Further Reform and Reaction (1500-1600 C.E.)
The persecution of early Anabaptists.
W HILE FOLLOWERS OF Luther and Calvin were reforming their faith in Germany and Switzerland, other groups on the Continent and in England were promoting renewals and redefinitions of Christianity. These groups fall into two broad branches of Protestantism—Anglicans and Anabaptists. In England, Protestantism took the form of the Anglican or English Reformation. In the end, the English church retained more of its Catholic traditions than did other Protestant denominations. At the other extreme are several diverse groups lumped together by scholars under the label Anabaptists. Because the Anabaptists represent the most significant departure from Catholic tradition, they also are referred to as the Radical Reformation or the left wing of the Reformation.
This chapter first looks at the English (Anglican) Reformation and then studies the Anabaptists. We then review the Catholic reaction to Protestantism, known as the Catholic Reformation or the Counter-Reformation We also examine the immediate aftermath of the Reformation, the Orthodox church during the period, and the state of Christianity at the close of the sixteenth century.
Both Lutheranism and the Reformed church had strong theological bases, although political forces also played a role in their formation. The English Reformation was somewhat different. The movement was fueled by religious ideas from the Continent and earlier English reform traditions such as those changes advocated by Wycliffe and by nationalistic ideas. In many ways, the Anglican Reformation was a political movement with religious overtones. It was partly an excuse for the assertion of nationalism. The early Reformation in England was the result of the struggle between King Henry VIII and the pope that concerned Henry's desire for a male heir.
Henry VIII had no original intention of breaking with the Catholic church. He was not impressed with the Reformation. In fact, he had written an essay against the Lutherans that had won him the title "Defender of the Faith" from
the pope Henry's break was because of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
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Henry's father had initially married his oldest son Arthur to Catherine (a daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella) to seal an alliance between Spain and England Arthur died four months after the wedding The English and Spanish then agreed to have Catherine marry her husband's younger brother, Henry, who was then heir to the English throne Because church law forbade the
marriage of a man to his brother's widow, it was necessary to get a dispensation (an exception from church law) from the pope.
The pope granted the dispensation Henry married Catherine as soon as he was old enough in 1509 The marriage was not happy. To make matters worse, five of their six children died The surviving child and heir to the throne was a girl, Mary Tudor. A woman had never ruled England Henry convinced himself that the failure to produce a male heir was a divine judgment on an illegitimate union He requested an annulment of the marriage on the ground that the pope should not have granted a legal dispensation The annulment would have left Henry free to marry another woman (and to produce more heirs). Catherine was the aunt of Charles V, the Holy Roman emperor. The pope could not risk offending Charles because imperial armies dominated Italy. So he refused to grant the annulment.
Acting on the advice of Thomas Cranmer (1489- 1556), Henry submitted the case to the universities for their ruling. Henry argued that Leviticus 2114 forbade a man from marrying his brother's widow. The pope could give dispensations from church law but not from the law of God After many negotiations, most of the major universities came out in favor of Henry. Henry put away Catherine (1533) and shortly married Anne Boleyn. Henry then forced the clergy in England to submit to him. He had the pope name Cranmer the archbishop of Canterbury. Henry's efforts at change were supported by those who opposed papal interference in English life and by those who supported Wycliffe's vision of a national church under the king.
A series of laws were passed that established the church under the king's control and prevented appeals to Rome The final break came in 1534 when the English Parliament passed the Supremacy Act, which made Henry the supreme head of the English church. Anyone who produced a schism or was a heretic was declared a traitor. Sir Thomas More, the lord chancellor of England and a humanistic scholar, refused to swear an oath to Henry as head of the church. More had been one of Henry's personal friends. He was executed in 1535 because of his convictions. In 1935 he was declared a saint in the Catholic church.
In 1534 Henry also took measures that would eventually lead to suppressing and seizing the property of monasteries. His instrument in this and many of his other changes was Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540). Most of the property taken from monasteries was sold to raise funds for the royal treasury. Parliament also decreed that Mary Tudor was illegitimate and that the infant daughter of Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth, was the heir to the throne. Anne soon fell out of favor and was beheaded Henry went on to marry four other women, one of whom, Jane Seymour, finally produced a son, Edward. Henry's last wife, Catherine Parr, was a supporter of reform who helped promote Protestant reform ideas.
THE REFORMATION