For nearly one thousand years after St. Augustine arrived at Canterbury the English Church acknowledged the Pope in Rome as its head. In 1535 that changed, in one of the most decisive moments of English history. When King Henry VIII was crowned in 1509 he was a thoroughly Catholic king, in what with few exceptions was a thoroughly Catholic Europe. That was soon to change. In 1517 a German priest, Martin Luther, publicly posted a series of complaints about aspects of Church life and doctrine to the door of a church in Wittenburg, Saxony. Luther’s action began a quarrel with the papacy which ultimately led his followers to break away from the Catholic Church. It was the beginning of the movement known as the Protestant Reformation – “Protestant” after Luther’s early supporters who “protested” when the German rulers acted against Luther.
To begin with Luther and his followers had little effect on England, although some individuals were influenced by his ideas. Henry VIII, as a convinced Catholic, was appalled by Luther’s actions and wrote defending of the Church against Luther’s attack. In return, Pope Leo X gave Henry the title “defender of the faith”. Little did he know what was to come! To understand what happened next, we need a bit of background information. As a child, Henry was not expected to become king. The heir to the throne was his elder brother, Arthur. In 1501 the teenage Arthur was married to a Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon, but only a few months later Arthur died. Catherine was then betrothed to Henry, and when he became king in 1509 they were married. Unfortunately, Henry and Catherine had only one child who survived babyhood – a daughter, Mary. At a time when it was expected that the ruler of England should be a man, this was a disaster for Henry. When he fell in love with Anne Boleyn, one of Catherine’s maids-of-honour, he came up with a plan: he would divorce Catherine and marry Anne, who would surely give him a son. In practice, what Henry wanted was not a divorce but an annulment, a ruling from the Pope that his marriage to Catherine was not valid because she had previously been married to his brother. Unfortunately for Henry, Italy had recently been conquered by Catherine’s nephew, the Emperor Charles V. At another time the Pope might have considered Henry’s request favourably. As it was, negotiations between Henry and the Pope went on for six years. Finally, Henry lost patience. In 1532 he appointed a new archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer.
Cranmer was a scholar with leanings towards the teachings of the Protestants. When Henry came up with the idea that he himself should be the head of the Church in England, Cranmer supported him. In 1533 Cranmer declared Henry’s marriage annulled. Henry married Anne, who gave birth to a child – who turned out not to be the longed for son, but another girl, who they named Elizabeth. For the Church, the genii was now out of the bottle. With the help of his chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, Henry was officially recognised by Parliament as the Supreme Head of the Church of England. In 1534 Parliament passed an Act (an English law) known as the Act of Succession, which disinherited Mary and stated that Anne’s children were the true heirs to the throne. All house-holders in the kingdom were to swear an oath – the Oath of Succession – agreeing to this Act. Later in the year, Henry was declared supreme over all aspects of English life, including religion, and it was declared to be treason to refuse to acknowledge any of his titles, including the title of Head of the Church.
A few people were brave enough to resist Henry’s claims, although they knew that they did so at risk of their lives. The best known of these were Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher. Thomas More was a well known scholar who Henry had made Chancellor of England in 1529. We know a great deal about Thomas both from his own writings and those of others. He was both liked and respected at court. The king enjoyed his company so much that Thomas complained he was kept at court so long he did not get enough sleep! However, once it became clear that Henry was going to make himself Head of the Church he resigned as Chancellor, and when Henry introduced the Oath of Succession More refused to swear it. Henry had him locked up in a cold, damp cell in the Tower of London. More still refused to swear. His family pleaded with him to give way, without success. Finally Henry ordered his execution. As he waited on the scaffold he declared: “I die the King’s good servant, but God’s servant first.”
John Fisher was the only one of the English bishops to oppose Henry. Another famous scholar, he fully understood what Henry’s break with Rome meant and determined to resist it. He was prepared to swear an oath to accept Anne’s children as heirs to the throne, but not to recognise Henry as head of the Church. When the crunch came in 1534, he also found himself locked up in the Tower, deprived not just of food and other comforts, but also of the sacraments. On June 22nd 1535, two weeks before Thomas More he was executed. Like More, he spoke bravely from the scaffold: “I am come here to die for Christ’s Catholic Church. And I thank God!”
Although Henry VIII separated the English Church from the rest of the Catholic Church, he did not make it Protestant. Some changes were made to the liturgy – the Pope’s name was written out the prayers, for example – but priests in English Churches still said the Mass in Latin. Henry wanted independence, but not a revolution. There was one other great change he made in the English Church, however, that had a greater impact on the people of England than the break with Rome. You will find out about that in the next chapter.
PRAYER:
O Lord, give us a mind that is humble, quiet, peaceable, patient and charitable, and a taste of your Holy Spirit in all our thoughts, words, and deeds.
O Lord, give us a lively faith, a firm hope, a fervent charity, a love of you.
Take from us all lukewarmness in meditation and all dullness in prayer.
Give us fervor and delight in thinking of you, your grace, and your tender compassion toward us.
Give us, good Lord, the grace to work for the things we pray for. Amen
(St. Thomas More)
FEAST DAYS:
St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More: June 22nd
TIMELINE:
St. John Fisher, b.c.1469, d.1535
St. Thomas More, b.1478, d.1535
1509 Henry VIII marries Catherine of Aragon
1521 Henry VIII declared “Defender of the Faith”
1527 Henry starts seeking annulment
1531 Henry declares himself Head of the Church
1533 Henry marries Anne Boleyn
1534 Oath of Succession and Act of Supremacy
1535 St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More executed
HISTORICAL NOTE: St. Thomas More’s most famous work is Utopia, published in 1516. He is also well known for having insisted on giving his daughters a thorough, classical education.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
St. Thomas More of England by Elizabeth Ince.
A Man For All Seasons (Robert Bolt) – play
© Kathryn Faulkner 2005. All rights reserved.
