The Break with Rome
History: KS3, topic 5.2.8
Reasons for the Break With Rome
Henry VIII's break with Rome was mainly caused by the "Great Matter" and his desire to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
The "Defender of the Faith"
- Henry started his reign as a good Catholic, even defending the Catholic Church from Protestant criticism and gaining the title ‘Defender of the Faith’ from the Pope in 1521.
Protestantism
- Protestantism came from Germany, where a priest called Martin Luther protested against the corruption of the Catholic Church.
- He wanted to reform the church.
- This became the Reformation.
Protestant beliefs
- The head of the Church should be individual rulers, not the Pope.
- Churches were there to teach people the ‘word of God’ rather than focus on administering the sacraments.
- The bible should be translated out of Latin so ordinary people could read it.
- Superstition and corruption e.g. pilgrimages, images and paying for indulgences should be removed.
- The bread and wine given out during mass was symbolic and didn’t really turn into the body and blood of Jesus.
- The Catholic belief that it did was called transubstantiation.
Reasons for Henry VIII supporting the Break from Rome
- Henry began to support Protestant ideas to pressure the Pope for his annulment to Catherine of Aragon.
- He was also concerned about the state of the Church.
- In one case, a man who refused to pay high funeral costs to the Church was arrested and possibly murdered by the clergy.
Pressure on Henry VIII
- Henry VIII was influenced by Protestants like Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer (the Archbishop of Canterbury). Anne had given him a banned Protestant book that suggested that God wanted the Church to be ruled by Kings, who had control over everything in their kingdom.
- Henry liked this idea!
- However, Henry was never really a Protestant. He only believed in the bits of Protestantism that worked for him
Financial incentives
- Henry also knew he could gain a lot of money from the Break with Rome.
- E.g. banning the payment of Annates to the Pope meant that this payment now came to Henry and could be used to pay for his expensive foreign wars.
- However, it only raised a small amount, so was probably not Henry’s main reason.
Test yourself on The Break with Rome
Where did Protestantism begin?
Toggle until all are correct: Which Protestant beliefs were promoted by Luther?