Henry VIII: Turning Point For The Catholic Church

During Henry VIII's life span, Henry VIII always carried himself a certain way. He wanted to be treated and respected in a manner he believed to be. Overall, Henry VII was an egotist and religious man in his lifetime. Henry VIII , one of the most famous monarchs, was a turning point for the Catholic Church. He declared himself supreme amongst the church on earth under God. Henry's actions were based solely on personal reasons. At the beginning, Henry broke away from Rome because of his assertions of royal supremacy. The England church was a ‘monarchical’. Before he became king , he had a prayer scroll containing illuminations of the Trinity, the crucified Christ, and several martyred saints. The prayers contained martyred saints, St George slaying the dragon, and Christ’s passion. Henry’s had a classic

With the prayer scroll, Henry believed that purchasing papal gratifications could pardon sin and shorten time in Purgatory. He received a ‘plenary indulgence’ from Pope Clement VII and condoned carrying out an annual pilgrimage to a major shrine. Henry then defended by making his rebuttal, ‘Defence of the Seven Sacraments’. He formally broke with the Pope and the Roman church after Pope Clement VII refused to grant him an annulment of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon so that he could wed Anne. His appeal for an annulment was a violation of the scriptures , Leviticus 20. 21, which doesn’t tolerate a man marrying his brother’s widow.

Henry and his appointed ‘Vice Gerent in Spiritual Affairs’ , Thomas Crowell, immediately came upon a programme of reform. Even though Henry rejected Martin Luther’s theology of justification by faith alone, he did accept the German reformers' assistance upon the Supremacy of Scripture. Encouraged by Cromwell and Archbishop Thomas Crammer of Canterbury, Henry established an English Bible that could be read by the laity as well as the