233. THE ENGLISH REFORMATION, 1533-1658 A.D.
HENRY VIII, KING, 1509-1547 A.D.
The Reformation in Germany and Switzerland started as a national and popular movement; in England it began as the act of a despotic sovereign, Henry VIII. This second Tudor [17] was handsome, athletic, finely educated, and very able, but he was also selfish, sensual, and cruel. His father had created a strong monarchy in England by humbling both Parliament and the nobles. When Henry VIII came to the throne, the only serious obstacle in the way of royal absolutism was the Roman Church.
[Illustration: HENRY VIII
After a portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger.]
HENRY'S EARLY LOYALTY TO THE PAPACY
Henry showed himself at first a devoted Catholic. He took an amateur's interest in theology and wrote with his own royal pen a book attacking Luther. The pope rewarded him with the title of "Defender of the Faith," a title which English sovereigns still bear. Henry at this time did not question the authority of the Papacy. He even made his chief adviser Cardinal Wolsey, the most conspicuous churchman in the kingdom.
PREPARATION FOR THE ENGLISH REFORMATION
At the beginning of Henry's reign the Church was still strong in England. Probably most of the people were sincerely attached to it. Still, the labors of Wycliffe and the Lollards had weakened the hold of the Church upon the masses, while Erasmus and the Oxford scholars who worked with him, by their criticism of ecclesiastical abuses, had done much to undermine its influence with the intellectual classes. In England, as on the Continent, the worldliness of the Church prepared the way for the Reformation.
HENRY AND CATHERINE OF ARAGON
The actual separation from Rome arose out of Henry's matrimonial difficulties. He had married a Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon, the aunt of the emperor Charles V and widow of Henry's older brother. The marriage required a dispensation [18] from the pope, because canon law forbade a man to wed his brother's widow. After living happily with Catherine for eighteen years, Henry suddenly announced his conviction that the union was sinful. This, of course, formed simply a pretext for the divorce which Henry desired. Of his children by Catherine only a daughter survived, but Henry wished to have a son succeed him on the throne. Moreover, he had grown tired of Catherine and had fallen in love with Anne Boleyn, a pretty maid-in-waiting at the court.
THE DIVORCE, 1533 A.D.
At first Henry tried to secure the pope's consent to the divorce. The pope did not like to set aside the dispensation granted by his predecessor, nor did he wish to offend the mighty emperor Charles V. Failing to get the papal sanction, Henry obtained his divorce from an English court presided over by Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury. Anne Boleyn was then proclaimed queen, in defiance of the papal bull of excommunication.
ACT OF SUPREMACY, 1534 A.D.
Henry's next step was to procure from his subservient Parliament a series of laws which abolished the pope's authority in England. Of these, the most important was the Act of Supremacy. It declared the English king to be "the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England." At the same time a new treason act imposed the death penalty on anyone who called the king a "heretic, schismatic, tyrant, infidel, or usurper." The great majority of the English people seem to have accepted this new legislation without much objection; those who refused to do so perished on the scaffold. The most eminent victim was Sir Thomas More, [19] formerly Henry's Lord Chancellor and distinguished for eloquence and profound learning. His execution sent a thrill of horror through Christendom.
THE MONASTERIES SUPPRESSED
The suppression of the monasteries soon followed the separation from Rome. Henry declared to Parliament that they deserved to be abolished, because of the "slothful and ungodly lives" led by the inmates. In some instances this accusation may have been true, but the real reason for Henry's action was his desire to crush the monastic orders, which supported the pope, and to seize their extensive possessions. The beautiful monasteries were torn down and the lands attached to them were sold for the benefit of the crown or granted to Henry's favorites. The nobles who accepted this monastic wealth naturally became zealous advocates of Henry's anti-papal policy.
[Illustration: RUINS OF MELROSE ABBEY The little town of Melrose in Scotland contains the ruins of a very beautiful monastery church built about the middle of the fifteenth century. The principal part of the present remains is the choir, with slender shafts, richly-carved capitals, and windows of exquisite stone- tracery. The beautiful sculptures throughout the church were defaced at the time of the Reformation. The heart of Robert Bruce is interred near the site of the high altar.]
PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION UNDER EDWARD VI, 1547-1553 A.D.
Though Henry VIII had broken with the Papacy, he remained Roman Catholic in doctrine to the day of his death. Under his successor, Edward VI, the Reformation made rapid progress in England. The young king's guardian allowed reformers from the Continent to come to England, and the doctrines of Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin were freely preached there. At this time all paintings, statuary, wood carvings, and stained glass were removed from church edifices. The use of tapers, incense, and holy water was also discontinued. In order that religious services might be conducted in the language of the people, Archbishop Cranmer and his co-workers prepared the Book of Common Prayer. It consisted of translations into noble English of various parts of the old Latin service books. With some changes, it is still used in the Church of England and the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States.
THE CATHOLIC REACTION UNDER MARY TUDOR, 1553-1558 A.D.
The short reign of Mary Tudor, daughter of Catherine of Aragon, was marked by a temporary setback to the Protestant cause. The queen prevailed on Parliament to secure a reconciliation with Rome. She also married her Roman Catholic cousin, Philip of Spain, the son of Charles V. Mary now began a severe persecution of the Protestants. It gained for her the epithet of "Bloody," but it did not succeed in stamping out heresy. Many eminent reformers perished, among them Cranmer, the former archbishop. Mary died childless, after ruling about five years, and the crown passed to Anne Boleyn's daughter, Elizabeth. Under Elizabeth Anglicanism again replaced Roman Catholicism as the religion of England.