The next most important reason for the collapse was religion and Charles’ push toward Arminianism and absolutism. The fear of Charles becoming absolutist shaped how his policies were viewed and the MP’s political attitudes. Appello Ceasarum produced by Montagu and commissioned by the King angered many MPs as it argued the similarities between Protestantism and Catholicism. This brought MPs to call for the impeachment of Montagu as they felt it promoted anti-Calvinism. Charles’ reaction to this, as he imposed his prerogative as the Divine Right Monarch, promoted Montagu to Royal Chaplain.
Namely Cromwell and Cranmer played important roles, and overall I agree with the view that the decisive influence in shaping the reformation was Thomas Cromwell due to his closeness to the king and willingness to entirely devote his time and resources into the reformation. The feeling in Source 7 is that Cromwell played an important role in swaying the mind of the king against the clergy, and into reformation. In his ‘supplication against the ordinaries’ Cromwell attacks the clergy saying they make laws without Henry, some of which “clash with the laws off your kingdom”. Here Cromwell might be referring to the law of preamunire, which forbade the following of a foreign law over that of the kings. His influence over the king on this matter could then be shown to have an effect where in the early 1530’s Henry went on to charge all the Clergy with preamunire, and threatened a few with death.
This could suggest that, however authoritative and invincible Henry may have presumed himself to be, the people still both feared and respected God more, and were not willing to chance accepting him as the ‘Head of the Church of England’. For those people who had spent their lives upholding the values and traditions of the Catholic church, it must have seemed highly insulting to be told that the religious figures to whom they looked for guidance were greedy and corrupt. Since the people were generally quite opposed to Henry’s choice of bride- Catherine was a friend to them, and as a devoted Catholic, many believed they would be betraying her in her time of need and driving her from the English throne, should they comply with new practices- although Anne’s beliefs that every man should be able to read the words of God in his own language should have been popular with the lower classes, this proved not to be the case. The Pilgrimage of Grace is another example of evidence to suggest popular views towards the church. Lead by barrister Robert Aske, the Pilgrimage was in response to Cromwell’s disillusionment of the monasteries.
The origins of rebellion arose when people in England opposed Mary’s catholic standing and were worrying over the possible return of papal authority over England, since mary’s coronation was in 1553 she quickly placed people of catholic standing in positions within the kingdom, including many positions in the privy council the most influential body within the government. This quick changeover within England is arguably what caused the Wyatt rebellion as it made the people feel anxious of the possible threat of going back to a papal authority, this can be reinforced by the following source ‘and yet thhe it be said in counsel as to my friend, we mind only the restitution of God’s word, but no words!’qhich was written by wyatts son showing us that Wyatt was rebelling to the threat Mary posed to religion, but it can also be inferred that although this was his motive he felt that this reason wasn’t acceptable to cause a greater enough rebellion to remove Mary from the throne so he says that they should use a different reason, as generally it can be argued that Mary’s catholic influence across England were relatively popular, possibly why the rebellion was shown little support. There
When writing to Anne Henry used uses phrases such as ‘my heart shall be dedicated to you alone’. However Anne still didn’t fall for his charms, she insisted that in order for her to truly give herself to the king then they must be married. Anne was a very skilled manipulator, her unpleasantness towards Catherine and Mary were well voiced. Henry valued her opinion and was easily swayed by her words. Many people in the court was surprised that Henry had sustained his relationship with Anne for so long as he was well known for keeping short relations with his female companions.
The Pilgrimage of Grace was a popular rising against Henry VIII’s new religious policies and was the most widespread revolt during his reign. Source A shows a summary of the demands stated in the Pontefract Articles of 1536, and it seems that the most important grievance of the leader, Robert Aske, was the changes that had been made to Catholic Doctrine. Many of the people, both gentry and commons, who took part in the rising, wanted to defend the Catholic faith and it appears that religion was the prime cause of the rising as the name ‘the Pilgrimage of Grace’ is, in itself, a symbol of religion. In addition the demands made in Source A clearly show that the aim of those in the revolt was to protect the religion that had governed their lives for centuries. Religion affected all aspects of the commons’ lives; their year was governed by the church, providing holy days as times of festivity and as a chance to escape the harsh routines of day to day life, so when Source A requests that the ‘Supreme
The Pope led a similar role to the Roman Emperor; he led wars, controlled taxes, gave others power, and gave out land. Because Catholoism was the main religion in the Roman Empire, following the fall of Rome, many Romans felt tied to only their religion. This led to the Roman Catholic Church having a wide based group of followers who would do anything to be seen as good and eventually go to heaven. This is illustrated in the Crusades, a series of Holy Wars, where the pope was able to use the population of Western Europe’s fear of not going to heaven and manipulating it. Telling them that whatever they do in the name of the holy land and church will be overlooked by God.
To What Extent Was Parliament More To Blame Than Charles l For The Failure Of Settlement In The Years 1646 – 1649? The failure to reach a constitutional settlement in the English civil war is something that holds many debates on who really was at fault. Both the parliament and King Charles l contributed toward the failure of settlement, but who was really to blame? King Charles l was a very stubborn character and I feel that his unwillingness to change heavily played a role in no settlement being secured. Oliver Cromwell held many negotiation sessions with King Charles l who characteristically quibbled whilst opening new negotiations with the Scots.
9- The common masses were also unhappy with the Pope and church: not only unhappy with the prevailing corrupt practices in church and the flimsy grounds- on which the church collected funds from innocent people- but also disliked its interference in the secular affairs; some clergymen took keen interest in politics. 10- The rulers were eagerly looking for someone to provide them a lead for a
Most of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church were dogma that could not be challenged or refused by Christians of the middle ages. And as it were, those teachings which forced down the throats of the people. Between 1170 and 1498 AD the glimpse of religious light began to shoot over the age, foretokens of the coming of the reformation. Before these tokens the papacy office became more involved in politics, they claimed to be more superior to the kings. The major concern was money in the Roman Catholic Church.