Henry VIII

Question 1

1524

Answer 1

Henry ended marital relations with Catherine.

Question 2

1525

Answer 2

Rumours spread that the French were questioning Mary’s legitimacy.

Question 3

1526

Answer 3

Henry decides to seek an end to his marriage. He becomes interest in Anne Boleyn. Preceedings begin in secret for the annulment of Henry and Catherine’s marriage.
Tyndale translates Bible into English.

Question 4

1527

Answer 4

Spanish ambassador reports to Spain that Henry is seeking to have his marriage annulled.

Question 5

1529

Answer 5

Henry becomes king.
Court held at Blackfriars to determine the validity of the marriage of Henry and Catherine.
Parliament summoned - start of Reformation Parliament.
Act to remove benefit of clergy.
Fall of Wolsey.
Simon Fish publishes A Supplication for the Beggars.

Question 6

1530

Answer 6

Charge of Praemunire against the clergy.

Thomas Cromwell joins the King’s council.

Question 7

1531

Answer 7

Convocation orders payment of £100,000.

Pope Clement IV orders Henry not to remarry.

Question 8

1532

Answer 8

Act to remove Annates.
Supplication of the Ordinaries.
Submission of the clergy.
Henry gains French support to marry Anne Boleyn.

Question 9

1533

Answer 9

Act in restraint of Appeals.
Thomas Cranmer made Archbishop of Canterbury.
Henry marries Anne Boleyn.
Anne is crowned Queen.
Birth of princess Elizabeth.
Catherine banished from court. Marriage between Henry and Catherine declared null and void.

Question 10

1534

Answer 10

Paul III becomes Pope.
Act forbidding papal dispensation and payment of Peter's Pence.
Act of Supremacy.
First Act of Succession.
Treason Act.
Elizabeth Barton executed.

Question 11

1535

Answer 11

More and Fisher executed.
Carthusian monks executed.
Cromwell appointed vice-gerent.
Visitation of smaller monasteries.

Question 12

1536

Answer 12

Reformation Parliament dissolved.
Act for the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries.
Act of Ten Articles.
Catherine dies.
Anne miscarries male child. Anne executed.
Henry marries Jane Seymour.
Lincolnshire Rising and the Pilgrimage of Grace.

Question 13

1537

Answer 13

Bishop's Book published.
Bigod rebellion.
Executions following the PoG.
Birth of prince Ed.
Death of Queen Jane.

Question 14

1538

Answer 14

Dissolution of larger monasteries begins.
Henry excommunicated by the Pope.
Royal injunctions issued.
France and Holy Roman Empire sign Treaty of Nice.

Question 15

1539

Answer 15

Act for the Dissolution of the Greater Monasteries.
Act of the Six Articles.
Publication of the Great Bible in English.

Question 16

1540

Answer 16

All monastic houses dissolved.
English Bible placed in parish churches.
Fall and execution of Cromwell.
Henry marries Anne of Cleves but it gets annuled.
Henry marries Catherine Howard.

Question 17

1541

Answer 17

Abolition of shrines.
Abolition of Holy Days.
Progress to York.
James V fails to meet Henry.

Question 18

1542

Answer 18

Execution of Catherine Howard.

War against Scotland.

Question 19

1543

Answer 19

King's Book published.
Reading of the Bible restricted. 
Plot against Cranmer foiled.
Henry marries Catherine Parr.
Treaty of Greenwich signed with Scotland.
Alliance with HRE.

Question 20

1544

Answer 20

English litany introduced.
Invasion of France.
Seizure of Boulogne.
Charles V makes peace with France.

Question 21

1545

Answer 21

King calls for religious unity in Parliament.
Chantries Act passed.
Threat of French invasion.
Sinking of Mary Rose.

Question 22

1546

Answer 22

Execution of Anne Askew.
Henry’s will drawn up.
Anglo-French truce.

