The Reformation and its Impact (1529-40)

What title did Pope Leo X give Henry

At first, Henry was supportive of the Catholic cause and hostile to Protestantism.

He wrote a book called In Defence of the Seven Sacraments, which led to Pope Leo X describing him as ‘Defender of the Faith’ in 1521.

• Luther’s texts were publicly burned by Wolsey in a pyre built at St Paul’s churchyard in London

What were the main catholic beliefs

• Catholics accepted the authority of the pope as head of the Church.

• The Church’s main job was to deliver the seven sacraments (Church ceremonies) as a display of devotion to God.

• Catholics believed in transubstantiation, arguing that the bread and wine actually becomes the body and blood of Jesus.

• Church services and readings from the Bible were said in Latin.

• Chantries (prayers for the dead) and indulgences (certificates forgiving sins) could be purchased to shorten the time spent in purgatory before entering heaven.

• Images and statues were venerated (regarded as sacred and prayed to) in Catholic churches.

• Pilgrimages were a good way of gaining God’s approval.

• Priests wore special clothing (vestments) to set them apart from ordinary people.

• Priests were not allowed to marry

What were the main protestant beliefs

• Protestants rejected the pope’s authority and believed that rulers, including monarchs, should instead lead and protect their own churches.

• They argued that the Church’s principal function was to preach the word of God in the Bible.

• Only three sacraments mattered: the Eucharist; baptism; and penance.

• The bread and wine only represented the body and blood of Jesus – they did not become his body and blood

• Bible readings were in the language of the country so that ordinary people could understand them.

• Chantries and indulgences were seen as corrupt and unnecessary – faith alone was required to get you into heaven.

• Praying to images and statues was seen as superstitious; they were unwelcome in churches.

• Pilgrimages were unnecessary.

• Priests were ordinary people and could wear ordinary clothes.

• Priests were permitted to marry

What is transubstantiation?

The catholic belief that the bread and wine turns into the body and blood of Jesus during communion.

What were the reasons for Henry’s campaign against the church

Henry wanted to increase his power over the Church because of:

• The pope’s failure to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon

• The impact of Protestant ideas – many of his advisers were sympathetic to the new ideas and he particularly liked the idea of William Tyndale, who suggested that the Church should be ruled by kings

• Allegations of corruption in the Church

What did the Act of Supremacy 1534 do

• This established that the king and not the pope controlled the English Church; Henry became the Supreme Head of the English Church – he now had the powers previously held by the pope.

• Henry could decide:

  • how the Church was organised

  • the Church’s religious beliefs

  • who was appointed to important positions within the Church, including bishops.

• It also meant that Henry now controlled the Church’s income and wealth. He was now in a position to sell Church property and seize Church taxes leading to the setting up of the Court of Augmentations and the Court of First Fruits and Tenths

What did the Act of Succession 1534 do

• This stated that only children from Henry’s second marriage to Anne Boleyn could inherit the throne.

• This meant that his daughter, Mary, became illegitimate and his second daughter, Elizabeth, became the true heir to the throne.

• This was a final rejection of the pope’s right to decide whether someone could divorce or remarry.

• It also amounted to a rejection of the pope’s authority in England, as the pope’s name was crossed out of all English prayer books.

• Oath of Succession (a clause in the Act of Succession)- All individuals, including churchmen, were required to take an Oath of Succession recognising Anne Boleyn’s right to be queen.

• Failure to do so was seen as an act of treason and could be punishable by death

What position was Cromwell given related to the church

• Cromwell was appointed Vicar-General in 1535, enabling him to wield the powers that belonged to the king to deal with anyone who spoke out against Henry, the split with Rome or Henry's control of the Church.

• It was hoped that people would be so frightened of retribution (punishment) there would be no dissent.

What did the Treason Act 1534 do?

• Treason was traditionally defined as plotting the king’s death, waging war against him or helping his enemies.

• The Treason Act 1534 expanded this definition to include speaking out against the royal supremacy.

• People who did so could now suffer a traitor’s death (hanging, drawing and quartering).

What did Elizabeth Barton do

• Elizabeth Barton was a nun who, when seriously ill, claimed to have had a vision of the Virgin Mary who cured her.

• Many people, including members of the nobility and the gentry, regarded her as a holy woman possessed of miraculous powers who ought to be taken seriously

• From 1527, Barton’s visions became sinister, criticising Henry for his proposed divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Barton said that God had told her the king would die a villain’s death.

• She criticised Protestant ideas saying that people should remain loyal to the pope and burn English translations of the Bible.

