The Protestant Reformation: The History and Reasons

The Protestant Reformation in England was initiated for a variety of political, economic, social and personal reasons. The primary personal reason for the creation of the new Church of England was for the annulment of the marriage between King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. King Henry VIII broke with Rome and, through the Act in Restraint of Appeals and the Supremacy Act of 1534, became the sovereign of both the England state and the church. The English church was no longer under papal authority and therefore gave the King the supreme legal jurisdiction in the land, which led to the Protestant Reformation.

A majority of the members of Parliament however did not know that in approving the Act in Restraint of Appeals they were embracing a break in relations with the Pope. This marked the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation. However, all throughout Henry VIII's reign, most members of parliament did not defy the King or Cromwell. In an anonymous pamphlet attributed to former member of Parliament Sir Thomas Tempest, the members of the Parliament did "not speak of the King's vices but only say what Cromwell says is right." They defied neither the king nor Thomas Cromwell for fear of their potential lives and for their family names and reputations. The only defiance against reformation was fear.

Because they were fully supported by Parliament, the main goals of Thomas Cromwell, the king and the government were to centralize power and institute a number of reforms that will expand the king's power, which was a key part of the Protestant Reformation. "A Remedy for Sedition" by Richard Morrison declares that the "worser sort must be content that the wiser rule and govern them." Both King Henry VIII and his chief minister believed that they had ultimate power and the king's subjects should obey them. Many of the King's subjects, however, openly defied the break with Rome, and disparaged the Supremacy Act. The discontent among the people of all classes eventually led to the formation of the Pilgrimage of Grace, a Catholic rebellion led against Henry VIII. The formation of the Pilgrimage of Grace and other rebellions against the government and policies were of utmost concern because it was a key component of the Protestant Reformation. The majority of the dissenters during Henry VIII's reign were beheaded due to treason. According to the statistics collected from court records, "Letters and Papers of Henry VIII", over 223 gentleman, clergy and commoners were tried and 144 were convicted-around eighty percent of the Catholic clergy was convicted. The rebellion from the clergy is ironic considering Henry VIII kept many of the Catholic practices such as confession and transubstantiation. Thus, the Protestant Reformation is interesting that it began with the clergymen.

The concerns of the Pilgrimage of Grace encompassed the secular policies of the king, the termination of monasteries, confiscation of land, and taxes from Thomas Cromwell, chief minister and Lord Chancellor to King Henry VIII. The primary goals of the rebellion, according to a petition written by Robert Aske in 1536, included the termination of the Protestant teachings of Luther, restoration papal authority in the church, punishment of Thomas Cromwell and "his adherents", and the restoration of Catholic monasteries, lands, and goods. This further compelled the Protestant Reformation to continue.

Thomas Cromwell, Lord Chancellor, influenced King Henry VII greatly. Under him and during the reformation, the monasteries were destroyed, and the properties of the monks either belonged to the king or were sold to the middle and upper classes. The money earned would then go to the war fund. Because of this the upper and middle classes became part of the Tudor dynasty. Many of the Lancaster monks and marchers sadly sang "Great God's fame...Now to be lame/ And held in bonds" as they marched, protesting the plight of the monks.

In the "Oath of the Honorable Men", many of the marchers declared they "shall not enter into our Pilgrimage of Grace for worldly gain...for the Holy Catholic Church", signifying the intention and reformation goal of remaining pure Catholics and concern of the worldly gains of the king. Many of the Protestant Reformation marchers held up banners as well: a more significant banner depicted the "Wounds of Christ" and showed the injustice being done to Christ and his sacrifices for a pure Catholic church.

Because of these numerous rebellions during the Protestant Reformation all across northern England, another concern for the government was the invasion of the Presbyterian Scottish. A marchers' proclamation, delivered in 1536, even acknowledged the possibility of an attack from the Scots due to the lack of protection from and ineptitude of King Henry VIII. Because many were convicted, the Pilgrimage of Grace finally negotiated with the government in 1537, though many of its leaders were arrested and executed. The reformation rebellion was ultimately crushed. The king granted pardons, and in it stated that the "rebellion ...ruined your country" and gave comfort to your enemies the Scots."

Many of the goals of the Pilgrimage of Grace were left uncompleted, as Protestant Reformation literature continued to influence people and the nationalized Church of England remained in Henry VIII's power until his death. Although many were convicted during the reformation, according to Catholic parish priest Nicholas Leche, the marchers that were part of the rebellion and members of the Pilgrimage of Grace "waged the rebellion against the Privy Council" (Doc 8). The heart of the Protestant reformation rebellion was against the religious and political changes that were sanctioned by the Parliament and Thomas Cromwell.

Although the goals of the Pilgrimage of Grace were left uncompleted, Henry VIII achieved many of his. Under Thomas Cromwell, the growth of a modern bureaucratic state occurred. The enormous amounts of land the king received from the monasteries led to the creation of new machinery to manage the properties. Cromwell centralized the power through newly made state departments-all the money from the state departments would then proceed to a fund that would cover all deficits. As a result of the protestant reformation the result was a more stable economy and a centralized state. There were negative effects however, mostly due to the confiscation of the monasteries. Robert Aske, in his testimony shortly before his execution, stated "the monasteries in the north gave great help to poor men and laudable service to God." Ultimately the culture of England declined because many monasteries were destroyed for the King's material gain after the reformation.

The Pilgrimage of Grace more or less represented one of the more massive rebellions in European history. Its members were made up of all classes, from nobles to commoners. Their single reformation goal was to restore Catholicism and reestablish ties with the Pope in Rome, the true religious leader in their eyes. The Protestant Reformation however lived on, and influenced many people. England continued to thrive and fulfilled the wishes of Cromwell as a centralized state, and of King Henry VIII who still held all sovereignty over the land. The Protestant Reformation would not effectively end until the reign of Mary Tudor, starting in 1558.

www.historyguide.org/earlymod/lecture3c.html

mb-soft.com/believe/txc/protrefo.htm

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation

history.hanover.edu/early/prot.html

www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/C_Transp/C11_Protestantism.html