Question 23

1547

Answer 23

Act of the Six Articles repealed.
Treason Act repealed.
Issue of injunctions to clergy.
Earl of Surrey executed.
Death of Henry VIII.
Edward proclaimed King. 
Somerset appointed Protector.
Invasion of Scotland. 
English army defeats Scots at Battle of Pinkie.

Question 24

Who was Henry dependent on?

Answer 24

• Henry was dependent on senior figures, such as Cardinal Wolsey to provide advice on government.
• As the principal adviser to the King, Wolsey was responsible for the day to day gov of the country.
• As Archbishop of York, he held the second most important position in the Church in England.
• He also had the title legatus a latere which gave him the right to act on behalf of the Pope though not in all things.
• He was also Lord Chancellor which was the most powerful position in the English gov.
• Wolsey was the highest ranked churchman and politician in Europe.
• From 1514 Wolsey was Henry’s chief minister.

Question 25

What was the negative thing about Wolsey?

Answer 25

-Wolsey exploited his position as Henry’s first minister and his role in the Church to achieve outcomes that enhanced both Henry’s position and his own.

Question 26

What were English kings keen to do?

Answer 26

-English Kings were keen to demonstrate their allegiance to the Catholic Church – eg Henry’s father built the Lady Chapel at Westminster.

Question 27

Structure of Church in England at the start of the 16th century

Answer 27

1. The papacy: office of the Pope – God’s representative on Earth
2. The secular clergy – clergy who provided religious services to the laity
3. Roman curia – administered the Church
4. Cardinals – senior churchmen, elected Popes
5. Archbishops - senior churchmen in each country
6. Bishops – regional leaders of the Church
7. Parish Priests - ministered to each congregation, special rights kept them apart from the laity
8. Other orders - deacons regarded as clergy

Question 28

What did Catholic Churches play a central role in?

Answer 28

-Catholic Church played a central part in politics. Abbots and bishops sat in House of Lords. They were instrumental in advising the King. Henry rewarded his advisers and gave them prestige.

Question 29

What was canon law?

Answer 29

-Church law.

Question 30

How important was the Pope?

Answer 30

-The Pope acted as final arbiter in cases based on canon law. The Pope had the authority to excommunicate the King if heretic of tyrant.

Question 31

How important was Church in everyday life?

Answer 31

-The Church had authority over the whole population. Everyone was a parishioner in one of the 9000 parishes in England. People attended Church every Sunday where they celebrated the liturgy.
Henry was dependent on the Church as a means of social control.

• The Church was the physical centre of each parish and each parishioner would know the priest. Many parishioners were illiterate. Ten Commandments provided a clear statement of what the godly should and should not do.
• The importance of giving to the poor was constantly stressed.

Question 32

What is liturgy?

Answer 32

-Liturgy is the collective term for the practices of the Church.

Question 33

What was the Church in England responsible for?

Answer 33

• The Church in England was responsible for collecting Church taxes. It has been estimated that in the 1520s Rome received approx £4500 per year in taxation and religious fees from England, whereas Henry was amassing £12,500 per year from Church taxes.
• Ordinary people also paid taxes to the Church. Every house in England paid an annual tax of one penny to Rome known as Peter’s Pence. The most significant tax paid was the annual tithe. Everyone was required to pay a tenth of what they had earned that year to the Church –could include crops.

Question 34

What made a community?

Answer 34

-Communities were served by the parish Church and monastic orders. Monasteries were extremely wealthy and had great economic power. Most parishes were less than four miles from a monastery or a priory. Individual monks had to swear an oath of poverty but some of the institutions were very rich. Members of the nobility and gentry would give gifts. The poor might become lay brothers working in the monastery.

Question 35

What could Church courts do?

Answer 35

• The Church courts could fine an individual for non-attendance at Church and for breaking the Ten Commandments. Cases of slander and adultery were brought before the Church courts. Those found guilty could be fined or imprisoned but they could not be executed except for the charge of heresy.
• Church courts were also used for proving wills. As people had more possessions to leave, wills became more frequent. Common for people to leave significant amounts to the Church.

Question 36

Why was the threat of heresy so severe?

