Break from Rome

1. Henry started his reign as a committed Roman Catholic.  

2. However, a new religious movement was taking hold across Europe, known as Protestantism, led by the German priest, Martin Luther. This movement wanted to reform the church in a process known as the Reformation. Henry was opposed to this movement.  

3. In 1521 he wrote a book called In Defence of the Seven Sacraments, expressing his support for Catholicism. This earned him the title ‘Defender of the Faith’ from the Pope.  

Some key differences between Catholicism and Protestantism 

1. Henry’s main concern by 1529 was to divorce Catherine of Aragon. Henry used the threat of breaking with Rome (no longer recognising the Pope’s authority) as a way of trying to pressurise the Pope into granting his divorce. Henry was however a committed Catholic and at this stage did not plan on actually doing this.  

2. As it became increasingly clear the Pope would not grant an annulment, breaking from Rome increasingly seemed like a realistic solution to Henry’s problem.  

3. Some of the most important people in Henry’s life, including Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell, and Thomas Cranmer (who was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1532) also genuinely supported Protestant ideas.  

4. Anne Boleyn gave Henry a copy of William Tyndale’s book, Obedience of the Christian Man, which argued that God had always intended the Church to be ruled by kings. It was a very Protestant idea, and appealed to Henry.  

5. However, Henry did not like a lot of Protestant ideas, and was only convinced by the parts that suited him.  

6. Henry may also have been partly influenced by growing anti-clericalism in England: this focused on complaints about the poor quality and corruption of the clergy. However, this remained a minority view in England.  

7. Henry VIII’s wars had left him short of money. Breaking away from Rome would mean that some money that traditionally went to the Pope (such as the Annates of Rome) could now come to him. However, the amounts at this point were relatively small.  

The significance of the Act of Succession 1534 

1. Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon was declared invalid, and Anne Boleyn was declared queen.  

2. Only children of this second marriage would be able to inherit the throne. Therefore, Princess Mary was declared illegitimate.  

3. Henry had now completely rejected the authority of Rome to decide whether he could divorce and remarry.  

4. In response, the Pope stated that Henry was still married to Catherine. Henry responded by ordering that the pope’s name be struck out of all prayer books in England.  

The significance of the Act of Supremacy 1534 

1. This was a formal acknowledgement of Henry as head of the English Church, and had the powers previously held by the pope, such as how the Church would be organised, what the central doctrines (beliefs) would be, and who would be appointed to key positions.  

2. This made clear that England was no longer under the Pope’s control. 

3. Cromwell was appointed as the King’s Vicegerent, which meant his deputy, with responsibility for day-to-day running of the Church.  

4. This was a very significant symbolic decision, although, in reality, the pope had only ever played a small part in the affairs of the English Church.  

Cromwell’s role in enforcing the Acts 

The use of oaths 

1. Henry and Cromwell knew that the radical nature of these Acts could provoke resistance.  

2. Therefore, a clause in the Act of Succession required individuals, when asked, to take an oath supporting Anne Boleyn as Henry’s queen. This was called the Oath of Succession.  

3. Refusal to take the oath if asked would lead to punishment as a traitor.  

4. All of England’s political and religious leaders were asked to take this oath.  

The Treason Act 

1. The existing Treason Act dated from 1532, and defined treason in the traditional way (eg plotting the king’s death). This was not useful for punishing those who spoke out against the king’s divorce or the break with Rome.  

2. Therefore Cromwell introduced the 1534 Treason Act, which made denying the royal supremacy punishable with death.  

3. This was a dramatic increase in the power of the state to deal with its opponents.