Henry VII religion ideas and reform Flashcards
Why was the Catholic Church popular at the begging of Henry VIII’s reign ?
- was extremely wealthy as was the second largest land owner other than the king at the time, during the Tudor era with land came power therefore the church was extremely powerful
-seen luxurious and as an appealing organisation to join - the church often spent laivshly on the appearance of religious buildings and their interiors
-played a large role in people’s lives as provided a place for worship and hope
What were some of the weaknesses of the Catholic Church in England at the start of Henry VIII’s reign?
- extreme level of corruption and abuse within positions of power in the church eg. Priests displaying idleness, not leading a religiously devoted enough life,drunkenness, gambling and furthermore not educating members of the clergy well enough ( not fulfilling their job role to the best of their ability)
- many priests didn’t understand the importance of traditional Catholic practices such as mass and didn’t know the liturgy which was a catholic routine of worship.
What ar some examples to demonstrate that the church was in need of an extent of reform a the start of Henry VIII’s reign in 1509?
- lack of moral standards and poor living conditions for individuals such as nuns and monks who lived in religious housing
-benefit of the clergy meant that any member of the clergy who had committed serious crimes could seek refuge in a religious building such as a church and escape trial in secular ( church run) courts, as the church had a separate legal system which arguably created room for elements of corruption to sneak in. - clearical abuses such as simony,pluralism, nepotism, sexual misconduct and non residence were common
-many abbots had gotten extremley rich as a result of land rents and manages to maintain good standards of living whilst members of the clergy in religious housing suffered from a poor standard of living
What is a case study that demonstrates the poor state of the Catholic Church by 1509?
- the Hunne affair (1513)
- Richard gunner was a tradesman in London and when skated to pay large sums of monetary fees that the church requested to bury his late son he refused
- the church accused hunne of heresay and arrested him, hunne was found murder in his cell before the trial and was found guilty of heresay and the church took his belongings as a result of this
- the outrage of this case helped to increase the anti clerical atmosphere in London and caused an extreme level of uproar
Who were some opponents to the Catholic Church at the start of Henry VIII’s reign ?
- humanist reformers who felt that there was a need for a moral improvement of intellectual and moral standards of the clergy and the need to return to the original scriptures as many had been misinterpreted, in 1516 esmarus translated the original scriptures into Greek and these corrections helped to undermine the vulgate an reform the catholic church.
-the lollards were founded by the 14th century’s theologian Wycliffe, the ollards called for the translation of the bible to English,the closure of unsuitable monasteries and the secularisation of church property. There ideas very much influenced many 16th centenary reformers such as martin Luther and the creation of Lutheranism and many other Protestant reformers
Religious reformation across Europe - Lutheranism
- wanted to reform the theology ad practice of the Catholic Church and launched the Protestant reformation in many german speaking countries of the Holy Roman Empire
-Lutherist ideas threatened the ideas of the Catholic Church because, they felt that the authority of all matters of faith only came from the scripture whereas members of the catholic faith felt that the matters of faith lie in the scripture and tradition as well. Furthermore lutherists believed that the sale of indulgences should be banned as you cannot buy your way into heaven and pay for all of your sins whereas catholics advocated the idea of the sale of indulgences. - felt that there were only 2x valid sacraments of faith and also opposed the sale of indulges both of these thins went against the catholic belief.
Religious reform across Europe - what was Calvinism ?
- founded many off the early ideas of Christianity and accepted most of Luther’s ideas and put a greater emphasis on god’s unlimited power
- opposed the ideas of the catholic faith by believing that god is all powerful and knows who will end up in heaven or hell and opposed the sale of indulgences, wanted the crisp true/ the bible to be written in English not Latin which opposed catholic ideas, and believed that in order to end up in heaven you must carry out some acts of forgiveness such as baptism and doing the bread nad wine ritual at the beginning of religious practice, you couldn’t purchase god’s forgiveness
Reformation across Europe - who were the zwinglians and what did they believe ?
- were a group of Swiss religious reformers who followed their leader Zwingli and were far calling for a far more radical level of reform than the lutherans.
