How Protestant Was England by 1540?

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How protestant was England by 1540? Break with Rome, nature of the Church in England? * Henrician reformation was essentially an act of state motivated by political, personal and financial motives * The road towards the break with Rome & the Royal Supremacy had allowed evangelicals such as Crammer and Cromwell to rise to prominence, promoting Henry’s new policies. * Catholics still worshipped at a high level * Henry remained a catholic at heart * Comes to a confusing situation * Henry doesn’t show a clear understand of where he stands on religious fronts * Causes struggles in court Was there a move towards Protestantism in the years 1534-39 * The break with Rome and the royal supremacy had severed English connections with the papacy and removed Roman influence from English shores * English Church had been essentially created but papal authority was destroyed and payments were sent to the king * Encouraged more radical reformers abroad * Little alterations on popular worship The Factional struggle: evangelical’s v conservatives * Thomas crammer had risen from relative obscurity to the highest ecclesiastical position in England * On the temporal side Thomas Cromwell had shown his worth in masterminding the Royal Supremacy The Ten articles * see table The bishop’s book * see table Cromwell and the English Bible * both the ten articles and the bishops book can be regarded as partial successes for the evangelical faction at court, Cromwell in particular * neither offered a definitive statement of protestant belief * Cromwell used his friendship and trust with Henry to further the evangelical position * He maintained episcopal appointments to ensure that reformers were preferred * He organised preaching campaigns against Catholic practises such as the worshipping of
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