REL 330 - History of Christianity
Course Notes
Henry VIII of England
The religious views of Kings and Queens were important for the development of religion within their kingdoms.
Although it is sometimes said that "Henry VIII founded the Church of England", this is not strictly true. Henry VIII took advantage of the need for reformation which was already felt, and to which, for example, Wycliffe and the Lollards had already responded.
Henry VIII (1491-1547) was born as the second son of Henry VII, and was originally destined for the priesthood. Henry became heir to the throne when his elder brother Arthur died in 1502 (Henry was 11).
He became King in 1509 at the age of 18, and in his early years was firmly against any attempts at reformation.
In 1521 Henry wrote a treatise attacking Martin Luther and his teachings, for which Pope Leo X awarded Henry the title "Defender of the Faith" - a title which Henry and all successive English sovereigns have retained
In 1509 Henry (aged 18) married Catherine of Aragon (aged 23), who had been married in 1501 to Henry's 16-year-old brother. A papal dispensation was necessary for the marriage because of the previous "marriage". Catherine swore later that the marriage with Arthur had never been consummated, and that she was a virgin when she went to Henry. Henry countered by saying that he was too young and inexperienced to know whether or not she had been a virgin when he married her.
Henry and Catherine were married for twenty years. Catherine had several miscarriages and children who died as infants. Only one child, a daughter, Mary, born in 1516, survived. Henry already had a healthy illegitimate son, Henry Duke of Richmond, so he blamed Catherine for not producing a healthy son as heir to the throne. At some point, Henry started to wonder if the inability of Catherine to give him a healthy male heir was a judgment of God upon him for marrying his brother's widow. He also had a roving eye, and a series of mistresses, some of whom bore children.
By 1530 Catherine of Aragon was 46 (past child-bearing) and Henry was 39 and desperate. He had started his reign as an althletic good-looking teenager, excelling in sports and scholarship. He had been wounded in a tournament, and as a result was lamed and probably in pain for the rest of his life. He was becoming a paranoid despot with virtually absolute power in his Kingdom.
At some time between 1527 and 1530 Henry became enamored of Anne Boleyn, one of Catherine's Ladies in Waiting. Anne's elder sister Mary had already been seduced by Henry, and had been married off to a lesser noble and banished from court when she became pregnant, and Anne was determined not to fall into the same trap. Anne stuck out for marriage. Catherine was five years older than Henry, and showing her age. Henry convinced himself that the lack of a male heir from Catherine was the result of God's judgment on him for marrying his brother's widow, and asked the Pope for a ruling that the marriage was not valid and should be annulled. Pope Clement VII was willing to give a dispensation for a new marriage (basically allowing bigamy), but the Pope was virtually a prisoner of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella, and nephew of Catherine). Charles V was not going to give permission for his aunt to be dishonored, so the Pope could do nothing more to placate Henry.
As a result of the stalemate with Rome, Henry's chief councilor, Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal, Papal Legate, Archbishop of York, Lord Chancellor of England, was disgraced and died in 1530 on his way to trial for high treason.
In 1529 Thomas Cranmer, a scholar who had been traveling around the European Universities and had come under the influence of the Reformers, suggested that Henry should appeal to the Universities for judgment on the validity of the marriage with Catherine. Henry liked the idea, and favorable judgments were obtained from some of the Universities where the Reformation had taken hold. So Henry determined on a "Reformation" for England - particularly by cutting free from Rome.
Henry prepared the way by engineering the consecration of Thomas Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1533, and by forcing various Acts through Parliament - one of which was that appeals for divorce could not be heard by courts outside England. So in 1533 Henry had Archbishop Cranmer call Henry and Catherine to court to pass judgment on whether or not their marriage was valid. Catherine did not attend the court, so was judged in contempt of court. Cranmer ruled that the marriage was invalid, and that a secret marriage between Henry and Anne Boleyn earlier that year was in fact the valid marriage.
Catherine was banished from court, and kept as a virtual prisoner in various houses belonging to the King, until she died (probably of malnutrition and cold) in 1536. Her daughter Mary was not informed of her mother's death until two weeks after the event.
Pope Clement reacted to the divorce by excommunicating Henry and declaring the divorce and remarriage to be invalid.
