How effective were Henry VIII’s religious changes?
The impact of the break with Rome & the dissolution of the monasteries
The break with Rome Cromwell enforces this -
‘The King’s Great Matter’
The Act of Supremacy 1534
Cromwell became Vicegerent in spirituals, he used this power to alter church doctrine, new bishops were
appointed.
The Ten Articles (1536) = the 1st attempt to try and define the doctrine of the Church of England
Most was in line with Catholic belief but the article on the Eucharist was left deliberately ambigious & the
number of sacraments for salvation of the soul reduced from 7 to 3.
Cromwell banned holy days& attacked practices such as pilgrimages. He also imprisoned anyone if they
preached papal authority (pope’s authority).
(Henry was not as much of a reformer as Cromwell but was willing to support changes as they undermined the
authority of the church)
[A.G Dickens regards it as a ‘top down’ reformation (change being enforced from the top of gov)]
Opposition to the break..
The 1534 Treason act made it illegal to not accept the supremacy - Sir Thomas More was executed for this
(1535) High profile executions like these added to the climate of fear.
Factions at court emerged… Conservatives vs Reformers:
> Conservatives = Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, Earl of Northumberland, Henry Percy etc…
> Reformers = Cranmer, Cromwelll…
> Conservatives wanted to restore Catholicism & put Mary back in the line of succession/make her legitimate again
, The Impact of the Dissolution of the Monasteries…
Open monastery - for public, helping people
Closed monastery - for religious study, translating scripts
By 1530’s there was 900 religious houses in England
What did the monasteries do?
> provide charity - were very important in deprived parts of England
> sometimes provided employment on monastic land (agricultural labourers and craftsmen)
> leased land to farmers
> centres of education
> care for elderly and sick
To Cromwell they represented ill-fitting loyalty to Rome & huge wealth & corruption. Their wealth was a
tempting prize for Henry, the income could be used to defend the country and reward supporters through
patronage.
How were they dissolved?
Valor Ecclesiasticus - ‘the value of the church’ - document surveying all church property
VE was used by Cromwell to justify The 1536 Act of Parliament, authorising dissolution of small monasteries.
Between 1536 & 37 the dissolution raised £1.3 million
How significant were the causes and impacts of the 1536 Rebellions?
(Lincolnshire Rising & The Pilgrimage of Grace)
CAUSES…
RELIGIOUS Dissolution of Monasteries = unemployment & no charity
Discontent at the direction of religious policy under Cromwell &
Cranmer
People feeling like their souls were threatened in the afterlife
Rebellions can be seen to have strong religious undertones = The five
wounds of Christ on the banner of the Pilgrimage of Grace banner
SOCIAL & ECONOMIC Gov taxes & subsidies in 1535 exacerbated economic problems in the
North
Subsidy was collected in peacetime & of bad harvests, seemed
unnessecary
POLITICAL What historian G. Elton sees as the political cause = noble
involvement (Percy, Darcy, Hussey) all in Catholic faction and Percy
had been in contact with Chapuys the Pope’s advisor
What historian Michael Bush sees as the political cause = rebellion
began in the commons who then got the gentry involved due to
shared religious grievances
Land owner resentment due to the Act of Uses 1535 (stopped
‘enfeoffment to uses’ = giving land to a trustee upon death until
children were old enough to have it, rather than to the king
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