1. History of the Church II: Week Four

2. “Henry the VIII I am I am”  The Protestant Reformation in England was a decided political affair  It began in two parts:  The Henry VIII years  The Puritan reform  Henry needed an heir and Catherine, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, gave him five children but only Mary reached adulthood.  Catherine had been his brother Arthur’s wife and Henry believed she was cursed  In 1527, Henry asked Pope Clement VII to revoke the marriage

3. “Henry the VIII I am I am”  This actually was not unusual for the time period. Popes granted rulers these kind of annulments fairly often  However, Clement needed Charles V of Spain’s army for protection  Catherine was Charles aunt and this would have caused great embarrassment to the family so Clement stalled  Henry decided to ask the university professors of Europe for advice  This provided the cover Henry needed to secretly marry Anne Boleyn in 1533.

4. “Henry the VIII I am I am”  Within a year, Henry had a new daughter (Elizabeth), had been excommunicated from the church for nullifying his own marriage and had Parliament pass the Act of Supremacy.  The Act of Supremacy law said the King was the head of the church of England. This broke all ties to Rome.  The Archbishop of Canterbury was now the spiritual head of the new Anglican church  Just as Luther did not change his church very much from the old one, the Anglican Church retained many of the ways of the Catholic Church

5. Bloody Mary  The church of England did not experience any real spiritual growth until a century later.  In fact, when Mary (Henry’s first daughter) became queen in 1553, she tried to make England a Catholic nation again by killing nearly 300 Protestants during her short reign.  It was during her reign that John Foxe wrote his Book of Martyrs.  Mary’s executions and marriage to Phillip of Spain did not sit well with the people of England. Her biggest mistake however was to keep her half- sister alive.

6. Queen Elizabeth I  When Queen Elizabeth took over in 1558, England changed forever.  First, she didn’t make the same mistake as her half-sister. Mary was beheaded.  Next, she wrote her Thirty-Nine Articles in 1563.  The 39 Articles reinforced two main Protestant doctrines:  Bible was final authority  Baptism and Lord’s Supper were to be the only two sacraments  Elizabeth also followed what would become her hallmark: compromise

7. Queen Elizabeth I  As in her political dealings, Elizabeth worded her articles in a way both Catholics and Protestants felt satisfied.  Thus Elizabeth was able to work the thin line between the two positions so each felt comfortable enough not to cause trouble.  Many historians credit Elizabeth with creating the “moderate” position we see so often in politics today.  Although this position served Elizabeth well certain exiles who were forced out during Mary’s reign came back to criticize “the ease in Zion”. These people intended to “purify” the church.