Act of Supremacy

Question 1

Background of the 1534 Act

Answer 1

1527 = Henry began to challenge the legitimacy of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, struggling to gain an annulment as Charles V (Catherine’s nephew) controlled the Pope.

1529 = Wolsey fell from power and was replaced by Cromwell who used Parli to break from the papacy and place Henry as the Head of the Church to annul from Catherine.

Question 2

Act in the Conditional Restraints of Annates (1932)
Economic reasons

Answer 2

Temporarily stopped the payments to Rome and awarded Church taxes to go to the King.

Question 3

Submission of the Clergy 1932
Power reasons

Answer 3

English churchmen agreed to accept Henry’s power over them.

Unable to pass canon (church Laws) or call convocation without permission.

Question 4

Act in the Restraint of the Appeals 1533
Legal reasons

Answer 4

Speeded up the Break from Rome, as Anne was pregnant and desperate to marry.

Stripped the Church of legal power - stopped legal appeals in Church cases sent to Rome.

Cromwell used ideas of Erastian kingship and papacy usurping the monarchy’s divine sovereignty (nobody is superior but God) - paving the way for Henry to become the Head of the Church.

Used the power of Parliament to create statute law - all must obey.

Question 5

What was the Act of Supremacy

Answer 5

Confirmed Henry VIII as the supreme head of the English Church, thereby severing ecclesiastical links with Rome.

No more than a law that accepted Henry’s assumption of royal supremacy. Process already began with the Submission of the Clergy and the Act in restraints of Appeals (passed for a year).

Relatively limited significance.

Question 6

Powers of the monarchy and parliament
Right to supremacy

Answer 6

Emphasises Henry’s right to supremacy being from God, not parliament.

Used Acts of Parliament to give the supremacy the authority of a statute law, so disobedience is punishable unlike using a proclamation.

This increased parlimentary power.

Question 7

Powers of the monarchy and parliament
Treason Act

Answer 7

Paved the way for a new treason Act - redefining treason to include speaking against Henry VIII and the royal supremacy.

Question 8

Powers of the monarchy and parliament
Cromwell + HVIII

Answer 8

Could demand all English subjects owe obedience to Henry VIII.

Enhanced parliament’s powers and made a precedent for future religious changes - monarchs must call parliament to introduce changes (like Mary I when she wanted to reverse the religious changes).

Also, parliament became omnicompetent as no area involved in the govt of the realm was outside its authority.

Question 9

How did the Act of Supremacy change the relationship between Church and State?

Answer 9

Reinforced royal control over the English Church via ensuring the allegiance of the clergy to the monarch, not the papacy. Oath of Supremacy (1534) required anyone taking public or church office in England to swear allegiance to the monarch as the Head.

1525 - Henry used his position to appoint Cromwell as Vicegerent in Spirituals - could enforce Henry’s wishes despite not being part of the clergy.

Abolished Church privileges like the Benefit of the Clergy and sanctuary. Therefore, finances, administration and legal matters were directly controlled by HVIII.

Question 10

Church-State relations between 1534-58
The work of Cromwell

Answer 10

Conducted the Valour Ecclesiasticus, a valuation of the church - a survey of the finances of the church in England, Wales and some parts of Ireland in 1535.

As Vicegerent in Spirituals, Cromwell masterminded the dissolution of the monasteries.

Question 11

Church-State relations between 1534 and 1558
Cromwell’s dissolution of the monasteries
Money

Answer 11

Act of Parliament 1536 dissolved smaller monasteries (income less than £200).

Later dissolved larger monasteries in 1540.

All former land and property of the Church would be transferred to the throne = acquired £1.3 million.

Question 12

Church-State relations between 1534 and 1558
Cromwell’s dissolution of the monasteries
Allegiance of the nobles

Answer 12

Church land was sold to nobles, like the Cecils and Spencer.

This increased monarch control and so the gentry and nobility had vested interest in maintaining the reformation.

Question 13

Church-State relations between 1534 and 1558
Cromwell’s dissolution of the monasteries
Patronage taken from the Church

Answer 13

Powers transferred from the clergy to squires and gentry - owned the land which they could sell or work on.

Question 14

Church-State relations between 1534 and 1558
Cromwell’s dissolusion of the monastries
Influence of Rome

Answer 14

Monasteries allied to the papacy disappeared from England.

The increase of monarch’s control over the Church had diminished the Pope’s influence.

Question 15

General Changes to the Church under Henry VIII

Answer 15

Cromwell was keen to promote doctrinal change:
- Ten Articles of Faith (1536) = decreased sacraments from 5 to 3. Issued 2 injunctions to the English Clergy in 1536 and 1538 to discourage superstitious practices (dubbed by Reformers) like pilgrimages.

After 1539, the pace of religious changes fell as H wasn’t a Reformer.
- Act of Six Articles (1539) = reinforced Catholic doctrine on transubstantiation and celibacy.

Although - no suggestion of a return back to Rome and HVIII remained the Head of the Church.

Question 16

Changes to the Church under Edward VI

Answer 16

Religious beliefs influenced by Reformer Ideas = passed the Act of Uniformity (1549).
- Enforced the use of Cromer’s Book of Common Prayer = made compulsory for all Church services.
- By 1552, Crommer produced a more Protestant version of the book.
- Replaced the Catholic stone altar with a wooden table.
- Moved away from transubstantiation and denied ‘real presence’ - changes altered the doctrine and nature of the English Church.
- The doctrine of 49 Articles made way for Liz’ 39 Articles.

