Reign of Henry VIII after 1529

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English Church charged with praemunire (treason by asserting papal authority above the King's), but withdrawn on payment of a fine in 1531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.