Highlands Ranch High School - Mr. Sedivy
Highlands Ranch, Colorado
World History -
The Protestant Reformation
Anglicanism and King Henry VIII
King Henry VIII
King Henry VIII
Henry VIII was very religious; he went to Mass every day and spent
his fathers money on wars for the Catholic Church. Henry had a conflict
with the Pope because he wanted an annulment of marriage from Catherine
of Aragon. Henry VIII wanted a male heir and he was in love with
Anne Boleyn, a "lady in waiting."
Henry VIII jousts before Catherine of Aragon to celebrate
of their son, Henry. The young prince died ten days later.
His first duty was to produce heirs to the throne.
Catherine hadn't produced a son that survived, so Henry decided
that it was a sinful marriage, believing that all of this was a
punishment from god (his wife and his brother). The Pope could not
take any action and Catherine refused. She got her nephew, Charles
V, the Holy Roman Emperor, to help her.
Left: Part of the letter Catherine of Aragon wrote
to Henry when she
learned that he was going to divorce her. Click
the letter for an enlargement.
Right: Writing Box of Henry VIII.
King Henry VIII breaks from the Pope and establishes
The Church of England, or The Anglican Church. He granted a new
archbishop of Canterbury, the highest church office in England,
who granted Henry an annulment in 1533. Henry married Anne Boleyn.
They had a girl; then a miscarriage. When she was found guilty of
adultery, Anne Boleyn asked to be beheaded with a sword.
Left: Portrait of Anne Boleyn, by Frans Pourbus the
Her marriage to Henry VIII only lasted for three years.
Right: Part of the letter Henry wrote to Anne Boleyn on his hopes
for a divorce.
Click the letter for
Catherine of Aragon
Then Henry married Jane Seymour. They have a son,
but she dies in child birth. Then Henry married a German Princess,
by proxy, Anne of Cleves. (butt ugly!)
Anne of Cleves
King Henry VIII said,
"I will not marry a cow!"
... They never consummated the marriage.
Then Henry VIII married Catherine Howard - she had
an affair and was beheaded. ... Then Catherine Parr.
Anne of Cleves
Henry, through Parliament, passed the "Act of Supremacy."
The King was the head of the English Church (huge break from the
past). Beliefs and practices stayed the same except for divorce.
"For Pope, Read King." Henry VIII seized
spiritual authority from the papacy and assumed the title: "Head
of the Church." In this woodcut, Henry rests his feet on the
prostrate body of Pope Clement VII.
Henry got a lot of support because the people resented
the high taxes of the Catholic Church (and they wanted to have fun).
Those who disagreed were often executed. Sir Thomas More, a devout
Catholic and student of the humanities, was killed for not accepting
The Act of Supremacy.
Henry VIII opens Parliament in 1512. Henry is preceeded
by the duke of Buckingham, carrying the cap of maintenance. Henry
is follwed by the earl of Oxford, bearing the staff of the Lord
Left: JOOS VAN CLEVE - Henry VIII at about the age
of 44. The king is holding a scroll with a quote form St. Mark's
gospel. Right: Henry VIII playing a celtic harp known as a clàrach.
His villainous-looking companion is the court fool, Will Sommers.
Henry was said to be very entertaining and an excellent mimic.
Left: SEBASTIAN GIUSTINIAN - Portrait of Henry VIII
at age 29 in 1519.
Right: Henry's suit of armor, made towards the end of his life.
By the way, Henry did have a son, Edward VI, a Protestant.
He was sickly and weak, and only ruled for six years (from ages
15-21). His sister, Mary I, daughter of Catherine of Aragon, was
a Catholic who persecuted those who weren't Catholic. "Bloody Mary"
married Philip II of Spain, a Catholic. After her death, Elizabeth
I, daughter of Anne Boleyn, took over and returned England to Protestantism.
Left: SCHOOL OF HANS HOLBEIN - Portrait shows the
King Henry VIII as
no longer the lithe, well-proportioned youth who succeeded to the
throne in 1509.
Right: CORNELIS MASSYS - Henry VIII at the age of 53. This portrait
heroic in favor of candor. (the bald head and eyes lost in folds
Left: A page from the English Language
Great Bible - 1539
The Puritans find the Church of England just slightly less questionable
than the Pope and the Catholic Church. They wanted to "purify" the
Church by getting rid of stained-glass, saints, bishops, etc.
1. What Was the Renaissance?
2. Personalities of the Italian
3. Renaissance Art
4. The Protestant Reformation
5. Martin Luther, Lutheranism
6. John Calvin, Calvinism
7. Anglicanism and King Henry
8. French Huguenots,
Summary of the Protestant Reformation
9. Renaissance and Reformation
10. Most Important Invention
of the Renaissance
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