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Recap – the background

Explore how King Henry VIII's personal life led to the formation of the Church of England, his disputes with the Catholic Church, and the political and religious motivations behind the English Reformation in the Tudor era.

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Recap – the background

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  1. Recap – the background • Problems with the Catholic Church • Protests in Germany – Martin Luther (1517) • A new Church is formed in Germany – the Protestant Church

  2. So why might the King of England have been interested in the Reformation? • Rulers of countries where everything seems to be under control do not normally make big changes which could upset their people. • So which of the key differences we’ve just discussed between the Catholic and Protestant Churches might have made the English king, Henry VIII, think about starting a Reformation in England? • Why?

  3. Tudor Family • Henry VII, the first Tudor king, was a very successful ruler. When he died in 1509, the Crown was rich, and his son, Henry, was able to take overwithout there being any protests. • So what was the big problem Henry VIII faced during his reign? Why did it lead him to cause the Reformation to take place in England? Henry VIII as a young man

  4. Henry VIII and Religion As he was the second son of Henry VII, it had been expected that the young Prince Henry would eventually be given an important position in the Church. Religious teaching had therefore been important to him as a young boy. When his older brother, Arthur, died, Henry became next in line to be king, and he married Arthur’s widow, Catharine of Aragon. But he was still apparently a religious man – attending mass up to five times a day and regularly going on pilgrimages. When he heard about Luther’s ideas, he wrote a book defending the Catholic Church. The Pope thought he was such a good Catholic that he gave him the title ‘Defender of the Faith’.

  5. So what changed? Despite his previous commitment to the Catholic Church, by the 1530s, Henry was seriously thinking about breaking away from the Pope and forming his own, Protestant, Church of England. WHY?

  6. Henry VIII’s Great Matter What was it? And what would you have done?

  7. The Great Matter • Henry had married Catharine of Aragon, a Spanish princess, in 1509. She had previously been married to Henry’s older brother, Arthur, who died when Henry was a teenager. • Henry wanted a son to continue the Tudor line, but by 1530, Henry’s only surviving child was a girl, Mary. • Henry said that he thought God was punishing him for marrying his brother’s widow. He convinced himself that God did not approve of the marriage and that this was why he couldn’t have a boy. • He decided that he needed to end this marriage and sent his Archbishop, Cardinal Wolsey, to ask the Pope for an annulment (a ‘cancellation’ of the marriage, as if it had never existed – not quite the same as a divorce). • He already had a new wife in mind – Catherine’s lady-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn.

  8. Was an unhappy marriage the only reason Henry had for breaking away from the Catholic Church? The Pope refused to annul the marriage. Pope Clement VII’s predecessor had to give Henry permission to marry Catherine. It is against Canon law to annul a marriage on the basis of a previously dispensed permission. The Pope also feared that Catherine’s uncle (Emperor Charles V) may give him problems if he humiliated Catherine. To end his marriage, Henry would have to leave the Catholic Church. He could then give himself permission (!) to separate from Catherine. There were other good reasons why Henry was considering forming a new, Protestant Church in England. Why might this have appealed to him? Pope Clement VII

  9. I spy an attractive lady – in-waiting called Anne Boleyn. If only I could marry her instead. Will the Pope give me an annulment? I need a son. I have been married for 20 years and my wife, Catherine of Aragon, is too old to have any more children. Who will inherit my throne when I die? The Church is very rich. I need money for my luxurious court. If only I could get my hands on it. The new Protestant ideas are spreading in Germany. Princes there are reforming their churches and throwing out the Catholic Church. The Church takes money out of my country in taxes to help build St Peter’s in Rome. What do I get in return? Some people in England like the new Protestant ideas. They believe that the Bible should be in English not Latin.

  10. In the end, it was a clear choice... • Henry eventually decided that there was no point in waiting for the Pope to change his mind. Anne Boleyn was now pregnant and he needed to marry her before the child was born to ensure that the child would legally be able to inherit the throne. • Plus, the temptations of the huge wealth of the Church were just too great to resist...

  11. What did Henry do next? • He made himself Supreme Head of the new ‘Church of England’. Act of supremacy, 1534 - • He rid himself of his old Catholic Archbishop, Wolsey, and appointed a new Protestant Archbishop, Cranmer. • He annulled his own marriage to Catherine and married Anne Boleyn (who was already pregnant – he hoped with a son). • He bullied anyone who opposed his break from the Catholic Church – even executing men he had previously trusted. • He closed all of the monasteries and nunneries in England and took over all of their lands and wealth.

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