• In 1533, Dr Edward Bocking published the Nun’s Book, which contained a collection of Barton’s prophecies, claiming that Henry would burn in hell.

How did Henry respond to Barton

• Barton posed a serious threat to Henry because it could inspire people, in a superstitious age, to resist Henry’s reforms, creating the possibility of rebellion.

• Therefore, Henry ordered Cromwell to act.

• Barton’s visions were also an embarrassment to Henry.

• In July 1533, Barton and her accomplices were interrogated.

• On 23 November 1533, Barton was forced to confess to lying about her visions.

• She was condemned by attainder – an Act of Parliament that allowed people to be executed without trial. On 21 April 1534, Barton was executed for treason.

• This took place on the same day as Londoners took the Oath of Succession. This was a warning of what would happen if they didn’t.

• All 700 copies of the Nun’s Book were burned

Who was John Fisher and what did he do

• John Fisher became Bishop of Rochester in 1504.

• He was a famous scholar who tutored Henry when he was a young prince.

• In 1535, the pope made Fisher a Cardinal

• Fisher condemned Henry’s attempts to secure a divorce as well as his split from Rome

• Even though Henry hated Fisher he hadn’t broken any laws, so there was nothing Henry could do. Henry remained suspicious of Fisher and watched him closely.

• Fisher even asked Charles V to invade England to restore Catholicism

• Fisher had links with Elizabeth Barton.

• Henry could have arrested Fisher for treason because of his links with Barton. However, Fisher was fined £300 instead

• Fisher refused to take the Oath of Succession in April 1534

• Fisher was executed for treason in June 1535, a few months after he had been made a cardinal by the pope.

What was Thomas More’s background

• He was a scholar and a great Renaissance thinker renowned throughout Europe.

• His greatest work was a book called Utopia describing a perfect society.

• He was a devout Catholic who saw Protestants and Martin Luther as criminals who ‘bespatter the most holy image of Christ crucified with the most foul excrement of their bodies’.

• He actively suppressed Protestantism by burning Protestant books and, as Chancellor between 1529 and 1532, hunted down and interrogated suspected Protestants whom he accused of heresy.

• Six Protestants were burned to death during his time of office.

What happened to Thomas More

• 1532 More resigns from being Chancellor because he can no longer support Henry in his determination to divorce Catherine of Aragon and renounce the authority of the pope. More retires from public life.

• 13 April 1534 Henry feels that because More does not openly support him he is against him, so forces him to take the Oath of Succession. More refuses to do so.

• 17 April 1534 More is sent to the Tower of London where he refuses to explain why he will not take the oath. By not explaining why, his tactic is that he will not be committing treason

• 1 July 1535 After over a year in prison and after several visits from Cromwell trying to persuade More to take the oath, More is placed on trial where evidence is heard that he had indeed spoken his true feelings about Henry and the break from Rome.

• This evidence, though probably made up, was enough to find him guilty of treason

• 6 July 1535 More is executed on Tower Hill.

What was the significance of More’s opposition

• More was one of Europe’s great intellectuals and his death outraged many in Europe, including Charles V, and discredited Henry, making a Catholic crusade against England more likely

• More became a martyr for the Catholic cause, encouraging unrest and rebellion

• The trial and execution created an atmosphere of terror in England as people feared the consequences of speaking out against the king.

• The execution deepened the split with Rome as the pope threatened to excommunicate Henry.

• The execution of Thomas More was designed as a signal to the nobility that no one was beyond the reach of the king

What was the position of the English church in 1534

• The Act of Supremacy made Henry head of the English Church at the expense of the pope.

• This gave Henry the power to change the Church’s beliefs and practices.

• Both Reformers (Protestants) and Catholics tried to influence the way in which Henry chose to shape the Church.

• The Reformers hoped to remove Catholic beliefs and practices such as transubstantiation and pilgrimages. Catholics tried to keep them

Who were some reformers during this period

• Thomas Cromwell

• Archbishop Thomas Cranmer

• They had to be cautious not to declare themselves Protestant.

Who were some traditional catholics in this period

• Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk

• Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester

• They had to be cautious, as denying royal supremacy would be seen as treason.

What did the Act of Ten Articles do in 1536?

• This set out the beliefs of Henry’s new church. It reduced seven sacraments to three: the Eucharist or Communion; baptism; and penance.

