Using examples from the Henric
Using examples from the Henrician Reformation of the 1530s; explain why religion has often been the cause of particularly bitter conflict.The causes and features of the Reformation have been the source of many differing views between historians; whether it arose solely from the ambitions of Henry VIII and his ministers or if it was an event that would have happened regardless, due to corruption within the church and the spread of Protestantism on the continent. It is also debatable how far the conflict was religious, how deep the opposition to the Reformation was, and why the opposition didn't escalate further. However the period was deeply momentous and religion - which was interweaved into all parts of life at the time - was the source of conflict for many different reasons. Historians generally fall into two categories regarding the Reformation, 'top-down' or 'bottom-up'. Top-down historians, such as Geoffrey Elton hold the traditional view that the Reformation was a product of high politics and state. The bottom-up school of historians was pioneered by A.G Dickens in his 1964 book 'The English Reformation', arguing that the actions and beliefs of the ordinary people would do more to explain England's conversion to Prot
Rumours had begun in 1535 that the government was planning on seizing the wealth of monasteries since the visitations for the compilation of the Valor Ecclesiatsicus by servants of Thomas Cromwell. However, Henry's motivation throughout was probably his concern over appearing to be victorious, especially in a dispute with Charles V of Spain, Catherine's nephew, who was very keen to see his aunt retain her position as Queen. Henry wanted allegiance to the crown to supersede that of Christendom as a whole and gain total control of all of his subjects, and so in 1530 he began an attack on the church by charging all clergy with praemunire. It is difficult for many modern people to comprehend the importance of religion in the sixteenth century, but the Church had such a hold over the entire population, the drastic changes Henry made such bitter conflict unavoidable. It could also be used to support arguments against the church, which were of course ever increasing at the time of the reformation. The Pilgrimage of Grace, as Keith Randell puts it, was 'one of the great might have beens of the sixteenth century'. It is often argued that the Henrician reformation was purely politically motivated and that Henry was using religious reasoning for political motives. It began with the 'Act in Restraint of Annates' in 1532 and finally came to a head in 1536 with the 'Act extinguishing the authority of the Bishop of Rome', which tied up all loose ends regarding the changes made in the previous four years, and severed all remaining links with Rome. Henry was declared Supreme Head of the Church of England and endowed with the former powers of the Pope with the 'Act of Supremacy' in 1534. Williamson "The Tudor Age" (Longmann 1991)Websites :Marilee Hanson "Contemporary description of Henry VIII" EnglishHistory. estantism (the so called 'popular Reformation') than that of Kings, Queens and politicians. Though in the long term this may not have been true; the dissolution of the smaller monasteries (over 100 of which were in the north) brought other problems - economic and social as well as religious- to a head and caused the popular discontent to erupt. Some historians follow the court faction thesis, and some the popular rebellion thesis.
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