Religious turmoil: 1533 – 1537
Impact of the Henrician religious changes 1533-37
King’s great matter
- King’s desire to annual his marriage to Catherine of Aragon after she failed to provide a son so he could marry Anne Boleyn
- occupied royal and government business for over 7 years 1527-1534
The Break with Rome
- to grant his annulment King was persuaded to put pressure on the church
- 1532 Act of Restraint of Annates – Act forbade the payment to the Vatican of up to 95% of Annates. Would encourage the
pope to grant the annulment
- reformation was accomplished with active support of parliament (1529-36) – made Henry’s actions legitimate
- led to break with Rome in 1534 = Act Extinguishing the Authority to the Bishop of Rome. Denied Pope the collection of taxes,
use of title, power of appointment to church offices
Act of Supremacy
- the act in Nov 1534 asserted that the King of England: had a God given right to the cure of souls of his subjects, head of
national church and owed no obedience to the Bishop of Rome – gave him legal authority to make any changes he wanted
King’s religious changes
- conflict between the conservatives and reformers = conservatives: Bishop Stephen Gardinal, Thomas Howard, Duke of
Norfolk – wanted to keep church catholic and reformers: Cranmer, Cromwell – wanted a more protestant direction
- 1533 Act of Restraint of Appeals: Final authority in monarchy and illegal appeal to any authority outside the kingdom
- April 1535 royal letters sent to all bishops, nobility and JPs to imprison clergymen who supported pope
- 1534 Treason Act: recognising or defending papal authority were deemed to be traitors
- July 1537: Bishop’s book – evidence of conservative influence
Dissolution of the monasteries
Causes of the dissolution
- financial reason – the crown needed a permanent source of extra income: 1536-1547 dissolution raised £1.3 million
- monasteries thought to be an easy target = already in crisis and rumoured that the monastic orders preferred papal primary
to royal supremacy
Role of the monasteries
- by 1530s 900 religious houses and 12,000 people in religious orders
- religious, support for the poor and care, education and leisure, copying and preservation of old texts and books and
employment on farmers estates for both unskilled and skilled
Visitation and the compilation of the Comperta Monastica and the Valor Ecclesiasticus
- in 1535 Cromwell sent his agents (i.e. Richard Layton, Thomas Legh) to visit every monastery with the aim of compiling a
thorough record of their condition and wealth – Cromwell used his power as Vicegerent (appointed in Jan 1535)
- Comperta Monastica = recording the condition and conductor of the inmates
- Valor Ecclesiasticus = recording the net worth and annual income of each monastery
- showed net income of the church was £380,000 (£122 million today) and 3% was regularly allocated to charitable works
Act for the dissolution of the smaller monasteries March 1536
- all religious houses with an annual income of less than £200 should be dissolved and property given to the crown
- over 300 houses fell into this category
Destruction of the remaining monasteries
- instructed that all monasteries regardless of their size, wealth or powerful connections were to be closed and their property
seized – by early 1540 all had been closed
- 1538: act for larger monasteries and Act for the Dissolution of the Greater Monasteries was passed in 1539
Impact of the Henrician religious changes 1533-37
King’s great matter
- King’s desire to annual his marriage to Catherine of Aragon after she failed to provide a son so he could marry Anne Boleyn
- occupied royal and government business for over 7 years 1527-1534
The Break with Rome
- to grant his annulment King was persuaded to put pressure on the church
- 1532 Act of Restraint of Annates – Act forbade the payment to the Vatican of up to 95% of Annates. Would encourage the
pope to grant the annulment
- reformation was accomplished with active support of parliament (1529-36) – made Henry’s actions legitimate
- led to break with Rome in 1534 = Act Extinguishing the Authority to the Bishop of Rome. Denied Pope the collection of taxes,
use of title, power of appointment to church offices
Act of Supremacy
- the act in Nov 1534 asserted that the King of England: had a God given right to the cure of souls of his subjects, head of
national church and owed no obedience to the Bishop of Rome – gave him legal authority to make any changes he wanted
King’s religious changes
- conflict between the conservatives and reformers = conservatives: Bishop Stephen Gardinal, Thomas Howard, Duke of
Norfolk – wanted to keep church catholic and reformers: Cranmer, Cromwell – wanted a more protestant direction
- 1533 Act of Restraint of Appeals: Final authority in monarchy and illegal appeal to any authority outside the kingdom
- April 1535 royal letters sent to all bishops, nobility and JPs to imprison clergymen who supported pope
- 1534 Treason Act: recognising or defending papal authority were deemed to be traitors
- July 1537: Bishop’s book – evidence of conservative influence
Dissolution of the monasteries
Causes of the dissolution
- financial reason – the crown needed a permanent source of extra income: 1536-1547 dissolution raised £1.3 million
- monasteries thought to be an easy target = already in crisis and rumoured that the monastic orders preferred papal primary
to royal supremacy
Role of the monasteries
- by 1530s 900 religious houses and 12,000 people in religious orders
- religious, support for the poor and care, education and leisure, copying and preservation of old texts and books and
employment on farmers estates for both unskilled and skilled
Visitation and the compilation of the Comperta Monastica and the Valor Ecclesiasticus
- in 1535 Cromwell sent his agents (i.e. Richard Layton, Thomas Legh) to visit every monastery with the aim of compiling a
thorough record of their condition and wealth – Cromwell used his power as Vicegerent (appointed in Jan 1535)
- Comperta Monastica = recording the condition and conductor of the inmates
- Valor Ecclesiasticus = recording the net worth and annual income of each monastery
- showed net income of the church was £380,000 (£122 million today) and 3% was regularly allocated to charitable works
Act for the dissolution of the smaller monasteries March 1536
- all religious houses with an annual income of less than £200 should be dissolved and property given to the crown
- over 300 houses fell into this category
Destruction of the remaining monasteries
- instructed that all monasteries regardless of their size, wealth or powerful connections were to be closed and their property
seized – by early 1540 all had been closed
- 1538: act for larger monasteries and Act for the Dissolution of the Greater Monasteries was passed in 1539
