The King & the Reformation

The King & the Reformation - discussions

A discussion of the Henrician reformation It is important to remember that during Henry's reign, at least half of his subjects were under the age of eighteen. Henry's court swarmed with young people - pages, scullery maids, and the like. English culture celebrated youth; tournaments, hunts, glorious warfare were all the province of the young and strong. And while Henry was young, he joined these events with a gusto sadly lacking in his father or son. But time does not stop, not even for a despotic monarch determined to have his way in all things. During his 'great matter', Henry was in his thirties and changing from 'Bluff King Hal' into an overweight and balding hypochondriac. He had rid himself of Rome to gain wealth and a son. He gained both and, once he had, continually toyed with the idea of making peace with the pope. He didn't relish excommunication and it is likely that he persuaded himself that he wasn't disobeying Christ's vicar but rather the Emperor's puppet. But he misjudged the mood of his people, particularly his nobles. Educated and by nature inquisitive and acquisitive, the new Protestant teachings intrigued them; they also sought the vast monastic lands which Henry planned to sell. This was the paradox of the Henrician reformation. It was motivated by greed and genuine religious turmoil. As time passed, the new generation of nobles were Protestant because it was expedient and philosophically appealing. And with each year, more Englishmen were born who were further and further away from the old days of Roman domination. Henry, in his forties, could remember the papist ways but, as the years passed, fewer and fewer of his subjects did. In terms of the practical effect the reformation had on everyday Englishmen, the situation is more difficult to gauge. Unlike the wealthy noblemen, they couldn't bid on the seized monastic properties. And in many towns and villages, the parish church was the community center, where births, weddings, and deaths were officiated over by a priest. But they undoubtedly enjoyed not paying their tax to Rome. Once again, a paradox emerged - an excommunicated nation which found itself torn between loyalty to the sovereign and loyalty to the papacy. Also, since Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn could only be recognized if one accepted his annulment from Katharine - which in itself meant a rejection of papal authority - and it was treason to not recognize his marriage to Anne, then many people were swayed by the threat of execution. In other words, accept Henry's decisions or die. Of course, I cannot discuss all aspects of the reformation at this site; I recommend L.B. Smith's Henry VIII which studies Henry's own theological beliefs. There was opposition to the reformation which probably had more to do with the attendant loss of independence in north England. In 1536, a northern uprising which came to be called the Pilgrimage of Grace, gathered over 40,000 men and marched through England. It eventually destroyed itself by internal division and lack of clear purpose but one of the rebels' demands was a warning for Cromwell - they want their king to be advised by noble councilors who understand the people's wishes, not common men like Cromwell. Henry was angry at their presumption - how dare his ignorant subjects rebel annd then tell him how to run the country! - but he was persuaded to show mercy and pardon those involved. And he continued to listen to Cromwell.

The <a class="external" href="http://englishhistory.net/tudor/primary.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pilgrimage of Grace</a> was largely motivated not by religious concerns but by Cromwell's determination to dissolve the monasteries and improve the royal tax collecting methods. For example, the movement began in Louth, in Lincolnshire, and began with the murder of two tax collectors, one of whom was hanged and the other sewn into a sack and thrown to a pack of hungry dogs! So the common people might grumble somewhat but they were ultimately more influenced by practical matters. Had Henry's excommunication been followed by a terrible harvest or bad weather, it may have been otherwise. During his daughter Mary's reign, such signs were taken to mean God was angry with her for attempting to reinstate Catholicism. But not only did Henry enjoy good weather, he had a brilliant servant. Cromwell was the one who gave force to Henry's grand declarations. The king declared that Rome had no authority in England and Cromwell instituted the reforms which would make it so. The king declared that all monastic lands were forfeit and Cromwell set out to close the monasteries, assess their value, and sell them to the highest bidder. For a decade, this partnership worked marvelously. Also, Henry and Cromwell both recognized a fundamental truth of the English people; the government could do what it liked as long as traditional religious views were not upset too much. Certainly Henry did not upset his own. The name of the pope was omitted in their prayers but not much else. Henry's break with Rome was really a legal reformation rather than one of real religious content. England practiced Catholicism without a pope and, in his place, was their king. This situation suited Cromwell. Like many, he recognized that the Church had lost its way, remaining a ponderous medieval institution concerned with wealth and influence. But Europe was no longer medieval; countries were becoming nation-states, patriotic and immune to the cultural unity which Rome promoted. The pope envisioned a collection of nations joined beneath the cloak of Christendom with him at its head; but, particularly in xenophobic England, there were mutterings that the church was dominated by other nations. Also, the church claimed authority over its subjects; no priest or cleric could be tried by their sovereign nation. They would answer only to Rome. This problem had angered Henry II centuries before and resulted in Thomas Becket's murder. In Henry's time, it had grown worse. Also, as king, he believed himself ruler of all his subjects, priest and commoner alike. One must also mention the corruption of the church, sadly evident to everyone. Certainly there were Godly men who struggled to enforce the tenets of their faith. But there were also bishops and cardinals more interested in business and finance than theology. The church preached that the surest path to heaven was through good works, particularly at a monastery or abbey, but every Englishmen knew that only the wealthy could afford to endow or board at them. Furthermore, an increasing number of churchmen were absent from their posts. Cardinal Wolsey embodied this avaricious streak; he was bishop, archbishop, abbot, and cardinal yet the affairs of state kept him from his duties. Instead of tending to his flock, he tended to his purse. He sired illegitimate children and collected nearly 50,000 pds a year from his vast holdings. Wolsey represented the church as it had become; certainly such abuses may not have turned most Englishmen from their faith. But when confronted with the forces of Protestantism, the church found precious few willing to die for their beliefs. After all, why would anyone die for a faith they didn't respect? When the king styled himself head of the church, many were perhaps relieved. Henry made no claim to a holy life, not like the churchman Wolsey; he also was shrewd enough to endow his monarchy with papal apparatus. From the 1530s on, the Tudor dynasty was even more divine and the machinery of state could enforce its divinity. [Source:<a class="external" href="http://englishhistory.net/tudor.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://englishhistory.net/tudor.html">http://englishhistory.net/tudor.html</a>]