Religion, Ideas & Reform Under Henry VIII

Question 1

Who was the most significant humanist voice in English Education during Henry’s reign?

Answer 1

John Colet

Question 2

What examples prove that during Henry’s reign Renaissance ideas were influencing English culture?

Answer 2

• Knowledge of classical learning increased among the elite groups in society.
• A growing number of schools became influenced by humanism.
• Henry VIII saw himself as a promoter of humanism.
• The crown needed well-educated diplomats who could communicate with their counterparts in other countries in a fashionably elegant style.

Question 3

Who was the most important humanist writer during Henry VIII’s reign?

Answer 3

Thomas More

Question 4

Who did Henry hire to produce the tombs of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York?

Answer 4

An Italian sculpture Pierrot Torrigiano.

Both tombs were produced in the Renaissance style.

Question 5

The Lady Chapel is an example of what type of late fifteenth century style of architecture?

Answer 5

Gothic style architecture.

Question 6

What examples prove that the Church during Henry’s reign was corrupt?

Answer 6

Pluralism (the clergy received the profits of more than one post).

Non-residence (the clergy often received profits of a post but were not actually present to preform the duties associated with it).

Example of a corrupt clergyman - Cardinal Wolsey.

Question 7

What is anticlericalism?

Answer 7

The opposition to the political and social importance of the clergy - people opposed the influence of the Church regarding non-religious matters.

Question 8

When did the dissolution of the monasteries take place, when was the process complete?

Answer 8

1536 - 1541

Question 9

Why did the scope of dissolution (monasteries) widen after the Pilgrimage of Grace?

Answer 9

The heads of religious houses that had been implicated in the rebellion voluntarily surrendered to the crown.

Question 10

By when, were all of the religious houses dissolved?

Answer 10

By March 1540

Question 11

Why were the 1538 injunctions seen as radical?

Answer 11

Due to the injunctions, in 1538, pilgrimages and religious objects (such as relics and images) were condemned a ‘works devised by men’s fantasies.

Question 12

The 1538 Injunctions required each parish to obtain what?

Answer 12

An English Bible

Question 13

When did the first edition of the ‘Great Bible’ appear, and what was on the title page?

Answer 13

1539, and the title page showed Henry VIII graciously ‘offering’ the word of God on the one hand to Cranmer and his bishops, and on the other to Cromwell and other politicians.

Question 14

What was the 1543 Act for the Advancement of True Religion?

Answer 14

An act that restricted the public reading of the bible to upper-class males.

Question 15

What aspects of the English Church in 1547 remained the same as they were in 1509?

Answer 15

The hierarchy of the church remained largely intact.

There had been little attempt to alter the interior of churches.

Services remained largely in traditional form.

Question 16

What two events from 1539-40 weakened the cause of religious reform?

Answer 16

The passing of the Sic Articles Act in 1539.

The death of Cromwell in 1540.

Question 17

Examples that the Church changed by 1547.

Answer 17

• The jurisdiction of the Pope had been destroyed: the King was now a bigger authority head than the Pope, whose grip on the English Church was now weak.
• The monasteries had been dissolved.
• Many monastic buildings were falling into ruin.
• There had been a massive transfer of resources from the Church to the Crown.
• Religious culture had been influenced by humanism.
• Wider Renaissance culture had become firmly entrenched at court and in the circles of the wealthy and well educated.