Answer 36

-The threat of heresy was so severe. It was an act against the beliefs and teachings of the Church. Heretics cast off religion. Minor cases might incur fines but what every Christian feared was excom which was very serious. An individual could not attend a Church service, obtain forgiveness for their sings or participate in Mass. Those who refused to renounce their beliefs could be burned in a public ceremony. It was a severe punishment, but it was meant to save your soul and set it free.

Question 37

Parish Churches

Answer 37

• Most were built of stone.
• It was strictly divided into areas where ordinary people could go and a separate part for the choir and the clergy.
• The high altar was used for masses held on Sundays, Holy Days or reserved sacraments. During the week side altars were used, often in chantry chapels. Masses were said for souls of the dead. The Church was at the centre of the parish. There were no pews. Old and sick people would ‘go to the wall’ and sit on the benches.
• Village meetings, markets and other activities were held there. It could accommodate people and animals in times of severe weather.
• Wealthy people had an opportunity to impress other members of the community with their wealth and piety. The Churches were willing to receive gifts. It would indicate how generous someone is where some givers may have name recorded in stone.

Question 38

What was the role of monasteries in the community?

Answer 38

• They were known as ‘abbey’ or ‘priory’ or ‘nunnery’.
• In 1509 when Henry became King there were more than 850 of them.
• In rural areas they were known as abbeys and in towns they were known as priories. Rural abbeys were places of prayer and learning.
• Monks worked within the community and they helped the poor and sick. Monasteries were at the forefront of the fight against disease. Monks provided education to sons of the nobility and gentry.
• Monasteries were large land-holdings in England.
• The abbeys were producers of iron. The monasteries were major producers of wool, and they were renowned for the selective breeding of sheep to improve productivity.
• Roche Abbey in Yorkshire had acquired a variety of possessions, such as arable and pastoral land, woodland, mills and fisheries, to sustain a self-sufficient community and give help to the neighbourhood. The abbey’s holdings stretched across the 5 counties of Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Lancashire.

Question 39

What was the Church’s spiritual role?

Answer 39

• People strongly believed that you could only get to heaven by going to Church, which increases the importance of the Church.
• Church wardens were chosen from the members of the congregation and usually would be respectable people who could read and write.

Question 40

What are chantries used for?

Answer 40

-Chantries are places where prayers were said for the dead – only for the very rich.

Question 41

What was the importance of guilds?

Answer 41

• Guild is a communal facility. The guild would ensure that prayers were regularly said for a dead person’s soul and it also provided a funeral with a requiem mass.
• The guilds played an active part in religious festivals; the importance of individual guilds could determine their place in the Corpus Christi procession.
• Guilds were highly visible but not something you could find in a farming community – only wealthy merchants had them.
• Guilds were also concerned in caring for the living. The social aspect of it was that it had funds that everyone would pay into and a guild would pay a yearly pension to the widow to help them when their husband dies.

Question 42

Belief in heaven, hell and purgatory

Answer 42

• Indulgences became the worst of what was known of the Roman Catholic Church. It was a huge money maker for the Catholic Church. There were many criticisms of indulgences by this time. People believed that they were born with original sin and that during life people would become more sinful. Time spent on earth was seen as a preparation for eternal life. If people committed sins, Catholics believed that they would spend time in purgatory where they would be judged before going to heaven. People believed that their time of purgatory could be reduced through earning indulgences, which might involve going on a pilgrimage or praying to a saint or touching the relics of a saint. Having masses said for the souls of the dead said on your behalf could also reduce time spent in purgatory. Taking part in all of the rituals of the Church would also get them to heaven sooner – this is why it was so important for everyday life. Also receiving sacraments, doing good works and prayer would all affect the soul after death. Salvation or justification – justifying place in heaven through faith or good works – any good works meant that sins were paid off. Doom painting were made to scare people of the idea of hell.

