Reformacion Inglesa

The English Reformation
Nowadays we read in the magazines, watch on TV news, or find on the internet information about “the Royal Family.” Prince Harry goes out with a girl one night and the next morning that event is spreads all over the world through the news. If today, with all this democracy and more secular society than before, people are still in awe of what happens with the Royal Family,no wonder people made a huge deal of what happened hundreds of years ago with England’s throne. Henry VIII is one of the main characters of the English Reformation. A series of events led to declare Henry as the head of England’s church, and therefore, the ties between the Roman Catholic Church and the King of England were broken. Henry VIII was not embracing Protestantism as many other monarchswere, but he was breaking from the papacy because of political issues. Although, the English Reformation began by being a political one, it slowly became a religious reformation later. Several events have led to the English Reformation, and a number of characters were involved.
It all began with Henry VIII. This King was very much concerned about England’s political position. England had surviveda recent civil war, and Henry feared the country would go back to that if he did not provide a new King. “He believed that the security of his kingdom depended on him having a son” (Frankforter, 370). His first marriage with Catherine of Aragon gave him a daughter, Mary I of England. Henry was not pleased with having a female on the throne; he wanted a son, so he resolved to re-marry a youngerwoman in secret hoping for a son from her. Unfortunately, for Henry, the Pope at that time would not allow him to divorce Catherine and re-marry another woman. Catherine was not able to bear him any more children. Desperate for a solution, Henry asked for help from Parliament. Through the Act of Supremacy that was passed by the Parliament, Henry was recognized as the head of the England’s church.Many countries around England were leaving behind Catholicism, and embracing more the Protestantism ideals. However, England did not go through an abrupt change on their religion. The Act of Supremacy had mostly benefited the King, because he was able to divorce a wife and declare the other one as legitimate. Although Protestantism was nationalized in England, it did not differ much from theCatholic Church. The Act of Supremacy states that “the king, our sovereign lord, his heirs and successors, kings of this realm, shall be taken, accepted, and reputed the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England, called Anglicans Ecclesia” (Viorst, 97). This document makes it seem like the King was pursuing a religious reformation, but it was actually a political reformation.
Henry’s secondmarriage did not give him any male heirs as he was expecting. He married four other women, after his second wife. He divorced and beheaded a couple of them, annulled another marriage and he died before his last wife did. When Henry died, his only son, Edward VI became the King of England for a short period of time. He was Protestant, and during his reign, The Book of Common Prayer was published.Although Edward was a really young king, he was very interested in religious matters, and helped to establish the Protestantism in England. After Edward died, his half-sister, Mary I, ascended the throne. Unlike her brother, she was a devout Catholic, so during her reign she managed to restore alliances with the papacy and Rome. Mary I was similar to Paul before his conversion in the Bible in theway she persecuted, imprisoned, and executed Protestants. Many had to flee to other countries to save their lives from the new Catholic Queen. Protestantism was in a poor state in England until Elizabeth I, Mary’s sister, became the new Queen who was Protestant. Frankfort describes her as “Europe’s most important Protestant monarch” (p. 373). Queen Elizabeth I did some progress in favor of...