Legacy of Henry VIII
The Provinces
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Henry VII had attempted to subdue the enemy within.
Had wanted to go to war against France in allegiance with Spain.
Henry VIII inherited his father’s campaign.
Continued to attempt to colonise but not completed until the Act of Union in 1707.
Wales
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Henry VII had been Welsh so had had limited success as he seemed to understand
the Welsh.
Henry VIII solved the problems of Wales twofold:
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Ruthlessness
Extended English law and administration into Wales. (English language, Wels arts into
decline, Welsh customs of tenure and inheritance phased out)
Gave peace to a land that had had none.
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Ireland
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Henry made friends with the Welsh natives, destroyed the Irish.
Decided acts of parliament applied to Ireland and that Irish parliament could only legislate
with King’s consent.
All seemed well…..until Reformation. 1534 a revolt (Earl of Kildare), put down ruthlessly.
Personal direct rule, not Lord but King.
Destroyed most things Irish but replaced them with nothing.
Fermented hatred for the English that continued for centuries.
Scotland
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Henry VII had signed Treaty of perpetual peace with the Scottish
James IV broke treaty.
Battle of Flodden (1513)
Scotland turned to France for help. A genuine threat to England.
Battle of Solway Moss.
James V died
Mary Stuart (6 days old)
She would be betrothed to Edward, Henry’s son.
Mary would become scourge of Anglicans as Queen of Scots
The Church of England
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Not ideological split, rather to do with dynastic concerns and social problems.
Henry needed a male heir.
Catherine couldn’t provide.
Henry wanted a divorce form Pope Clement VII but couldn’t get one.
Two reasons:
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Pope often granted divorces/annulments on matters of state (Queen Margaret of Scotland).
Henry’s request different. Pope did not want to upset the H.R.E Charles V who happened to
be Catherine’s nephew.
Henry tried a different approach. Catherine had been Arthur’s wife, when he died she
became Henry’s wife. Special dispensation from Pope Julius II to do so. Henry argued that
this was null and void and wanted Clement VII to say so. Couldn’t do so (St.Peter)
The Good Catholic
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Fidei Defensor
Reformation for political/economic reasons NOT doctrinal.
Thoroughly Catholic
Had heretics (incl. Lollards) burnt at the stake.
The problem, in a nutshell, was with the idea that the interests of England should be
subject to the Pope/emperor.
Reformation Parliament
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Summoned over seven years.
Power of Rome and the Pope destroyed
1530 Act: King final judge in all cases, allowed him to annul his marriage with
Catherine
1534 Act of Supremacy: The King became the Supreme Head of the Church of
England.
In 1535 Pope Clement excommunicated Henry VIII
Break with Rome inevitably led to the Reformation and tolerance of the Protestant
faith. – all against Henry's wishes (posthumously)
Next came the reforms of Church doctrine:
The study of canon law was suppressed.
Cult of Thomas Beckett reworked.
Men of New Learning and the
Reformation
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Would have expected humanists like Erasmus and Thomas More to embrace
Reformation,
Not so. They believed unity of Christendom to be more important.
University of Oxford rejected the reformation, Cambridge embraced it.
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Cambridge
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Latimer, Tyndale and Cloverdale were leaders on the intellectual side of the Reformation.
They helped translate the Bible into Tudor English, so as to be accessible to all. ‘the boy that
driveth the plow’
Archbishop Cranmer wrote the Book of Common Prayer
Priests ordered by Henry to recite the Lord’s Prayer, Ten Commandments and the
Articles of Faith in English
The Monasteries
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100’s of monasteries, not only wealthy but governed by a force outside the county.
Three forces that merged to dictate the removal of the monasteries:
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Anti-clericalism not a big factor.
1536 Monasteries began to be closed down. By 1539 560 closed
What happened to this new found wealth? Largely wasted on:
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War
Courtiers
Gentry and aristocrats
A popular measure with the upper classes - devastating for the poor.
No more monastic schools, no more shelter and food in times of need.
Left a scar on English cultural history:
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1. Answerable to an external power. The Act of Supremacy made this illegal.
2. Henry was bankrupt and needed money, the monasteries had it.
3. Henry had to purchase political affiliation away from Rome. Buy the gentry’s loyalty.
Artifacts lost.
Gold and silver plate melted down
Beautiful buildings destroyed or left to collapse.
Libraries sacked.
In short, licensed vandalism.
Church’s Loss, Parliament’s Gain
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Under Henry VII, Parliament more a court of law than a legislative body.
Reformation Parliament, however, had been effective.
Sat for four consecutive years – experience and continuity.
The laws it debated, prepared and approved established the supremacy of
the State over the Church.
Helped build the traditions of the modern day House of Commons.
After Henry, Before Elizabeth
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Edward VI a child.
Country run by, firstly, Lord Seymour and secondly, John Dudley Earl of Warwick
Duke of Northumberland.
Edward, through his ‘protectors’, tried to establish a Protestant Church based on the
foundations laid by Henry.
Nine days queen, Lady Jane Grey.
Queen ‘Bloody’Mary
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Catholic fanatic
Tried to reestablish the ‘true faith’
Married Philip of Spain (son of Charles V)
More concerned with the souls of the English than their lives.
Burned more than 300 for heresy
England seemed to be a vassal of Spain, lost remaining possession in France while
supporting the Spanish.
When Mary died, fires were lit throughout England to celebrate.
England in Ruins
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On her death, Mary left England in ruins.
Ill-governed, leaderless, disgraced in war and peace, lacking unity and internal
peace.
“Though I be a woman, I have as good a courage answerable to
my place as ever my father had. I am your anointed queen. I will
never be by violence constrained to do anything. I thank god I
am endued with such qualities that if I were turned out of the
realm in my petticoat, I were able to live in any place in
Christendom”
Elizabeth I to a deputation of Parliament