Henry VIII's Reign: England's Religious Shift

Then a second woman appeared in his life, Anne Boleyn. This fact, together with the impossibility of having a son with Catherine, led him to want to end his marriage. However, it was difficult because Catherine was the aunt of Charles V, who sacked Rome and imprisoned the Pope, so he could not dissolve the matrimony. To solve the problem, he created a parallel church in England: the Anglican Church, and gave himself the title of Supreme Head. So, finally, he could divorce Catherine and marry Anne. This produced a lot of religious tension all over Europe and many conflicts. Once again, he had a daughter named Elizabeth. At this moment, his decline began due to the impossibility of having a male heir. Anne Boleyn was accused of adultery, so she was killed.

Henry VIII married a third woman called Jane Seymour, who gave him a son named Edward, but Jane died nine days after giving birth.

The consequences of his reign were severe:

1. Abolition of Catholic Dogmas

A number of beliefs were abolished, like the cult of the Virgin Mary. It produced rebellions against the king, such as in the area of Norfolk.

2. Dissolution of the English Monasteries

Nuns and monks were put on the road. All the money from the church was taken by the crown.

3. Imposition of an Oath of Supremacy

People had to assume that the king was the Supreme Head of the Church of England; if not, they were executed. Thomas More was decapitated because he refused the Oath.

This is the beginning of the hostility with the Catholic religion.

There were also rebellions in Ireland from Catholic clans who did not accept the new religion. Henry imposed the policy known as the policy of Surrender and Regrant, which was a legal mechanism by which Irish clans were to be converted from a power structure rooted in clans and kin loyalties, to a late-feudal system under the English legal system. The lord’s Irish title, such as O’Neill, was converted into an English title: the Earl of Tyrone.

After Henry VIII’s death, he was succeeded by his son Edward, who reigned as Edward VI, but his health was bad, and he died when he was a teenager. He was succeeded by Mary I, known as Bloody Mary. She discarded Protestantism and made England a Catholic country and brought the Inquisition. She was responsible for killing 400 people, which explains her name Bloody Mary. She married Philip II of Spain. The Union formed a joint sovereign, and Spain was a Catholic country. This marriage didn’t bring advantages to England; for instance, American markets weren’t open for the English. That created a degree of resentment in England.

Mary and Philip didn’t have children, so the succession was open.