2nd Year History: Reformation in England and Ireland

Henry VII
Henry was King of England and had been a Catholic since he was born.  He was so good a Catholic that the Pope gave him a special title ‘Defender of the Faith. This is still on English coins today.

However Henry was married to Catherine of Aragon(his dead brother’s wife!) They had many children but only had one that survived; Mary. Henry wanted a male heir to succeed him. He asked the pope to annul his marriage saying it was illegal to marry his dead brothers wife!

The Pope refused to annul the marriage. Henry didn’t care he had fallen in love with Anne Boleyn and had decided to marry her.

He appointed his friend Thomas Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury. He granted him a divorce. Henry married Anne and the Pope excommunicated him.

How Henry changed the church

Henry got the parliament to pass the Act of Supremacy which made him head of the Church in England.

Anyone who didn’t take this was beheaded.

Closure of the monasteries

One of the first things Henry did was close the monasteries. He did this because he wanted their wealth and didn’t like that they were loyal to the Pope.

He closed over 350 monasteries in England.

However Henry still liked a lot about the Catholic Church so the only other thing he changed was that the Bible would be in English(vernacular)

Henry had six wives and ended up fathering three children.

It was his children who brought in more changes to the Church.

Edward VI(his son) made sure Protestantism was developed fully in England.

He introduced the Book of Common Prayer which was Protestant Prayers in English.Mary Henry’s  daughter tried to bring back the Catholic religion.

Her sister Elizabeth was next and she established the Church of England(Anglican Church)

Anglicanism 

This was a mixture of Catholicism and Protestantism.

It was now the official religion of England.

Results of Reformation in England

The monarch(King or Queen) became head of the Church of England as well as the ruler of the country.

The Monasteries were closed down.

England changed from being a Catholic country to a Protestant country.

Results of Reformation in Ireland

Elizabeth established the Anglican Church in Ireland.

But most Irish people did not convert to Protestantism because they saw it as the English religion.

The Monasteries in Ireland were closed.

There was a new religion in Ireland.