The English Split

Before

As developed under William the Conqueror in 1066, England became a politically unified entity at an earlier date than other European countries. One of the effects was that the units of government, both of church and state, were comparatively large.

Origins of Division

Later, a quarrel between Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and King Henry II of England, took place from 1163 to 1170. King Henry II appointed his chancellor, Thomas Becket, as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162. This appointment was made to replace Theobald of Bec,

the previous archbishop, who had died in 1161. Henry hoped that by appointing his chancellor, with whom he had very good relations, that royal supremacy over the English Church would be declared and royal rights over the Church would return to what they had been in the days of Henry's grandfather.

Although a number of small conflicts contributed to the dispute, the main source of conflict was over what to do with clergy who committed secular crimes. Because even those men who took minor orders were considered clergy, the quarrel potentially covered up to one-fifth of the male population of England at the time. Becket held the position that all clergy, whether only in minor orders or not, were not to be dealt with by secular powers, and that only the ecclesiastical hierarchy could judge them for crimes, even those that were secular in nature. Henry, however, felt that this position deprived him of the ability to govern effectively, and also undercut law and order in England. Henry held that the laws and customs of England supported his position, and that Theobald of Bec, the previous archbishop, had admitted in 1154 to the papacy that the English custom was to allow secular courts to try clerks accused of crimes.

Among the other issues between the king and the archbishop were the actions Becket took to recover lands lost to the archdiocese, some of which he reacquired with a royal writ that authorised the archbishop to restore any alienated lands. His high-handedness caused many complaints to the king, and added to the dispute. Another disagreement involved Henry's attempts to collect sheriff's aid in 1163. Becket argued that the aid was a free will offering to the sheriffs, and could not be compelled. Yet another contributing factor was Becket's excommunication of a royal tenant-in-chief who had resisted the archbishop's attempt to install a clerk in a church where the tenant claimed the right to name the appointment. A still later quarrel between the king and Becket resulted in Becket giving way to the king's statement that the custom of England was that no tenant-in-chief could be banished without royal permission.

Although little actually changed from the position that Henry took early in the dispute – he was still able to appoint his own choices as bishops, as well as enjoying many of the rights King Henry I had enjoyed in the Church – the controversy was one of a number of similar disputes between the papacy and secular governments in the 12th century.

Henry VIII

The Protestant Reformation in England was largely a political and personal reform movement. Henry VIII, Tudor King of England from 1509-1547, was a devout Catholic. In 1521, he was awarded the title “Defender of the Faith” by Pope Leo X for his written attacks against Luther.

The Anglican Church came into being during the Reformation. Henry VIII’s immediate problem in the 1520s was the lack of a male heir. After eighteen years of marriage, he had only a sickly daughter and an illegitimate son. With Catherine of Aragon, Henry had six children, only one of whom, a daughter, Mary, survived through infancy. Henry believed this was a sign the marriage was ill fated, and when she was 42, had concluded that she would have no more children. His only hope for the future of his dynasty seemed to be a new marriage with another queen. This would require an annulment of his marriage to Catherine. In 1527, he appealed to the pope, asking for the annulment.

Catherine had first been the wife of Henry's deceased brother Arthur. Her marriage to Henry had required a papal dispensation, based on her oath that the first marriage had never been consummated. In 1534, Henry wanted to divorce Catherine so that he could marry his new love, Anne Boleyn, who he hoped would give him a son.

At the time, England was a Catholic country and the head of the Church, Pope Clement VII, would not grant annulment and allow divorce, as the Catholic faith believed in marriage for life. If Henry went ahead and announced that he was allowing himself a divorce, the pope could excommunicate him. This meant that under Catholic Church law, your soul could never get to Heaven. At the time, this was a very real fear, and a threat which the Catholic Church used to keep people under its control.

Henry tried to appeal to the pope so that he might get a “Papal Dispensation”. Meaning that the pope would allow Henry a divorce purely because Henry was king of England, but that it would not affect the way the Catholic Church banned divorce for others. The pope refused.

In 1533, Henry secretly married Anne Boleyn, who was pregnant with their child, a move that provoked Clement to excommunicate Henry.

Making the New Church

Henry VIII then set up the Church of England and made all Church officials swear that he was its leader so he could arrange his own divorce. This process was called the reformation and was confirmed by Act of Supremacy, which named him supreme head of the Church in England (1534). Eventually, this act resulted in the creation of the Anglican Church, which adopted some of the changes of other Protestant reformers but remained very close to traditional Catholic doctrine and ritual.

