To what extent was religion in England changed significantly during the reign of Henry VIII?

The Tudors – Politics and Religion, 1509-1603

In this course, Professor John Morrill (University of Cambridge) explores the politics and religion of Tudor England through ten key questions: (1) To what extent was religion in England changed significantly during the reign of Henry VIII?; (2) Was Henry VIII’s lack of a male heir the main reason for reforms to the English church in the years 1529-40?; (3) How far was religious change in the years 1547–63 driven by the personal religious beliefs of successive monarchs?’; (4) How accurate is it to say that Catholicism survived in the reigns of Edward and Elizabeth because of the tolerance shown by government?; (5) Were the legacies of Mary's reign wholly negative?; (6) How accurate is it to say that the changes that took place in the role of parliament were very limited in the years 1509-58?; (7) Was Parliament a help or a hindrance to Elizabeth?; (8) How far did the role played by Cardinal Wolsey as Henry’s principal servant remain the same when Thomas Cromwell served the king?; (9) Was being Queen of Ireland the biggest of all the problems faced by Elizabeth I?; and (10) How well did Elizabeth I deal with the problem of her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots?

To what extent was religion in England changed significantly during the reign of Henry VIII?

In this module, we consider the question, ‘To what extent was religion in England changed significantly during the reign of Henry VIII?’, focusing in particular on: (i) the limited changes in ordinary parish churches; (ii) the changes experienced in larger churches and cathedrals, especially those that housed relics or shrines; (iii) the changes experienced in the countryside with the dissolution of the monasteries; (iv) the services provided by monasteries, both religious and social; (v) the importance of guilds in providing religious and charitable services; (vi) the importance of chantry chapels; and (vii) the idea of the communion of saints, i.e. the idea that the living and the dead form a single community; and (viii) the extent to which Henry holds back religious changes advocated by his less conservative advisors (e.g. Thomas Cranmer).