Impacts of the ENGLISH REFORMATION Flashcards
1532- Submission of the Clergy
Pressured by Cromwell, the archbishop and bishops agreed in public that the king was their lawmaker. All Church laws had to have his approval. This was the first Public that the king, not the Pope, as master of the church. Soon afterwards payments of taxes to the Pope by bishops and other clergymen were ended and the clergy accepted that in the future the King, not the Pope, would appoint bishops.
1533- The Act in Restraint of Appeals to Rome
The Church had its own legal system, with the Pope as the final court of Appeal. This Act of Parliament restrained (prevented) anyone from appealing to the Pope against a decision made by the king. This shut the Pope out of English affairs and was a second step in cutting priests and monks off from Rome.
1534- The Act of Succession
This act declared:
a) The marriage between Henry and Catherine was invalid and their daughter Mary was barred from the succession.
b) Henry’s marriage to Anne was his first true marriage, so their daughter Elizabeth was first in line fro the throne.
c) It was treason to criticise Henry’s marriage to Anne or to deny its legality. Anyone who defended Catherine’s marriage to Henry could be executed.
In addition, everyone had to take an oath, swearing to accept this act and so declaring their support for Henry’s marriage to Anne.
This Act was intended to avoid the possibility of civil war after Henry’s death, if some people supported Mary was the heir and others supported Elizabeth, the kingdom would split into two, Perhaps into Catholic and Protestant armies.
1534- The Act of Supremacy
This Act said the King was now the ‘Supreme Head of the Church of England’. All the heads of the religious orders had to take an oath recognising the King as the Supreme Head. By doing so, they rejected the Pope’s authority in England. Anyone who did not take the oath was a traitor. The Oath therefore forced Henry’s opponents out into the open so Cromwell could take action against them.
1534- The Treason Act
The Treason Act listed crimes that were treason and were punished by execution. What was particularly important was that the accused did not need to have taken action against the King. Anyone could be convicted of treason simply for saying, for example, that the King or Queen was a heretic, for talking about supporting the Pope against the King or saying that the King’s religious changes were a sin.
1534- The Treason Act
The Treason Act listed crimes that were treason and were punished by execution. What was particularly important was that the accused did not need to have taken action against the King. Anyone could be convicted of treason simply for saying, for example, that the King or Queen was a heretic, for talking about supporting the Pope against the King or saying that the King’s religious changes were a sin.
1536- The Act of Ten Articles
The Catholic Church said that people had to take part in seven sacraments, the seven crucial ceremonies to save their souls from hell. This Act said that only three of the seven really mattered- baptism, the Eucharist and doing penance for sins. This Act said that only three of the seven really mattered - baptism, the Eucharist and doing penance for sins. This was an important move away from Catholic beliefs.
1538- Royal Injunctions to the Clergy
These orders marked the high point of Protestant reform:
o An English Bible was to be placed in every church. This was a clear move towards Protestantism because Protestants wanted everyone to be able to read the Bible, which they had not been able to do in Latin.
o Thomas Becket’s shrine in Canterbury Cathedral was destroyed. This led to the confiscation of money, gold and silver plate and jewellery left by worshippers over the centuries at different shrine to saints. This became known as the ‘stripping of the altars’. This was a clear challenge against Catholic beliefs and towards Protestant ones because it showed that only God and Christ should be worshipped, not saints.
o Holy relics were to be removed from churches, including all the saints’ bones, fragments of clothing and other objects associated with Catholic saints. This again showed that saints should not be worshipped. Only prayer to God and Christ could save people’s souls.
o All parishes were to keep a parish chest containing a book in which all births, marriages and deaths were recorded.
1539- The Act of Sic Articles
This was a radical shift back towards the beliefs and customs of the Catholic Church. Henry was having second thoughts about how far he wanted religious changes to go. This Act restored several key aspects of Catholic beliefs that had been banned earlier - Mass could be held in private and not just in public, for example. It also banned several Protestant practices, such as priests being allowed to marry. Two bishops with strong Protestant beliefs resigned as a result.
1539- The Act for the Dissolution of the Greater Monasteries
All the remaining Monasteries were destroyed, their lands seized and sold, their possessions confiscated by the Crown. This was important because the destruction could not be reversed and, once the land was sold, the people who bought this land had a vested interest in supporting Henry’s religious change.