• This was significant as it marked the beginning of the movement towards protestantism

What did the first set of Royal Injunctions 1536 do

• This tried to ensure that priests practised the same thing: to speak in favour of the royal supremacy and discourage pilgrimages. The number of Holy Days was also reduced

• This was done to ensure priests practised the same things, and made catholic priests seem superstitious

What did the Bishops Book 1537 do

• This was another attempt to set out the beliefs of the Church. Many Catholic beliefs were given less importance. It stated the main duty of a priest was preaching.

• However, the 4 sacraments ignored by the 10 articles were now reintroduced, but given less significance, a slight set back for reformers

• However, overall, it was a move towards protestantism as it purposefully deemed certain catholic beliefs, which protestants believed had no value, as having less worth,

What did the Second Set of Royal Injections 1538

• This declared that every church should have a Bible translated into English and that priests should actively discourage pilgrimages, and all holy relics, statues and images, were to be destroyed.

• This was very significant as it demonstrated a big move towards protestantism, with all of these devaluing catholic beliefs and worship methods and/or big steps towards protestantism

What happened to John Lambert

• In 1538, Lambert denied transsubstantiation

• For this, Henry had him repeatedly moved in and out of a fire in order to arduously and torturously execute him

• Henry wore white to symbolise his purity

What did Henry’s Act of Six Articles do

• Henry felt that reform had gone far enough and, in 1539, published the Six Articles reaffirming traditional Catholic beliefs such as transubstantiation, clerical celibacy (priests abstaining from marriage and sex) and purgatory.

• Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, had a wife and children, and had to send them away after this change

• Failure to agree to these would lead to imprisonment, confiscation of property and death.

• Many Protestant ideas had found their way into the Church, but with the death of Cromwell the Protestant cause was weakened

• Shows the movement of Henry back to Catholicism

What were the types of religious houses

• Large religious houses were known as abbeys under the control of an abbot (monk) or abbess (nun). These included Westminster, Tewkesbury and Glastonbury.

• Medium-sized houses were called priories (monks) or nunneries (nuns).

• The smaller houses were known as friaries (monks).

• Most religious houses were historic institutions that had existed since the Middle Ages. They were run by different orders which had their own rules that monks and nuns had to obey.

How wealthy were the monasteries

• Many monasteries were very wealthy institutions.

• They owned about ⅓ of all land in England and the top 20 monasteries had incomes of £1000 per year, comparable with many members of the nobility

• The church lands made £160,000 a year, 3x more than the crown lands

• Monasteries were often an important part of local communities and were sometimes endowed (paid for) by local landowners

What were the roles of religious houses

• Religious – monasteries acted as places of religious contemplation. Monastic rules required monks to engage in worship and prayer on a daily basis. To ensure that they worshipped God properly, monks were expected to be poor, chaste and obedient. Monks and nuns also said prayers for the dead known as chantries

• Places of refuge – monasteries were safe places where people could stay when they travelled. They also acted as safe havens for people who felt threatened

• Educational – monks often educated young boys of the nobility and gentry. Monasteries also acted as places of learning and where manuscripts and books were written and kept

• Commercial – many large monasteries were businesses controlling estates and renting out land to local farmers

• Administrative – some senior monks helped administer local justice and 30 sat in the House of Lords. Some advised the king.

• Medical – monasteries also acted as hospitals and hospices looking after the sick and the dying

• Social and economic – monasteries provided help for the poor. They also provided employment for local people who helped run the monasteries and maintain their lands. In addition, monasteries provided a home for widows and widowers, as well as elderly nobles

How did money and power cause the dissolution of the monasteries

• Owned 1/3 of all the land

• Earned total of £160,000 a year, 3x more than the crown land

• Many monasteries still loyal to the pope, so caused a problem for Henry’s smooth transition of power into the Church of England

• This seemed to be confirmed by the fact that many religious houses had supported the Pilgrimage of Grace.

• Closing down the monasteries would strengthen Henry’s control of the Church by getting rid of sources of opposition within it

• Henry needed the money because:

• it would pay for any future wars and the defence of England against any Catholic crusade organised by Francis I and Charles V

• it would make him financially independent of parliament and Henry would no longer have to ask it to approve taxation

• land could be sold off or given as gifts to the nobility to win over landowners previously hostile to Henry’s control of the Church.