Question 43

Pilgrimages

Answer 43

-Two main sites for pilgrimage were Canterbury and Walsingham. People who went on pilgrimages were wealthy. It was a long journey so people who were poor wouldn’t get time off work. And if you were wealthy but didn’t want hardship you could get someone to go for you. Serious pilgrims would walk and show humility and shame – they wore clothing that was uncomfortable. E.g. Henry VII responsible for Thomas Becket’s death went bare foot and wore a hair shirt to go see the Pope. Some pilgrimages were very dangerous and would involve going to another country. Pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela in Spain would wear cockle shells. The very wealthy would buy relics of the saint. The pilgrimage to the relic of the saint would count as an indulgence. People would make pilgrimages to seek a cure for an illness or disease.

Question 44

The seven sacraments

Answer 44

-The seven sacraments were key to the Catholic faith. They took place throughout a person’s life. The most important was Mass. Through the priest’s prayers Catholics believed a transformation occurred in which the bread and wine became the body and blood of Christ – transubstantiation. The Laity would take the bread once a year at Easter and never take the wine as it was only consumed by the priest. The seven sacraments affected everyone in the country and united people. They are Catholic religious ceremonies or rites by which people received the grace of God: baptism, confirmation, marriage, ordination, confession, the Mass and last rites.

Question 45

What was the role of the priesthood?

Answer 45

• The priest was central to the spiritual lives of members of the Church.
• Members of the Church would know the priest very well and the priest would know them.
• People would go to church every week and for Saints Days.
• The parish was a very close community.
• The priest was also central to the forgiveness of sins. Everyone had to be purged of their sins in preparation for the annual Easter Mass.
• The parish priest was also essential for confession and other sacraments. The priest would hear the confession of his parishioners and was able to forgive sins on completion of penances. Only the priest was able to perform the sacrament of baptism, marriage and last rites – all of these were necessary. The priest was the most essential person in the Church even though he wasn’t the highest paid.
• Up to 1529 the Bible was always in Latin. Most of the population could not read or write so they relied on the parish priest to read it and interpret the word of God for his congregation. The priest had to be able to read and write.

Question 46

How many universities were there in England?

Answer 46

• Only 2 universities in England – Oxford and Cambridge – Oxbridge.
• If someone did have the ability to read and write then they would go to university for training in Church, legal profession or merchant.

Question 47

What was the growth of literacy due to?

Answer 47

• To some extent the growth of literacy was due to the increase in Grammar Schools.
• The growth of literacy was also due to the growth of the printing press which meant that there was more availability of books.

Question 48

Printing press

Answer 48

• Before the printing press books were written by hand by monks and they were expensive to buy.
• The printing press was developed in Germany in 1450. A single press produced 3600 pages a day. The first book that was printed in English was published in 1475.
• The printing press made books more accessible, including religious books, to people who couldn’t access them before.
• 100s of people could own the same books.
• Bibles weren’t translated from Latin to English because it would be heresy.
• The books were imported from the continent, often by merchants who traded in woollen cloth out of Antwerp. Antwerp was a very important trading partner. Merchants were taking things and bringing extra things back to get more money. The printing press had an impact on the role of the priesthood because merchants could have their own Bible or Book of Hours and they read the word of God themselves, so the role of the priest gets less important.

Question 49

What was there a growing market for?

Answer 49

-There was a growing market for narrative tales such as the Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer. It had been written in the late 14th century outlining the stories told by a group of pilgrims travelling from London to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury. Each part is written by a different person taking part in a pilgrimage. The point of it was what it showed of people’s views of the Church. The most famous character was called a pardoner and pardoners faked relics – people knew that the pilgrims were dodgy and relics fake – people were becoming aware and suspicious and didn’t quite trust the Church anymore. Books about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were also popular.

Question 50

What was lollardy?

