REFORMATION Timeline

Timeline of The Reformation

1517	Martin Luther nails his "95 Theses" against the Catholic practice of selling indulgences, on the church door at Wittenberg
1521	Henry VIII receives the title "Defender of the Faith" from Pope Leo X for his opposition to Luther
1529	Henry VIII dismisses Lord Chancellor Thomas Wolsey for failing to obtain the Pope's consent to his divorce from Catherine of Aragon; Sir Thomas More appointed Lord Chancellor; Henry VIII summons the "Reformation Parliament" and begins to cut the ties with the Church of Rome
1532	The Act in Restraint of Appeals which was drafted by Cromwell, apart from outlawing appeals to Rome on ecclesiastical matters, declared that 'this realm of England is an Empire, and so hath been accepted in the world, governed by one Supreme Head and King having the dignity and royal estate of the Imperial Crown of the same, unto whom a body politic compact of all sorts and degrees of people divided in terms and by names of Spirituality and Temporality, be bounden and owe to bear next to God a natural and humble obedience', thus declaring England an independent country in every respect. Tudor historian Geoffrey Elton has called this Act an "essential ingredient" of the "Tudor revolution"
1532	Sir Thomas More resigns over the question of Henry VIII's divorce
1533	Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn in January and is excommunicated by Pope Clement VII in July; Thomas Cranmer appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
1534	Katherine of Aragon writes a 3 page letter to her nephew Emperor Charles V asking for him to intercede with the Pope and finally in March Pope Clement VII after years of vacillating declares Henry and Katherine's marriage still valid.
1534	Act of Supremacy: Henry VIII declared supreme head of the Church of England in November
1535	Sir Thomas More is beheaded in Tower of London for failing to take the Oath of Supremacy
1536	Anne Boleyn is beheaded; Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour; dissolution of monasteries in England begins under the direction of Thomas Cromwell, completed in 1539.
1539	Dissolution of Glastonbury Abbey; buildings torched and looted by king's men; Abbot Richard Whiting is executed by hanging atop Glastonbury Tor.
1539	Act of the Six Articles of Faith
1543	Henry VIII marries Catherine Parr; alliance between Henry and Charles V (Holy Roman Emperor) against Scotland and France
1546	Anne Askew tortured and executed by fire for being a heretic and denying transubstantian
1547	Henry VIII dies and his son Edward VI becomes King of England: Duke of Somerset (a reformer) acts as Protector
1549	Introduction of uniform Protestant service in England based on Edward VI's Book of Common Prayer
1551	Archbishop Thomas Cranmer publishes Forty-two Articles of religion
1553	On death of Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey proclaimed queen of England by Duke of Northumberland, her reign lasts nine days; Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, Queen of England (to 1558); Restoration of Roman Catholic bishops in England
1554	Execution of Lady Jane Grey
1555	England returns to Roman Catholicism: Protestants are persecuted and about 300 under Mary I, including Cranmer, are burned at the stake
1558	England loses Calais, last English possession in France; Death of Mary I; Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, becomes Queen; Repeal of Catholic legislation in England
1563	The Thirty-nine Articles, which complete establishment of the Anglican Church
1563	John Foxe produced the first edition (of many) of Acts and Monuments. Foxe's Book of Martyrs, as it became known, outlined in gory detail the suffering of Protestant martyrs and became the bedrock of Anglican belie
1570	Elizabeth I is excommunicated from the Catholic Faith