English Reformation

The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Reformation: various religious and political movements that affected both the practice of Christianity in Western and Central Europe and relations between church and state.

The English Reformation began as more of a political affair than a theological dispute. In 1527 Henry VIII sought an annulment of his marriage, but Pope Clement VII refused. In response, the Reformation Parliament (1529–1536) passed laws abolishing papal authority in England and declared Henry to be head of the Church of England. Final authority in doctrinal disputes now rested with the monarch. Though a religious traditionalist himself, Henry relied on Protestants to support and implement his religious agenda.

Ideologically, the groundwork for the subsequent Reformation was laid by Renaissance humanists who believed that the Scriptures were the best source of Christian theology and criticised religious practices that they saw as superstitious. By 1520 Martin Luther's new ideas were known and debated in England, but Protestants were a religious minority and heretics under the law. However, historians have noted that activities such as the dissolution of the monasteries enriched the "Tudor kleptocracy".

The theology and liturgy of the Church of England became markedly Protestant during the reign of Henry's son Edward VI (r. 1547–1553) largely along lines laid down by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. Under Mary I (r. 1553–1558), Roman Catholicism was briefly restored. The Elizabethan Religious Settlement re-established the Church of England. Nevertheless, disputes over the structure, theology and worship of the Church of England continued for generations.

The English Reformation concluded largely during the reign of Elizabeth I (r. 1558–1603) but some scholars refer to a Long Reformation stretching into the 17th and 18th centuries. This period includes the violent disputes over religion during the Stuart period, most famously the English Civil War, which resulted in the rule of Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan. After the Stuart Restoration and the Glorious Revolution, the Church of England remained the established church, but a number of nonconformist churches now existed whose members suffered various civil disabilities until these were removed many years later. A substantial but dwindling minority of people from the late-16th to early-19th centuries remained Catholics in England—their church organisation remained illegal until the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829.

The Medieval English church was part of the larger Catholic Church led by the pope in Rome. The dominant view of salvation in the late medieval church taught that contrite persons should cooperate with God's grace towards their salvation (see synergism) by performing charitable acts, which would merit reward in Heaven. God's grace was ordinarily given through the seven sacraments—Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, Anointing of the Sick, Penance and the Eucharist. The Eucharist was celebrated during the Mass, the central act of Catholic worship. In this service, a priest consecrated bread and wine to become the body and blood of Christ through transubstantiation. The church taught that, in the name of the congregation, the priest offered to God the same sacrifice of Christ on the cross that provided atonement for the sins of humanity.

The Mass was also an offering of prayer by which the living could help souls in purgatory. While genuine penance removed the guilt attached to sin, Catholicism taught that a penalty could remain in the case of imperfect contrition. It was believed that most people would end their lives with these penalties unsatisfied and would have to spend "time" in purgatory. Time in purgatory could be lessened through indulgences and prayers for the dead, which were made possible by the communion of saints. Religious guilds sponsored intercessory Masses for their members through chantries. The monks and nuns who lived in monasteries prayed for souls as well. By popular demand, "prayer for the dead dominated Catholic devotion in much of northern Europe."

English Catholicism was strong and popular in the early 1500s. One measure of popular engagement is financial contribution. Besides paying obligatory tithes, English people voluntarily donated large amounts of money to their parish churches.