Answer 50

• Lollardy was a precursor of Protestant movement. The ideas are almost identical. In the 14th century it was a term of abuse given to followers of John Wycliffe, which suggested that people were talking rubbish. By the reign of Henry, it had become an underground movement. Lollards were mainly craftsmen and merchants and were literate. Lollards were regarded as heretics. They believed that Christianity should not be based on interpretations of priests, everyone should have an English Bible and should be allowed to make their own interpretations – all of these ideas are early signs of Protestant beliefs and were later adopted by them. There was a clear emphasis on the individual and their relationship with God. Rejected idea of a priest and didn’t feel that they had to confess sins directly to God. They did not believe in transubstantiation. They also believed in predestination – belief that the fate of an individual’s soul either to go to heaven or hell was decided before the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. These were the ‘elect’. They did go to Church but believed that only those who rejected the beliefs of the Catholic Church could go to heaven.

Question 51

Who was John Wycliffe?

Answer 51

-John Wycliffe – educated at Oxford and in many ways was influenced by Renaissance ideas of returning to original texts and the questioning of beliefs. His greatest work, Summa Theologiae, explored issues of religious beliefs and attacked both monasticism and the Pope. Wycliffe undertook a translation of the Bible into English. Although he was called to account by the Church authorities for his views on the Church courts, he was not declared a heretic.

Question 52

Impact of lollardy on religious belief and practice

Answer 52

-all Lollards were heretics and the punishment was death. For this reason, support for the movement decreased – especially amongst nobility and gentry. People who privately had these views had to place themselves above suspicion by attending services in the parish Church. In the 16th century there was a small number of surviving groups of Lollards in High Wycombe. There was a continuation of radical ideas among groups of artisans – could read and had good trade links to help them. These groups questioned the role of the priest and might have used English Bibles from Wycliffe.

Question 53

What was lutheranism?

Answer 53

• People in England started to believe in views which were articulated by Martin Luther and his followers from 1517 including his belief that the soul was benefitted by faith alone, rather than by good works encouraged by the Catholic Church.
• Luther wanted to change European religion in a revolutionary way during the 16th century. The arrival of Lutheran ideas in England relates to the circulation of books. E.g. an Oxford bookseller recorded the sale of 12 books by Luther in 1520 and in that same year a public burning of Lutheran books was held in Cambridge. Oxford and Cambridge were the only 2 universities – wanted to reach an educated and literate audience. The vast majority of people went to university to study religion and then have a career in the Church.

Question 54

Who were the views of Luther taken up by?

Answer 54

-Views of Luther were taken up by William Tyndale and Simon Fish. William Tyndale translated the Bible into English. This was made possible through using Gutenberg’s movable type press which was originally published abroad because it was too dangerous to publish it in England. Then it would be smuggled into England through traders.

Question 55

Link between lutheranism and royal supremacy

Answer 55

• People like Luther and Tyndale began to question the relationship between the Church and the monarch. Calls were made for the King to become Head of the Church to bring about religious change as waiting for the Pope to make change is too long – won’t happen. King will do it quickly.
• Tyndale wrote the ‘obedience of a Christian man’ and in it he was optimistic that a monarch would bring about important religious changes in his own country.
• The English lawyer and writer Christopher St Germain argued that real authority over the Church in England came not from the Pope, but from the King.

Question 56

How many people supported lutheranism?

Answer 56

-There weren’t many people in England who were attracted by ideas of Luther – none of the nobility were supporters. However, Thomas Cranmer and Thomas Cromwell, Henry’s key advisers in the 30s, were influenced by Luther.

Question 57

What did the growth in the printing press lead to?

Answer 57

-Growth in printing press led to humanism – people pushing for change and leading reformation.

Question 58

What did the Church do in response to humanism?

Answer 58

-Church encouraged humanism. Thought it was a good thing if it could bring people together.

Question 59

What is humanism?

Answer 59

• Humanism is a movement where people are going back to older original writing – such as those written by the Saints – especially the Latin and Greek literature to reinterpret them and get back to original meaning. All about the renaissance. It showed that some people didn’t know a lot about what they were preaching – passing on by word of mouth – some people couldn’t go back to original text. How Bible in original form should influence people.
• Humanists believe in the basic principles of the Catholic faith. E.g. they believe in free will.
• Humanists were challenging the way in which Catholics practiced their religion - ‘reform from within’.

Question 60

Who were key humanists?