Question 17

Changes to the Church under Mary I

Answer 17

Tried to reverse the religious changes but she underestimated the English Protestant’s determination, led by Sir Thomas Wyatt.
Unable to demand the return of former monastic land sold legally = led to the compromise agreement between the English Church and papacy to keep parliament and society happy but Mary I struggled to restore the Church’s former glory.
Appealed the Acts of Supremacy 1534 by her own Acts of Parliament.
Unable to make a lasting impression on Church-state relations. Died shortly to enforce changes, hence - reversed by Elizabeth.

Question 18

The Act of Supremacy (1559)

Answer 18

Established the royal supremacy, finding a middle way to satisfy both the Lords of Common, using parliament to maintain her position as the Supreme Head of the Church.

Question 19

Issue that arose when trying to pass the AOS 1559?

Answer 19

Half of the Lords was Catholic bishops, appointed by Mary I.
Solved the issue by introducing two separate bills - the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity.
Ensured that if the Act of Uniformity faced debate, the supremacy bill was unaffected = a compromise in terms of the doctrines it aimed to enforce.
Narrowly passed in the Lords (21-18) - due to the careful management and imprisonment of two Catholic bishops = the ‘mysterious absence’ of the Abbot of Westminster allowed the vote to pass.

Question 20

Injunctions of the Act of Supremacy 1559

Answer 20

Recusants reported to the Privy Council or JPs.

Banned unlicensed preaching (attacked radical puritans that may undermine authority).

Each parish had an English bible, reimposing the more radical 1552 prayer book.

Clergy wore the distinctive dress, including surplice.
Elizabeth made ‘Supreme Governor’, instead of Supreme Head to appease Catholics who disliked women in charge.

All officials swore oath of loyalty, or risk a loss of office (like HVIII) - later extended to include MPs and University students.

Fined 12d for those refusing to attend weekly church services.

Added wording to the communion service to appeal to both Protestants and Catholics.

Question 21

Impact of the 1559 Act of Supremacy

Answer 21

All but one of Mary’s bishops refused - replaced by a Protestant bishop = only 300/8000 bishops refused.

Liz’s governorship remained in place for the rest of her reign.

Proved a more durable development than Henry VIII’s supremacy and the only real threat was the Revolt of the Northern Earls in 1569.

Question 22

How did Elizabeth use her governorship?

Answer 22

To establish royal authority over the Church.

Determined to accept no changes to the 1559 settlement + only intervened when she disliked the Convocation’s performance.

Met to discuss the 49 Articles - reduced it to 38 Articles despite radical Protestants’ attempt to reduce it further to 29. Contrasts w/ before the Break as the doctrines were controlled by the Pope.

Question 23

Crown-Church 1559-1603

Answer 23

Although Elizabeth I saw her 1559 settlement as definitive - it didn’t stop the Puritan challenge.

Didn’t help that some Puritans, such as Edmund Grindal, held positions of high power within the Church of England - could use their power to support change.

Question 24

Crown-Church 1559-1603

Earliest Purtain challenge coming from the Church

Conforming about the settlement rule of vestments

Answer 24

Some radical clergy refused to conform to the settlement rule about vestments.

The Puritans preferred a simple style, but Liz saw this as a direct challenge to authority.

1566 = ordered Mathew Parker, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to enforce the rules -issued the Book of Advertisements which instructed the clergy on the correct form of dress. 37 London clergy resigned in protest but it stopped the controversy.

Question 25

Crown-Church 1559-1603

Earliest Purtain challenge coming from the Church

Local groups setting up ‘propheysing’

Answer 25

Local meetings of Puritans that aimed to encourage better education through Bible study and the clergy to practise the preaching of Sermons.

Considered dangerous = difficult to control what was said and she feared the spread of radical ideas that could challenge her settlement.

Ordered the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Grindal, to suppress it. However, he was sympathetic to their aims - Liz responded by suspending him and placing him under house arrest in 1577.

Preferred to have no Archbishop at all, rather than one who appeared to encourage dangerous challenges to her authority.

Question 26

Crown-Church 1559-1603

Further Purtain challenge coming from the parliament

Answer 26

Puritains used the privilege to introduce bills that would have changed the 1559 Elizabethan Settlement.

• 1571 = Strickland attempted to introduce a bill that would have changed the Prayer Book, but the Queen and Councillors intervened and the bill was suppressed.
• 1587 = Cope and Wentworth’s bill attempted to remove the structure of the Church of England, based on hierarchy. Sent to the Tower of London and Liz ordered the Speaker of the Commons to block any further discussions of the settlement.

Question 27

How did Puritain’s challenge diminish somewhat by 1589?

Answer 27

Key supporters of Puritan, such as Liz’s favourite, the Earl of Leicester, had died.

Parliament itself, afraid of political instability and threats to the Queen, passed the Act against Seditious Sectaries (1593) = ordered anyone who refused to attend COE services to leave the country and any returning exiles would be executed.

Showed their concern over threats to the religious settlement. However, the decrease of Puritan activity suggests the Act was so successful that Liz sustained royal control over the Church.