There were monks not loyal to Henry with vast amounts of wealth. He declared any monks who spoke against him to be traitors and had them executed. Between 1536 and 1540, Henry VIII then ordered the closing down of all: Roman Catholic abbeys, monasteries and convents across his kingdom. He took ownership of all their possessions, had their buildings pulled down and sold off all their land. This act became known as the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It stopped monks and nuns from opposing him and it also meant that Henry could share the monasteries' wealth with his followers.

Henry, to make the Dissolution appear to be backed by law, sent government officials to report on the monk’s actions. This was organised by chief minister, Thomas Cromwell. Anything to discredit the monks was considered useful. Sometimes, the monks were asked, “Do you keep all of your vows?” If the monks answered “Yes”, but had taken a vow of silence, they had not kept all of their vows. If they refused to answer because of their vow of silence, they would be accused of hiding something or failing to help the king.

Peoples Response

There were no great protests, as many felt that Henry would ease up on taking money from them. Much of the population were angry at the way the Roman Catholic Church had used them as a source of money. To get married, to get a child baptised (needed if you were to go to Heaven – the Catholic Church preached), to bury dead on their land (your soul could only go to Heaven if you were buried on Holy Ground), you had to pay. Henry knew of the Catholic Church’s unpopularity and used this to his advantage.

Few people in England were sorry to see the monasteries go, and few monks protested, as they were given pensions or jobs where their monastery was. Some chief monks were hanged but this was a rarity.

Some monastery buildings were reduced to ruin as the local population was allowed to take what they wanted, as long as the silver and gold in the monastery went to the Crown. This meant that expensive building bricks could be acquired for free. This alone made the Dissolution popular with the majority of the people who tended to dislike lazy monks anyhow.

The only real protest in England was led by Robert Aske, a lawyer. He wanted the monasteries left alone. Aske, along with several thousands of others, marched to London. Henry promised to look into their complaints and many of the protesters went home satisfied with this. Their complaints were never looked into.

Later

The protestant Edward VI reigned for only six years before dying at the age of 15 and make a lasting contribution to the English Reformation and the structure of the Church of England. The last decade of Henry VIII's reign had seen a partial stalling of the Reformation, a drifting back to more conservative values. By contrast, Edward's reign saw radical progress in the Reformation. In those six years, the Church transferred from an essentially Roman Catholic liturgy and structure to one that is usually identified as Protestant.

Mary, after her brother’s death, came from Spain to take her place as queen. Having come from a catholic country, her faith was as such. Her attempts to undo the reforming work of her brother's reign faced major obstacles. Despite her belief in the papal supremacy, she ruled constitutionally as the Supreme Head of the English Church. She found herself entirely unable to restore the vast number of ecclesiastical properties handed over or sold to private landowners. Although she burned a number of leading Protestant churchmen, many reformers either went into exile or remained rebelliously active in England during her reign, producing a torrent of reforming propaganda that she was unable to stem. Nevertheless, Protestantism was not yet natural for the English people, and had Mary lived longer, her Catholic reconstruction might have succeeded, leaving Edward's reign, rather than hers, as a historical deviation.

On Mary's death in 1558, the English Reformation resumed its course, and most of the reforms instituted during Edward's reign were reinstated, and most of the reforms instituted during Edward's reign were reinstated in the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. This comprised of two Acts. The Act of Supremacy gave her power as Supreme Governor, rather than Supreme Head, of the church. This change of title placated those who did not feel that a woman could be the head of the church, and the act passed fairly easily. The Act of Uniformity restored the 1552 version of the English Prayer Book but kept many of the familiar old practices and allowed for two interpretations of communion, one Catholic and one Protestant. The bill was hotly debated but eventually passed by three votes.

The protestant Queen Elizabeth replaced Mary's councillors and bishops with ex-Edwardians. The theological developments of Edward's reign provided a vital source of reference for Elizabeth's religious policies, though the internationalism of the Edwardian Reformation was never revived.

Summarising these ruler’s religions: Henry VIII started off Roman Catholic then started Anglicanism, Edward VI followed the Church of England religion, Mary was a deadly Roman Catholic, and Elizabeth was Anglican, but kept Catholic symbols.

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