7. Religion, Ideas and Reform

Question 1

What renaissance ideas where present in English culture before Henry VIII came to the throne?

Answer 1

Knowledge of classical learning increased amongst society’s elites, a growing number of schools became influenced by humanist approaches to education and Henry VIII saw himself as a promoter of new ideas of humanism.

Question 2

What reforms were made to the church between 1532 and 1540?

Answer 2

Henry VIII assisted Thomas Cromwell and Archbishop Cranmer in withdrawing the English Church from the jurisdiction of the papacy.
They established the King as supreme head of the church, dissolved the monasteries and altered the Church’s doctrine and practices.

Question 3

What weaknesses were there in the church before reform?

Answer 3

Corruption, anticlericalism and the decline of monasticism

Question 4

How was there corruption in the church?

Answer 4

Corruption in the church included pluralism, simony, and non-residence
The crown used church offices as a way of rewarding those of its officials who were clergymen.

Question 5

How was there anticlericalism in the church?

Answer 5

Some common lawyers opposed the influence of canon (church) law and there were objections to the legal privileges of the clergy.
However, anticlericalism was less of a cause and more of a consequence of reformation.

Question 6

How was there a decline in monasticism?

Answer 6

Precedents for dissolving the monasteries already existed in the 1530s, started by Wolsey in the 1520s.
Monasticism had somewhat lost its direction and larger monasteries had taken on the function of businesses with large resources of land.

Question 7

How was the king influenced by humanism?

Answer 7

Some reformers had humanist connections such as Archbishop Cranmer.
The king turned to humanists such as John Cheke to tutor his heir Edward.
His last wife, Catherine Parr had a humanist education.

Question 8

What changes were made to the church’s structure?

Answer 8

The King became the supreme head of the church, the king appointed Cromwell as Vicegerent in Spirituals in 1534, six new diocese were created in an attempt to improve church administration although one was soon abolished.

Question 9

How did Henry become supreme head of the church?

Answer 9

It was confirmed by an Act of Supremacy in 1534.

Question 10

What was the significance of Cromwell becoming Vicegerent in Spirituals?

Answer 10

This meant Cromwell outranked all archbishops and bishops and gave him considerable power over the church.

Question 11

What was the Valor Ecclesiasticus?

Answer 11

A survey set up by Cromwell in 1535 to discover how wealthy the church was.
It marked the beginning of the dissolution of the monasteries.

Question 12

When was the Act to dissolve the smaller monasteries?

Answer 12

1536.
This aimed to improve the quality of monasticism as it was argued that smaller religious houses had allowed the standards to slip.

Question 13

When was the Act to dissolve the remaining monasteries?

Answer 13

1539

It was probably Cromwell’s intention all along to dissolve all the monasteries.

Question 14

When had all religious houses been dissolved?

Answer 14

1540

Question 15

When did the attack on religious practices begin?

Answer 15

1536 with the issue of the first set of religious injunctions.
These placed a restriction on the number of holy days and discouraged pilgrimages.

Question 16

When were the second set of religious injunctions passed?

Answer 16

1538 which condemned pilgrimage and veneration of relics and images.

Question 17

When did the first edition of the Great Bible appear?

Answer 17

1539 this was written in English, allowing many more people to read it.
It allowed Henry to control the imagery of religion and the spread of religious ideals.

Question 18

What was The Act for the Advancement of True Religion?

Answer 18

Passed in 1543 it restricted public readings of the bible to upper-class males.
This reversed some of the progress made with the release of the Bible.
This gave Henry more control over the spread of religious ideology.

Question 19

What changes were made to doctrine?

Answer 19

These changes were less important than challenge to religious practice.
These changes included...
Ten Articles (1536)
Bishops' Book (1537)
Six Articles Act (1539)
King's Book (1543)

Question 20

What was the significance of Ten Articles?

Answer 20

Only three sacraments baptism, penance and Eucharist were seen as necessary.
Confession (a catholic practice) was praised.
This showed the Lutheran and Catholic influences over doctrine.

Question 21

What was the significance of Six Articles?

Answer 21

Reasserted Catholic Doctrine.
Denial of transubstantiation was deemed heretical.
This was based on the argument that there had been too much religious upheaval and tried to restore order.

Question 22

What continuity was there before and after reformation?

Answer 22

The hierarchy of the church remained intact, the interior of churches and church services remained the same.
The passing the the Six Articles and the fall of Cromwell in 1540 weakened the course of religious reform.

Question 23

What changes were made before and after reformation?

Answer 23

Jurisdiction of the Pope was destroyed, the king’s authority increased, monasteries were dissolved, there was a large transfer of resources from church to crown, parish churches were required to possess Bibles in English (though many did not), religious culture was influenced by humanism