Concetti Chiave
- Henry VIII was initially seen as the herald of a new Golden Age, praised for his talents and strong Catholic allegiance.
- His desire for a divorce led to a split with Rome, resulting in the establishment of the Church of England with the Act of Supremacy in 1534.
- The Reformation under Henry VIII replaced feudal Catholic aristocracy with a new Protestant aristocracy and aligned with the mercantile class.
- Henry VIII's reign was marked by significant opposition, including the execution of Sir Thomas More for his refusal to support the king's religious policies.
- The subsequent reigns of Edward VI and Mary I saw intense religious persecution, with Protestantism and Catholicism alternately dominating and leading to many executions.
It was King Henry VIII who completed what his father had begun. His accession was welcomed by humanist scholars as the beginning of a new Golden Age. In fact, the young king had all the gifts of body and mind that were then thought necessary for a prince: he was a soldier, a poet, a musician, and a good horseman. His allegiance to the Catholic cause against Martin Luther was so strong that he was proclaimed ‘defensor fidei’ by the Pope.
Thing rapidly changed, however, when Pope Clement VII refused to grant Henry a divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, who had failed to give him a male heir, in order to marry Anne Boleyn, a young and wealthy noblewoman
THE REFORMATION AND THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
The king of England then broke with Rome.
Under the king’s guidance, England stated her claim to be her own mistress in the domains of politics and religion, setting herself against the great catholic powers of Europe: France and Spain.
HENRY VIII’S VICTIMS
Henry VIII’s policy met with several opponents at home. The most famous was sir Thomas More, the great humanist and the author of Utopia, who was once the king’s chief minister but of the king in ecclesiastical matters and remained faithful to the Church of Rome. For this More was beheaded in 1535. Other illustrious victims of Henry, especially in the last years of his reign, were the young poet and diplomatic the Earl of Surrey, and two of king’s six wives: Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, who were both accused of being unfaithful and were sentenced to death.
RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION UNDER EDWARD VI AND MARY I
The solution reached in Henry’s reign was far from being final or even satisfactory to the majority of Englishmen, as the events of the two short and turbulent following reigns showed. Radical Protestantism was strong under Edward VI (1547-53), the young and sickly son of Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour. This led to a Catholic reaction under Mary I Tudor (1553-58), who was the daughter of Catherine of Aragon and the wife of King Philip II of Spain. These two reigns thus witnessed first the persecution of Catholics, then of Protestants: many were put to death. The catholic queen, for her intolerance in religious matters, became popularly known as ‘Bloody Mary’.
Domande da interrogazione
- Quali furono le qualità di Enrico VIII che lo resero un principe ideale secondo gli studiosi umanisti?
- Cosa portò Enrico VIII a rompere con Roma e creare la Chiesa d'Inghilterra?
- Chi furono alcune delle vittime illustri della politica di Enrico VIII?
- Come si manifestò la persecuzione religiosa durante i regni di Edoardo VI e Maria I?
Enrico VIII era considerato un principe ideale perché era un soldato, un poeta, un musicista e un buon cavaliere, qualità apprezzate dagli studiosi umanisti dell'epoca.
Enrico VIII ruppe con Roma dopo che il Papa Clemente VII rifiutò di concedergli il divorzio da Caterina d'Aragona. Questo portò alla creazione della Chiesa d'Inghilterra con l'Atto di Supremazia del 1534.
Tra le vittime illustri della politica di Enrico VIII ci furono Sir Thomas More, il conte di Surrey, e due delle sue mogli, Anne Boleyn e Catherine Howard, tutte condannate a morte.
Durante il regno di Edoardo VI ci fu una forte persecuzione dei cattolici, mentre sotto Maria I, nota come 'Bloody Mary', ci fu una reazione cattolica con la persecuzione dei protestanti.
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