Henry VIII was originally Catholic but wanted to divorce his first wife Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn after Catherine only produced a daughter. The Pope would not grant an annulment so the English Parliament passed the Acts of Supremacy that made Henry, not the Pope, head of the Church in England allowing his marriage to be annulled. Those who denied the King's authority as head, like Sir Thomas More, were executed for treason. This began the separation of the Church of England from the Catholic Church under Henry VIII.

2. Henry VIII was the Catholic king of
England
• “Defender of the Faith”
However, he and his queen, Catherine
of Aragon had only one child, Princess
Mary, who survived infancy. This
worried Henry very much.
Why do you think having only one heir, and a female, would
concern Henry?
Catherine of AragonHenry VIII

3. Henry wanted a male heir to succeed
him and secure the Tudor Dynasty.
He wanted to have his marriage to
Catherine annulled by the Pope so that
he could marry Anne Boleyn,
but… the Pope would not grant the
annulment.
Anne Boleyn
How is annulment different from divorce?

4. The Acts of Supremacy –
These acts, passed by Parliament, put in place
Royal, rather than Papal, Supremacy. This made
King Henry, and not the Pope, the head of
the Church in England.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas
Cranmer, then annulled the King’s marriage.
For this, both the King and Cranmer were
excommunicated by the Pope.

5. Sir Thomas More
As the head of the church, the King was now in
charge of nominating bishops and receiving
ecclesiastical taxes.
Those who defied him were charged with
treason.
Henry’s former advisor, Sir Thomas More was
executed in 1535 for denying Royal Supremacy.

6. Henry adopted the Lutheran belief in only three sacraments, and
ended many feast days and the use of religious iconography. This
led to some iconoclasm, or the destruction of religious images and
icons.
This image depicts
soldiers dismantling
the icons in a church.

7. Henry also seized monastic
property, keeping it for the crown
or dispersing it to the nobility.
This served several purposes,
including:
◦Enriching the crown
◦Destabilizing the remaining
Catholic influence in England
◦Ensuring the loyalty of the nobility.
How would this ensure the nobility’s loyalty?

8. ‘There is only one Christ, Jesus, one faith. All
else is a dispute over trifles.’ - Elizabeth I
Henry’s Heirs

9. In 1547, Henry VIII died, leaving the throne
to his nine-year-old son, Edward VI.
In 1552, Edward’s close advisor, Archbishop
Cranmer issued The Book of Common
Prayer:
• Changed the liturgy from Latin to English
• Denied transubstantiation
• Turned altars into communion tables

10. Edward VI was succeeded by his oldest
half-sister, Mary I.
Like her mother, Catherine of Aragon, and
her husband, Philip II of Spain, Mary was
Catholic.
• Restored the Catholic church in England
• Undid Protestant reforms.

11. 300 Protestants were burned at the stake as heretics. Others were exiled.
It is because of this violence that
she has since been called
‘Bloody Mary’
These deaths were recorded in
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, which
would be a source of inspiration
for Protestants who opposed
Mary’s rule.
Do you believe that ideas are ever worth dying for?

12. New Act of Supremacy: Made Elizabeth
the Supreme Governor of the Church
of England.
Elizabeth repealed Mary’s heresy laws.
Act of Uniformity: Mandated attendance
at Anglican church and the use of the
Book of Common Prayer.

13. Puritans: Radical Protestants
influenced by Calvinism.
They ran their own congregations
outside of the Anglican Church’s
authority.
They were restricted under
Elizabeth and persecuted under
later rulers, so some would attempt
to begin new lives colonizing
America.
If you were a Puritan, would you have stayed and faced persecution,
or left and faced the unknown? Why?