How did Cromwell’s investigations cause the dissolution of the monasteries

• Cromwell investigated the monasteries in 1535 and produced both the Compendium Competorum, and the Valour Ecclesiasticus

• The Compendium Competorum deemed that many monks were involved in homosexuality, often with young boys; others admitted to having mistresses; some nuns were found to have children; even reports that Abbot Hexham of Whitby was in league with French Pirates

• However there were problems with how it was conducted

• Layton and Legh, two of Cromwell’s servants who conducted the investigation supposedly visited 120 monasteries in under 70 days

• Bullying tactics were used, and reports were taken carelessly, with the majority of focus being on the negatives

• Since the reports, historian have proved many of these claims are inaccurate- from the 181 claims of homosexuality, only about 12 were actually true

• What the Valour Ecclesiasticus failed to recognise is that many were very charitable- for example Walley Abbey in Lancashire donated 22% of their income to charity, 11x more than the average

• The carelessness and inaccuracy of this shows that the main aim was not to really investigate problems, but to give an excuse for getting the money and power

How did religion cause the dissolution of the monasteries

• Many reformers, including Cromwell and Cranmer, disapproved of many of the religious practices in the monasteries, including prayers for the dead.

• Getting rid of the monasteries would, in their view, end these backward practices.

Why were the monasteries dissolved starting in 1536?

• Money and Power

• Cromwell’s investigations

• Religion

What happened after the investigations into the monasteries

• The Act for the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries in 1536 closed 300 smaller monasteries and nunneries with an income lower than £200

• A further series of visitations in 1538 led to many abbots and abbesses surrendering their religious houses as a gift to the king.

• This was confirmed by the Act for the Dissolution of the Greater Monasteries in 1539.

Who won as a result of the dissolution of the monasteries?

• Religious reformers like Cromwell and Cranmer

  • The closure of the monasteries meant that a powerful symbol of the Catholic Church was brought to an end.

  • Dissolution was another step along the road towards a reformed Church.

• Henry VIII

  • The wealth accrued by the dissolution of the monasteries made Henry financially independent and very rich.

  • The closure of the monasteries helped end opposition from within the Church to his rule.

• The nobility

  • They received monastic lands from the king either as a gift or sold to them cheaply.

  • They could now farm the land commercially, increasing their incomes and wealth

Who lost as a result of the dissolution of the monasteries?

• Monks lost their homes and livelihood. While many monks were re-employed by the Church (about 6,500), many suffered unemployment and hardship.

• Nuns lost their homes and livelihood. Nuns weren’t able to work in churches or marry, so suffered great hardships, resorting in many cases to begging.

• Devout Catholics mourned the end of Catholic practices such as prayers for the dead (chantries) performed in monasteries.

• The poor and sick had nowhere to go if they could not provide for themselves or fell ill. Many became beggars and vagrants.

• Tenant farmers who had rented land from the monasteries saw rents rise or they were thrown off the land by the gentry.

What was the Pilgrimage of Grace 1536

• A series of rebellions took place in Yorkshire (under Robert Aske) and Lincolnshire (under Nicholas Melton).

• Minor rebellions also took place in Cumberland and Westmoreland.

• The participants viewed themselves not as rebels but as Christ’s soldiers aiming to restore Catholicism or the ‘old religion’ to England.

• They wanted to negotiate with the king and did not want to fight him

• Key Figures:

  • Robert Aske – a lawyer

  • Nicholas Melton – a shoemaker

  • Lord Darcy – a nobleman

• Officials of Henry:

  • Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk

  • Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk

How did economic factors lead to the Pilgrimage of Grace

• Resentment:

  • at continuing taxation with the 1534 Subsidy Act still being collected- this was only supposed to be in place during war time, and since England was at peace, this seemed unreasonable

  • at rising rents

  • at increase in enclosure

  • by landowners towards the Statute of Uses introduced in 1536 – a tax on inheritance.

• Also, bad weather had led to a poor harvest, increasing dissatisfaction

How did social factors lead to the Pilgrimage of Grace

Monasteries had helped people by:

• Healing the sick

• Help for the poor

• Refuge for travellers

The fact that this was under threat angered many

How did religious factors lead to the Pilgrimage of Grace

• The North was mainly Catholic and so felt their religion was under threat

• The dissolution of the smaller monasteries felt like an attack on their religion

• The work of monks and nuns was important to the whole community

• The dissolution led to fears that the parish churches would be next

How did political factors lead to the pilgrimage of grace

• The northern nobility felt that the court was influenced too much by Cromwell

• They disliked Cromwell for his low-birth status and reformist religious ideas

• They thought that the uprising would weaken Cromwell’s and increase their power in court

What were the reasons for the Pilgrimage of Grace?

