This option provides for the study in depth of a period of major change in the English Church and government, focusing on issues which led England to break with Rome and the problems surrounding the establishment of a new Anglican Church and faith. It explores concepts such as piety, humanism, Protestantism, Catholicism, authority and conformity and promotes an in-depth understanding of the relationship between Church and state, monarch and parliament, faith and pragmatism.
The Break with Rome, c1529–1547
The Church in c1529
- The political and social role of the Church: churchmen as royal advisers; church teachings on monarchical authority; wealth; church courts; monasteries and parish churches
- Popular piety and the Church’s spiritual role: lay religious guilds; key beliefs such as purgatory; the role of the priesthood; the importance of printing
- Early Reformers and Humanists: the legacy of the Lollards and impact on religious belief and practice; Humanism in England as represented by Erasmus, More and Colet
- Abuses and criticisms of the Church: the extent and impact of simony, nepotism and absenteeism; anti-clericalism
The break from Rome, c1529–1536
- The King’s ‘Great Matter’; Henry VIII, his religious beliefs and concern over the succession; the position and roles of Catherine of Aragon and her national and international supporters; the roles of Wolsey, Anne Boleyn and her supporters
- The Reformation Parliament: MPs and expression of grievances; pressures on the Papacy; legislation leading to the establishment of Royal Supremacy
- The influence of faction: Cromwell and the management of Parliament; the supporters and opponents of change and the King’s responses; the Aragonese faction; More and Fisher; Elizabeth Barton and the Carthusian monks
- The doctrinal and political position of the Reformation by 1536: the degree of change and continuity in faith, belief and organisation of the Church
Change and reaction, 1536–1547
- The reformist and conservative factions: aims, influence and the reaction of the King; the impact of foreign affairs on changes to the Church
- The Dissolution of the Monasteries: political, religious, social and economic causes and consequences; the Pilgrimage of Grace
- Change and continuity in doctrine: liturgy, the eucharist and the Bible; doctrinal disputes as reflected in the Ten Articles and the Bishops’ Book; the King’s Book and the Six Articles
- The state of the Church and belief by 1547: disagreements over doctrine and practice; relations with France and Scotland and their impact; the growing influence of the Seymour faction and Cranmer; the importance of the succession