- their ideas opposed catholic faith as, they believed that the real presence of Christ entered the wine and bread rather than transubstanation which most catholics belived ( meant that the spirit of Christ temporarily entered the wine and bread ,and Zwingli French broke down parents of the bible into more accessible chunks of information during his sermons so that the clergy could gain a better undemanding of the scriptures, opposed the sale of indulgences, fasting and the celibacy of the bishops
Religious legislation introduced by Henry VIII, what was the act of ‘clergy collectively accused of praiemnuire and fined (1531)’?
- meant that the clergy were all accused of prioritising the church riches needs over that of the monarch which was considered to be treasonable/ a serious offence and that the king should be recognised as th supreme head of the Church of England as far as Christ allowed.
- was an unofficial version of the act of supremacy (1534), which wasn’t very effective at helping Henry to break from Rome as it wasn’t officially enforceable by Stoute law however Henry could accuse the clergy of praemenuire and convict them of treason
How did the act in conditional restraint of the Annates help Henry VIII to break from Rome and what was it?
- allowed Henry to conditionally hold the first fruits taxes paid by new members of the clearly from the pope in order to put the pope un dear pressure to Agee to his divorce from Cathrine of Aragon, claims that Henry will give the taxes back to the pope once this Action has been carried out and approved.
-effective to an extremely limited extent as Henry later has to introduce officials statue laws to make this a permenant action as the pope didn’t give in. - was an attempt at gaining power and financial gain
How did the act of the supplication against the oridinaries help Henry VIII to break from Rome? (March 1532)
- was a from of petition addressed by the House of Commons which was directed against abuses of the jursition of archbishops and bishops within England
- this act was fairly effective at helping Henry to break from Rome as it meant that individuals from abroad and those at home who were high up in the church cannot attack the crown as the power of the churches legal system has been. Reduced.
How did the act of submission of the clergy (may 1532) help Henry to break from Rome?
The act of the submission of the clearly helped Henry VIII to break from Rome as it increased the powers of the crown’s legal system and the crown in general whist reducing and effectively surrendered the independent law making function of the church. Therefore whilst the crown gained more legal power the church lost levels of legal power meaning that the state was more powerful than the church and indicating towards more of a move away from Catholicism and a move towards Protestantism.
- this act was extremely effective at helping Henry to break away from Rome as he can legally enforce it as it is a official act of Parliament and has removed the separate legal system of the church. However this did incrace opposition from inside the church ansd abroad as the pope issued a papal bull against Henry VIII allowing for any follower of the catholic faith to go against anything that Henry has ordered them to do
How did the act in restraint of appeals help Henry VIII i his movement away from the Catholic Church/ Rome as an entity ?
- the act of restraint of appeals (April 1533) meat that other foreign powers such as the pope cannot appeal to any decisions which have been previously made in England by the churches court of law when it existed. This was extremely effective in helping Henry top break from Rome as it meant that Henry VII could annul the marriage with COFA Himself and no one including the pope could oppose this action.
Henry managed to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon the following month in may 1533.
How did the act of dispensations (1534) help Henry in his break from Rome and his mission to annul his marriage from Cathrine of Aragon ‘ the kings great matter’?
The act of dispensations (1534)helped Henry to break from Rome as he now no inter needs to rely upon the approval of the pope in Rome for any changes which need to be made to eccelestisiastial law as these can now be made via the Archbishop of Canterbury who was a reformer so likely to make this process easier. additionally this law paved the way for future reliquary law to be changed / passsed as this can now be done easily within the county and opponents of this process wi;lll now be remove as they can be accused of praemenuire.
How did the act of succession (April 1534) help Henry VIII?
- marriage to cofa was void, the succession should be vested in his children from his marriage to Anne Boleyn therefore meaning that any children from his previous marriage to Cathrine of Aragon are illegitimate (reduces future threat ) ,anyone who denied the validity of his marriage to Anne Boleyn could be accused of treason and an oath should be taken by everyone to confirm their acceptance of the new marriage to Anne Boleyn.
- this law was extremely effective at helping Henry VIII in the aftermath of his divorce from Cathrine of Aragon as he could now ore easily identify treasonable offences and remove any opposition with ease, however whether this law would be enforacble easily is up fro debate and how can he monitor whether anyone has take or even broken their oaths of loyalty ?