Economic
Social
Religious
Political

What happened to the Yorkshire rebels

• From early October 1536 over three weeks: 40 000 rebels (Pilgrims) assembled into nine well-armed groups, each led by a member of the nobility. The overall leader was Robert Aske.

• 16 October: Aske entered York with 10 000 Pilgrims.

• 19 October: Hull was taken by the rebels.

• 21 October: Pontefract Castle was taken. By this time, much of the North was under the control of the rebels

• 27 October: Henry sent the Duke of Norfolk with an army of 8000 to crush the rebellion and they met Aske and 30,000 well-organised Pilgrims at Doncaster Bridge.

• Norfolk decided not to fight but to negotiate and two of the Pilgrim leaders, Sir Ralph Ellerker and Robert Bowes, were allowed to present their grievances to the king.

• Henry agreed to further negotiations through the Duke of Norfolk. Aske compiled the Pontefract Articles demanding the end of Protestantism, the restoration of papal authority and the monasteries and for Mary’s birth to be legitimate.

What happened to the Lincolnshire rebels

• 2 October 1536: 3000 people led by Nicholas Melton gather together

• 4 October: Dr Raynes is murdered by a mob. Dr Raynes was an unpopular church official who was looking into the effectiveness of the clergy for the king.

• 7 October: 10 000 rebels marched to Lincoln with the support of the gentry. They sent a set of Articles to the king in which they expressed their outrage at the dissolution of the monasteries and high taxes.

• 10 October: Henry sent a message threatening to punish the rebels and destroy their land. He also sent the Duke of Suffolk with 3000 men.

• 11 October: the gentry backed down and asked for a royal pardon and the remainder of the rebels disbanded.

Why did Robert Aske disband his army?

He thought he had an agreement for a new parliament and a pardon.

What happened to Robert Aske?

After a further revolt in Carlisle (Bigod's rebellion), the leaders of the revolt were rounded up and executed.
Aske was hung in chains.

How did Robert Aske cause the Pilgrimage of Grace to fail

• Robert Aske’s misplaced faith in the king led to the undoing of the uprising.

• Aske was prepared to accept Henry’s offer of a pardon and a parliament to discuss the rebels’ complaints.

• This meant that the rebel army was disbanded, removing the threat to Henry’s throne.

• It also gave Henry the time he needed to plan a way of crushing the rebels in 1537

• The Pontefract Articles were also too ambitious, and Henry was never going to agree with him

• Roughly 40,000 participants in the march, could have overpowered the English army, and yet he sends them home

How did Henry cause the Pilgrimage of Grace to fail

• Henry’s ruthlessness also helped to end the rebellion.

• Henry could not accept the rebels’ demands as this would have made him appear weak, encouraging others to challenge his authority.

• It would also have completely undermined his religious policy.

• Henry, therefore, was bound to destroy the rebellion and violently put to death its perpetrators to reinforce his authority, preserve his religious policy and discourage any other potential rebellions.

• Because he chose not to act, and not follow through with his promises, he caused the secondary rebellion, which allowed him to punish the rebels

• He didn't write down the agreement or confirm when or where the parliament would happen

How did Bigod’s rebellion cause the Pilgrimage of Grace to fail

• By January 1537, there had been a lack of news regarding the parliament promised by Henry

• Because of this, two more uncoordinated uprisings took place, one attempting to capture Hull, and one attempting to capture Carlisle

• Despite fizzling quickly, it gave Henry the excuse he needed to punish all the rebels, with a death toll of 178, including Aske, who was hung in chains

Why did the Pilgrimage of Grace fail

• Bigod’s rebellion

• Henry

• Aske

What was the significance of the Pilgrimage of Grace

• It threatened the king- It was the largest uprising of Henry’s reign.

• It involved 40 000 men and the capture of castles and cities in the North of England.

• At the end of 1536, it represented a very real threat to Henry’s position as king, as the rebel army could have moved southwards towards London, driving him from his throne.

• It sped up the closure of the monasteries- Henry recognised that many of the monasteries had backed the rebellion and were opposed to his policies.

• This meant that Henry sped up the dissolution, closing down the larger abbeys as well as the smaller religious houses.

• It postponed plans to carry out religious reform- It demonstrated that the North of England remained staunchly Catholic and that many people rejected Henry’s religious policies.

• This made it dangerous for both Henry and Cromwell to introduce reformist (Protestant) policies and reforms were postponed – a knock back to Cromwell’s plans

• It strengthened the Council of the North- It demonstrated that Henry needed to strengthen his grip on the North to prevent further rebellions from occurring.

• This led to a strengthening of the Council of the North