More important, the Catholic Church was in a strong condition in 1500.Įngland was devoutly Catholic, it was loyal to the pope, local parishes attracted strong local financial support, religious services were quite popular both at Sunday Mass and at family devotions.Ĭomplaints about the monasteries and the bishops were uncommon.
The Lollardy movement had largely expired, and the pamphleteering of continental reformers hardly reached beyond a few scholars at the University of Cambridge King Henry VIII had vigorously and publicly denounced Luthers heresies. The interpretation by Geoffrey Elton in 1960 is representative of the orthodox interpretation. Historians until the late 20th century thought that the causes were: a widespread dissatisfaction or even disgust with the evils, corruptions, failures, and contradictions of the established religion, setting up an undertone of anti-clericalism that indicated a rightness for reform.Ī secondary influence was the intellectual impact of certain English reformers, such as the long-term impact of John Wycliffe (13281384) and his Lollardy reform movement, together with a stream of Reformation treatises and pamphlets from Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other reformers on the continent. The main events, constitutional changes, and players at the national level have long been known, and the major controversies about them largely resolved. It began with the insistent demands of Henry VIII for an annulment of his marriage that Pope Clement VII refused to grant. The five sovereigns, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I had entirely different approaches, with Henry VIII replacing the pope as the head of the Church of England but maintaining Catholic doctrines, Edward imposing a very strict Protestantism, Mary attempting to reinstate Catholicism, and Elizabeth arriving at a compromise position that defined the not-quite-Protestant Church of England. This was a period of significant change for the majority of the rural population, with manorial lords beginning the process of enclosure of village lands that previously had been open to everyone. Various inflationary pressures, perhaps due to an influx of New World gold and a rising population, set the stage for social upheaval with the gap between the rich and poor widening.
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