England breaks with Rome - the Henrician Reformation

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
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The Church of England separated from Rome over Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine Aragon, which Pope Clement VII refused to condone. Although the church remained nominally Catholic, Parliament passed legislation that enacted the final severance of the English Church from that of Rome. Acts are passed forbidding the payment of annates and 'Peter's Pence' to the Pope, and forbidding the introduction of papal bulls. The Act of Succession to the Crown (which embodies the resolutions taken by Convocation in 1532) demands all members of both Houses of Parliament, as well as all clergy and government officials, to swear an oath of loyalty to this amended, Protestant succession to the Crown. All these acts secured Henry and his successors as the supreme authorities of the national religion.

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Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "England breaks with Rome - the Henrician Reformation". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 June 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1103, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1103 England breaks with Rome - the Henrician Reformation 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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