry’s first action in realising religious philosophy. Jones states, “at first the church didn’t change, by all but name it was still Catholic”. Jones continues,” Tyndall was sentenced to death for heresy although it wasn’t until Cranmer said that English bibles were acceptable that another English version, the Matthew
This act was used to allow Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon to be annulled, as it was a National ‘issue’ not a papal ‘issue’ and therefore should be dealt with at a national level. The act absolutely annihilated any other court’s jurisdiction or influence in an English court case. And so, England seceded from Rome’s power, becoming its own Nation with its own secure jurisdictional court. Hence Henry’s renaissance monarchy rose with a sense of individual Nationalism. The rise of Nationalism was also explored In The Field Of Cloth Of Gold (1520), which was a very expensive meeting between Francis I’s court of France and Henry’s English court in the area of Calais, England’s only occupied area on the mainland of Europe. The field was supposed to be an exciting set of fun competitions to initiate an alliance between England and France. Among the land lay tents decorated with Cloth of Gold, which was a cloth of silk and cloth, but most importantly it was expensive as both monarchs were trying to best the other and very soon the meeting turned into a grandeur match between the two monarchs. The meeting did not result in an alliance being agreed to. However when Henry returned to England, he signed to an alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V who, two weeks later opened war with France. The alliance between England and Spain was in itself a rise of nationalism as