King Henry Viii Religious Turmoil

Political and religious turmoil during Henry VIII’s reign (r. 1509-1547) resulted in Henry VIII assuming the roles as head of both the state and the Church of England through the separation of the Church of England from papal authority, the dissolution of monarchies, and the ‘Act of Supremacy’. Fundamental changes to the English constitution and the establishment of precedent features regarding Parliamentarian inclusion came as a result of opposition during his time on the throne. King Henry VIII’s reign is arguably the largest reason as to why England was so successful during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign from 1558-1603. This paper will chronicle the events of large scale that developed his historic reign and the perpetual changes to the English

People everywhere, regardless of class, were disturbed with the scandals and actions taken by the Church. Born a Catholic, Henry enforced the notion that Catholicism was to be the religion of his kingdom. However, after eighteen years of marriage and only one female survivor heir with Catherine of Aragon, Henry began an affair with Anne Boleyn in 1527. Completely enamoured by Boleyn and the pressure to have a male heir to the throne, he requested an annulment of the marriage, proving very difficult as the union required special dispensation as Catherine was the wife of Henry’s deceased brother, a union that is “prohibited by both canon and biblical law” . Due to the difficulty presented from papal authority and a disagreement with Pope Clement VII (1478-1534), Henry’s new royal advisers, Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) and Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540), found a way around the complicated matrix surrounding the situation: “Why not simply declare the king supreme in English spiritual affairs as he was in English temporal affairs? Then the king could settle the king’s affair himself” . Thus, with the help of his advisers, Henry VIII began to separate the Church of England from the Papacy in Rome, ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings in the

Officially passing religious authority to the monarch of England from the Pope in 1534 “gave the crown control over the wealth and buildings of the old Church [and] settled official religious doctrine” . The act decried him as “the only supreme head of the Church of England” , and granted the English crown “all honours, dignities, preeminences, jurisdictions, privileges, authorities, immunities, profits, and commodities to the said dignity” . As a result of the passing of the Act of Supremacy, the Parliament of England helped Henry usher in the theory of the divine right of kings. The divine right of king’s is a doctrine of legitimacy in political and religious affairs which enforced that kings established their authority from God and were therefore not subjected to any earthly authority, including his people, the aristocracy, or any other estate of the monarch’s kingdom. Any monarch who ruled under the divine right had the power to do whatever they saw fit. It also required English subjects to swear an oath of loyalty, forcing them to recognize and accept Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn and her coronation as queen. This parliamentary act remained until it was repealed during Edward VI’s reign, Henry’s only male heir, in 1555, only to be