Henry VIII broke from Rome because he wanted to increase his personal power.
Part B - Henry VIII broke from Rome because he wanted to increase his personal power. Explain why you agree or disagree with this view. (24 marks)
The break with Rome was the end of papal rule in England. For several reasons, which I shall discuss in this study, Henry VIII decided to replace the Pope as Head of the Church in England and appoint himself as the Supreme Head of the Church. The points needed to be looked at in this study are the possible reasons as to why he would want to break with Rome and the consequent reformations that he created.
It had been argued by 20th century historians, such as A. G. Dickens, that the pre-reformation church was a corrupt and failing institution and therefore in order to reform the church practice, Henry had to appoint himself as the Supreme head. A.G. Dickens looked at the state of popular religion and how this affected a demanded for change, especially the Lollards; anti-clericalism, according to their line of argument was widespread and as a result there was a need for change. To support this argument there were significant changes in order to protect the sanctity of the church; such as the supplication against the ordinaries in 1532. This act aimed to change cannon law and which was threatening lawyers and authorities, those existing laws were reviewed by laymen and clergy men. A potential motive for this is to reduce the power of the church and anti-clericalism, although beneficial to the state of the church, Henry did use it to enforce his own demands.
Although there is no general reason as to why the summoning of the reformation parliament was called, it can be assumed that it was primarily to deal with Henry’s divorce case and to put pressure on the Pope to get absolute obedience. In 1529, the ‘drift’ period was formed in which although Henry wanted a divorce, he didn’t want a split from the church. Therefore, arguable, due to the lack of agreement from the Pope, Henry needed to break from Rome in order to get
The break with Rome was the end of papal rule in England. For several reasons, which I shall discuss in this study, Henry VIII decided to replace the Pope as Head of the Church in England and appoint himself as the Supreme Head of the Church. The points needed to be looked at in this study are the possible reasons as to why he would want to break with Rome and the consequent reformations that he created.
It had been argued by 20th century historians, such as A. G. Dickens, that the pre-reformation church was a corrupt and failing institution and therefore in order to reform the church practice, Henry had to appoint himself as the Supreme head. A.G. Dickens looked at the state of popular religion and how this affected a demanded for change, especially the Lollards; anti-clericalism, according to their line of argument was widespread and as a result there was a need for change. To support this argument there were significant changes in order to protect the sanctity of the church; such as the supplication against the ordinaries in 1532. This act aimed to change cannon law and which was threatening lawyers and authorities, those existing laws were reviewed by laymen and clergy men. A potential motive for this is to reduce the power of the church and anti-clericalism, although beneficial to the state of the church, Henry did use it to enforce his own demands.
Although there is no general reason as to why the summoning of the reformation parliament was called, it can be assumed that it was primarily to deal with Henry’s divorce case and to put pressure on the Pope to get absolute obedience. In 1529, the ‘drift’ period was formed in which although Henry wanted a divorce, he didn’t want a split from the church. Therefore, arguable, due to the lack of agreement from the Pope, Henry needed to break from Rome in order to get