Answer 60

• Erasmus, Thomas More and John Colet: Erasmus wrote in form of conversation on biblical texts. Erasmus was a Dutchman who did work on New Testament. He criticised some Catholic practices and was a hypochondriac – convinced he was always ill. Colet was a friend of Erasmus and a Churchman. More was a devout Catholic – faith was incredibly strong – remember humanists not going against Church. He was a troubled soul and committed frequent self-flagellation – he punished himself. Thomas More made up a utopia – ideal world – and describes what the ideal country would be like e.g. food and work shared out fairly.
• Henry and Catherine of Aragon considered themselves humanists. Henry’s ideals were to purify the Church and remove superstition. Henry was supportive of getting back to original meaning. Martin Luther had criticised the Church. Henry wrote a defence-counter argument of these criticisms with Thomas More’s help. He was writing in defence of the Roman Catholic Church, so this shows his belief. This is the same man who later breaks away from the RC Church. Luther wrote a counter attack and said that Henry was being a stooge for the Church. More was given the task of constructing a response and gave an extremely strong attack saying that Luther was a heretic and a pervert – taking people away from true religion – and corrupting morals. As a reward for Henry’s defence of the seven sacraments he was given the title ‘Defender of the Faith’.

Question 61

What was simony?

Answer 61

-Simony was the sale of an ecclesiastical title – the priest would sell his position to the person who was willing to pay the most, rather than to the most learned. They were always complaints of clergy having bought their office. Buying and selling of such offices had always been an offence, but it was very hard to legislate against.

Question 62

What was nepotism?

Answer 62

-Nepotism was the promotion of members of one’s family to lucrative positions rather than allocating positions on ability. E.g. son of Cardinal Wolsey – Thomas Wynter was made Provost of Beverley Minister and Dean of Wells.

Question 63

What was absenteeism?

Answer 63

-Absenteeism was where a priest would hold the right to more than one parish in order to increase their incomes. This was also known as pluralism. The priest would be absent from one but take money from both and employ a partially educated cleric to take the services in his place. These uneducated people did not live up to the ideals of the Church and expectations of the people. Their wages were less than those earned as an agricultural labourer. E.g. Thomas Magnus – he was Archdeacon of the East Riding of Yorkshire and acquired canonries at Lincoln and Windsor at the same time.

Question 64

The Hunne case 1514

Answer 64

-Richard Hunne was a merchant tailor and freeman of the City of London. In December 1514 he was found dead in a church cell in Lollard’s Tower in Old St Paul’s - controversial. He was under suspicion of heresy, as some heretical books had been found at his home. He also refused to give mortuary fee and was involved in a property dispute. He had a record of trouble with the Church. Those who murdered him made it look like he ‘’hanged himself’’ - tried to make it seem as if it was remorse – showed signs of struggle but actually murdered because he had beliefs that the Church was afraid of and they did not want him to stand up in court and say his beliefs so he was dramatically silenced. The clergyman and two goalers accused to murdering Hunne were never brought to trial and this was seen as the Church protecting its own. Hunne’s body was burnt at Smithfield as the body of a heretic even though he had not been convicted of heresy – stronger figure because he becomes a martyr. This case has been seen as a major example of popular anticlericalism but there were no riots or demonstrations against the Church on Hunne’s behalf at the time or afterwards. Hunne case was used as an example of what was wrong with the Church – against new ideas – subject of debate in Parliament in 1515 and again in the Reformation Parliament in 1529.

Question 65

Colet’s sermon 1511

Answer 65

-John Colet, a humanist and Dean of St Paul’s, preached a sermon where he attacked what he saw as the major problems and abuses within the Church. It was aimed at the clergy – he claimed they were unduly ambitious and that they were guilty of moral laxity when they moved up the hierarchy. They were also greedy and, covetous, and took too much interest in worldly affairs. Colet’s criticism was generalised, traditional and exaggerated. Colet seems to be a lone voice. But this sermon does show that there were people who wanted to see change. In the 1510s and 1520s the Church in England was dominated by the power and person of the king – royal control of Church appointments.