History Of Britain - Henry VIII PDF

1 HISTORY AND CULTURE OF BRITAIN Lecture 12: The Tudors: Henry VIII  2 Henry VIII the Church – seen as corrupt, worldly, more interested in comfort and wealth than in God; immensely rich, paid...

1 HISTORY AND CULTURE OF BRITAIN Lecture 12: The Tudors: Henry VIII  2 Henry VIII the Church – seen as corrupt, worldly, more interested in comfort and wealth than in God; immensely rich, paid taxes and allegiance to Rome, not to the King Europe: the Protestant Reformation 1518: anti-Papal revolution of Martin Luther in Germany; John Calvin’s revolt in Geneva. England: tradition of John Wycliffe and the Lollards  3 Henry VIII wanted the church in England to obey him, not the Pope, yet, he was critical of Luther’s teaching. 1521: Henry VIII wrote a theological treatise The Defence of the Seven Sacraments, in which he defended the sacramental nature of marriage, the supremacy of the Pope, and accused Martin Luther of heresy. was given the title “Fidei defensor” (Defender of the Faith) by Pope Leo X in 1521, later revoked by Pope Paul III in 1530 when Henry was excommunicated.  4 Henry VIII – Fidei Defensor 5  6 Henry VIII Personal reasons for Henry’s break with Rome: Catherine of Aragon: married Henry in 1509; by 1526, Henry and Catherine had only one surviving child, Princess Mary Henry desperately wanted to secure the throne to a male heir to avoid conflicts; determined to marry Anne Boleyn, his court mistress. legal basis for Henry’s claim for divorce: Henry’s marriage with Catherine had been founded on the Pope’s dispensation to marry his brother’s widow. Henry insisted to consider the Pope’s decision illegitimate  7 Henry VIII Catherine of Aragon: the daughter of the powerful Isabella, Queen of Castile, and Ferdinand II of Aragon, the aunt of Charles V, king of Spain The Pope did not want to grant a divorce to the aunt of a powerful monarch  8 Reformation Cardinal Wolsey Lord Chancellor chief minister to Henry VIII gave his palace, Hampton Court, to the monarch arrested, died before being executed  9 Reformation The clergy accepted being subjected to the King they retained most of their privileges. Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy in 1534: Henry VIII was “the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England” obeying the Pope was an act of treason – punishable by death the Reformation was not a cause of a religious war in England. Henry was free to marry Anne Boleyn.  10 Reformation after the break with Rome Catholicism was still popular with ordinary people in England also Henry VIII remained loyal to his old faith the beginnings of English Reformation under Henry VIII meant Catholicism without a Pope England: Protestantism will always be different from that of Northern or Continental Europe  11 The Dissolution of the Monasteries In 1534 Henry authorized Thomas Cromwell, to “visit” all the monasteries (“Visitation of the Monasteries”). purpose: to assess their wealth result: statement that monks were “sinful” and “hypocritical sorcerers”, often leading scandalous lives. the dissolution of the monasteries: 1536-40. one of the causes of the dissolutionof the monasteries: Henry VIII badly needed money. its consequences: Church goods, including many valuable books held in the monastic libraries, were confiscated or destroyed  12 The Dissolution of the Monasteries  13 Henry VIII Religious reforms: the monarch became supreme Head of the Church of England; relic worship was forbidden, pilgrimages were discouraged: the shrine and cult of Thomas Becket was suppressed; many forms of superstition were stopped the Bible in English circulated freely and was ordered for every parish; the Ten Commandments were taught in English  14 Henry VIII and his six wives (1) Catherine of Aragon (2) Anne Boleyn one surviving daughter, Mary one surviving daughter, (Queen Mary I); divorced Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth I); (marriage declared non-valid) accused of adultery and beheaded  15 Henry VIII and his six wives (3) Jane Seymour: died two weeks after delivering his only surviving son, Edward (the future King Edward VI) (4) Anne of Cleves: brought from Germany, found very unattractive by Henry; marriage soon annulled as not consummated;  16 Henry VIII (5) Catherine Howard (a cousin of Anne Boleyn): accused of adultery and beheaded; (6) Catherine Parr: submissive; helped Henry reconcile with his two daughters; survived.  17 Henry VIII Henry VIII’s wives: “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived” Henry died in 1547 (at the age of 55) the first English king with a modern humanist education, read and wrote English, French and Latin. had a well-stocked library. kept a considerable collection of instruments; an accomplished musician and also a composer (reputed to have King Henry VIII by Peter Isselburg written Greensleeves) National Portrait Gallery, London  18 Henry VIII Legitimate children of Henry VIII: 1. with Catherine of Aragon: daughter Mary (Queen Mary I) 2. with Anne Boleyn: daughter Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth I) 3. with Jane Seymour: son Edward (King Edward VI)