1517
Start of the reformation in Europe
1520
Cromwell started to work as Wolsey's lawyer
1523
Cromwell was elected to parliament.
1529
Parliament attacked clerical abuses (corruption within the Church): this was an excuse for Henry to push reform
1530
English Church charged with praemunire (treason by asserting papal authority above the King's), but withdrawn on payment of a fine in 1531
1532
MPs asked Henry to take action against clerical abuse in legal system
1532
Submission of the Clergy voted through by clergy - Church agreed to surrender the right to enact new church laws without the King's assent
1532
Act in Conditional Restraint of Annates - banned payment of most clerical taxes to Rome provisionally (Henry still hoped to be granted a divorce by the Pope)
Feb 1533
Act in Restraint of Appeals - prevented any appeals to any authority outside England (the Pope) and declared Henry as supreme ruler of his empire both 'spiritually and temporally', justified by old English belief in the Divine Right of Kings. Prevented Catherine from appealing to Pope against the divorce and allowed the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, to allow it.
Jan 1534
Act in Restraint of Annates - officially stopped payment to Rome and meant that the King appointed all bishops.
March 1534
Act of the Submission of the Clergy - officially gave the King control of Convocation - Church contact with Rome forbidden (finalized the 1532 Submission)
March 1534
Act of Succession - officially invalidated the marriage to Catherine and validated the marriage to Anne. Mary was declared illegitimate.
March 1534
Act of Dispensations - Archbishop of Canterbury now given previously papal power of dispensation in legal cases that departed from church law, and all direct payments to Rome stopped
Nov 1534
Act of Supremacy - Henry was officially head of the Church in England so he had control over matters of belief/doctrine
Dec 1534
Act for First Fruit and Tenths - clergy to pay some money from yearly income directly to King
Dec 1534
Treason Act - crime to criticize the changes/marriage/succession
1534
Elizabeth Barton was executed after she prophesied that the King would lose his throne. Her death was seen as a political necessity.
1534-40
Cromwell was Henry's Chief Minister. From this position, he is known for his role in the reformation.
1535
Valor Ecclesiasticus - a census conducted for the Church's wealth
1535 (July)
Sir Thomas Moore was executed for allegedly denying the King’s authority after he refused to swear the Oath of Supremacy.
1535
John Fischer was executed for refusing to swear the Oath of Supremacy. During his imprisonment, the Pope made him a cardinal and his may have led to his execution.
1536
The Act of Dissolution of Smaller Monasteries (dissolution of religious houses with an income of under £200 yearly)
1536
The Act of Ten Articles: rejected four of the seven Sacraments (only kept Baptism, Eucharist and Penance)
1536
Royal Injunctions: attacked the Catholic practise of pilgrimages and encouraged the religious instruction towards Protestantism
1536
Death of Catherine of Aragon
1st-11th October 1536
The Lincolnshire Rising of the Pilgrimage of Grace
8th October - 8th December 1536
The Yorkshire rising of the Pilgrimage of Grace
16th January - 10th February 1537
The Bigod Revolt and Cumberland Rising.
1537
The Bishop's Book published which outlined reformatory beliefs, it also included vague statuses of Priests, mass and purgatory. This was an attack on Catholicism because it reduced their importance
1537
Matthew's Bible published (Protestant)
1538
Royal Injunctions: ordered that the English Bible would be present in all Parishes, it discouraged pilgrimages and ordered the removal of relics
1538
John Lambert was executed for rejecting transubstantiation
1539
Publication of the Great Bible
1539
Dissolution of the Greater (remaining) Monasteries
1539
The Act of Six Articles confirmed transubstantiation and forbade the taking of communion in both kinds (this was previously only practiced by Protestants)
1540 (28th July)
Thomas Cromwell was charged for treason for heresy, but factional politics and his failures with the marriage alliance to Anne of Cleves were important factors.
1540 (28th July)
Henry married Catholic Catherine Howard
1541
James V failed to attend a meeting with Henry at York. Some say Henry saw this as a personal insult that led to war the year after.
1542
Henry sent a large army led by the Duke of Norfolk into Scotland. There was a decisive victory at Solway Moss in November.
1542
Fall of Catherine Howard
1543
The Act for the Advancement of True Religion allowed the English Bible
1543
The King's book encouraged the reformed belief in preaching and attacked images
1543
The Act for the Advancement of True Religion restricted access to the Bible for the upper class
1543
The King's Book defended transubstantiation
1544
Debasing of the coinage in order to raise enough funds to support Henry's foreign policy
1544
The introduction of an English Litany which replaced the Catholic, Latin Litany
1544
John Cheke, a Protestant humanist, was made Prince Edward's tutor
1544
A small force of 48,000 was sent to France and they managed to capture the town of Boulogne
1544-45
Rough Wooing of Scotland led by the Earl of Hertford: raids on Scottish towns which were often set alight.
1545
The Act of Dissolving the Chantries was passed - these were religious buildings where prayers for the dead were said to reduce their time in Purgatory. This was an attack on the Catholic belief in Purgatory
1546
The Regency Council appointed a number of Protestant supporters
1546
Henry burnt Anne Askew for denying transubstantiation
1546
The Fall of Gardiner and Norfolk
1546
Peace treaty between England and France: Treaty of Camp (also known as Ardres). The terms allowed England to retain Boulogne for 7 years, and France agreed to pay all outstanding pension payments
1546
Arrest of Catherine Parr
1546-7
King Henry's dry stamp (which was a copy of the royal signature which could be stamped onto documents, this was used when Henry VIII was ill, sometimes without his permission) was controlled by reformist and Privy Chamber member: John Denny.
1547
The key to Henry's will was held by Protestant: John Seymour, this also meant that the Regency Council was made up of mostly reformers
28th January 1547
Death of Henry VIII
800
The number of monasteries that existed in England prior to the dissolution
29
The number of monasteries Wolsey shut down as papal legate after finding evidence of clerical abuses.
£1.3 million
The re-sale value of monastic lands from the dissolution
40,000
The number of rebels at the Pilgrimage of Grace. Rebel forces outnumbered the royal army 5:1.
20%
By 1547, only this percent of London was Protestant and London was one of the most Protestant areas in England.
£2 million
The 1544 Boulogne campaign cost this amount.
1538
Henry was excommunicated so the fear of a Catholic invasion grew.