Henry retaliated by passing more Acts of Parliament, including the Act of Supremacy in 1534 which stated that the King was "the only Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England" and although Henry added the clause "as far as the Law of God doth allow", a number of leading clergy and lay people could not in good conscience assent to it. Henry enforced the Act by executing Thomas More (Chancellor of England, and Speaker of the House of Commons - ie. leader of Parliamnt), John Fisher (the Bishop of Rochester), and many of the Carthusian monks in London.
Anne Boleyn was already pregnant by the time her marriage with Henry was announced, and on September 1533 she gave birth to a daughter, the future Elizabeth I. Both Anne and Henry were bitterly disappointed that the child was a girl. However, Henry proclaimed Elizabeth as his heir to the throne, declared Mary to be a bastard, and made Mary serve as a maid to Elizabeth.
Anne and the Boleyn family were Protestants, and Anne owned a copy of the Bible printed in English, at a time when it was still against the law to do so. Anne was beginning to lose favor with the King, and heard that there was a plot to betray her possession of an English Bible - so she went to Henry herself, confessed that she owned the book, and handed it to him. Whether by design or chance, the Bible fell open at the passage in Romans 13:1-7 which speaks of rulers being appointed by God and having authority from God. Henry thought that to be very appropriate, forgave Anne, and declared that it would be a good thing for everyone in England to read that bit.
Anne's Bible is still in existence, kept in the British Library in London.
Anne apparently had a miscarriage in 1534, and on the day of Catherine of Aragon's funeral in 1536 Anne gave birth to a still-born boy baby. By that time Henry had begun to tire of Anne, and Anne may have been resorting to other male lovers in an attempt to get pregnant with a healthy child. Henry sent her to the Tower on a charge of adultery (High Treason when one is the Queen) and incest, and she, her brother, and four other young men were tried, found guilty, and executed. The day after Anne's execution Henry was betrothed to Jane Seymour.
Jane Seymour bore Henry's long-desired legitimate son in 1537, but died of complications following the birth. The baby boy was named Edward, and Henry saw to it that he was brought up as a Protestant. Both Mary and Elizabeth, his half-sisters, were declared to be bastards, and were treated as his servants.
It didn't take long for Henry to look for another woman to become his queen. This time he settled on a foreign Protestant princess, Anne of Cleves. He had not seen Anne of Cleves personally, but was shown a painting of her, and thought she looked acceptable. In 1540 Anne of Cleves arrived in England for the marriage, Henry took one look at her, and called her a "fat Flanders Mare" and refused to consummate the marriage. Anne played her cards right - she forced an agreement that she would not be sent back to her brother's court in Flanders, but would stay in England as some sort of "sister" of Henry, with her own household and financial support. Henry agreed gladly - he had already noticed Catherine Howard among the girls at court. Anne of Cleves set up her home in England, and took in both Mary and Elizabeth to live with her, giving them the only stable home they had as young girls.
In 1540 Henry married Catherine Howard, who was pushed into the marriage by her family. She was probably already promiscuous, and hadn't the sense to realize what a terror Henry was becoming. When she was accused of adultery Henry had her executed in 1542
In 1543 Henry, aged 52, married his last wife, Catherine Parr. She had already been married before she married Henry, but was then a widow. She seems to have been a calming influence on him, and was able to nurse him in his increasing illnesses, as his legs formed abscesses and his body started to decay. She was the only one of his wives to survive him.
In 1547 Henry died and was succeeded by Edward VI (then aged 10).
In 1553 Edward VI died at the age of 16. There was a brief attempt to proclaim the Protestant Lady Jane Grey Queen of England (the nine-day Queen), but Mary led a power-struggle, deposed Lady Jane Grey and had her executed in 1554/
Queen Mary ruled from 1553 till she died in 1558. She married Philip II of Spain, who came to England for the marriage. Mary proved to be barren, the marriage was a failure, and Philip returned to Spain. Mary had been brought up as a Roman Catholic, and tried to force England to return to Roman Catholicism - because of her persecution and execution of Protestant leaders she was known as "Bloody Mary"
In 1558 Mary died, and her Protestant half-sister came to the throne as Elizabeth I. Elizabeth I ruled England until her death in 1603. Elizabeth never married, although she was courted by both Ivan IV (the Terrible) of Russia and Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire, as well as a French prince and a group of her English retainers. Elizabeth I was the last of the Tudor monarchs.
Copyright © 2005 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
