Religion, ideas and reform

Under Henry VIII, Renaissance ideas began to flourish, at least among some of the elite groups. 

Humanism and education

• The most significant humanist voice in English education was John Colet - he refounded St Paul's School. As the school's governors, he appointed members of the city guild rather than clergymen. Also, the scool's curriculum included works by Erasmus and teaching methods which had been derived from humanist principles. 
• Schools like St Paul's were at the forefront of educational reform and adopted Platonist educational principles (principles based around the Greek philosopher Plato which aimed to instill the ideal of public service into its pupils. These schools influence gradually grew, with colleges at Oxford and Cambridge being influenced by their principles. Cardinal Wolsey also showed his personal commitment to educational improvement by founding a college and a school in Ipswich. By the end of Henry VIII's reign, humanist ideas had taken a long-lasting hold on university curricula. 

Renaissance ideas and English culture

• Renaissance ideas influenced English culture as:
  • The knowledge of classical learning increased among elite groups
  • An increasing no. of schools were influenced by humanist approaches to education
  • Henry saw himself as the promoter of new ideas and humanism
  • The Crown needed well-educated diplomats who could communicate with their counterparts in other countries in a fashionably elegant way.
• The most important English humanist writer was Thomas More. Renaissance ideas also influenced visual culture e.g. Henry commissioned the Italian sculptor Pietro Torrigiano to produce the tombs of his parents and grandmother - they were produced in the Renaissance style. Though, the influence of the Renaissance in Henry's reign shouldn't be overestimated - Richard Marks has argued that Gothic was still the predominant cultural form. Similarly, with painting, the dominant painters of Henry's court were from the 'northern Renaissance' (owed more to Gothic influences than it did the Italian Renaissance.
• At the time, tapestries were seen as better than paintings, most of which were Flemish. Henry was a generous patron of music but the main influence on the church music heard in the Chapel Royal or in cathedrals was Flemish. Italian Renaissance ideas were becoming more fashionable, but England's main cultural links reflected its commercial ties with the Low Countries.

Henry VIII's transformation of the English Church between 1532 and 1540 couldn't have been forseen in the early years of his reign when the English Church was broadly popular and effective, albeit with some weaknesses.

Weaknesses of the Church

• Corruption: E.g. pluralism (receiving the profits of more than one post), simony (the purchase of Church office) and non-residence (receiving the profits of a post but not actually performing the duties required of it). Many clergymen were guilty of these offences.
• Anticlericalism: This is opposition to the political and social importance of the clergy. Some lawyers objected to the use of canaon law and the legal privileges of the clergy. There were some instances of clerical misconduct which caused considerabe criticism e.g. the murder of Richard Hunne in 1514. Hunne was a London merchant who had been found dead in his cell at Bishop of London's prison. He had apparently hanged himself but it was found this would have been impossible and what was more likely was that an attempt of torture had gone wrong and the torturers had panicked.
• Decline of monasticism: The operation of religious houses was open to criticism. Monasteries had been dissolved before the 1530s e.g. Wolsey dissolved around 20 houses to fund the Cardinal College, Oxford. Some historians argue that the monasteries were a relic of former times and they had lost their sense of direction. The larger monasteries had become substantial businesses with huge resources (lands and buildings). The ease and speed with which the monasteries were dissolved after the Reformation supports this argument.

Dissolution of the monasteries

• In 1535, Cromwell compiled Valor Ecclesiasticus, a survey to see how wealthy the Church was.
• The next stage was the amassing of evidence which could justify the dissolution of the monasteries. Four visitors were sent round the contry to inspect all monasteries and they found much to criticise. The visitors provided Cromwell with enough evidence to justify the 1536 Act of Parliament which dissolved smaller monasteries. This was presented as a way of preserving the quality of monasticism - they stated that the smaller monasteries had allowed standards to slip.
• The scope of dissolution widened after the Pilgrimage of Grace - the heads of religious houses had been implicated in the rebellion.
• A 1539 Act was passed dissolving the remaining monasteries. By March 1540, all religious houses had been dissolved. 

The attack on traditional religious practices

• The 1536 royal injunctions restricted the no. of holy days to be observed and discouraged pilgrimages. 
• The 1538 royal injunctions condemned pilgrimages and the veneration of relics and images as 'works devised by men's fantasies'. Clergymen who upheld the virtues of pilgrimages, relics and images were required to publically recant.

The English Bible

• The 1538 injunctions required each parish church to acquire an English Bible and ecourage 'every person to read the same' (in practice, few would be able to read the Bible and religious messages stil mainly came from images). 
• The first edition of the Great Bible was published in 1539. By 1543, Henry had tired of his role and was worried about the wrong sorts of people reading the wrong parts of the Bible. So, the Act for the Advancement of True Religion of 1543 restricted public reading of the Bible to upper-class males. They didn't want to loosen the bonds of social control on which good order depended.

Changes to doctrine

At this stage, changes in doctrine were less important than the challenge to religious practices. There was no consistent pattern of doctrinal change, showing the King's indecisiveness about such matters.

• 1536 Ten Articles: Only three sacraments (baptism, penance and Eucharist) were seen as necessary for salvation (Lutheran). The definition of the Eucharist was ambiguous. Confession was praised (Catholic). It was an ambiguous document which showed both Lutheran and Catholic influences on the development of doctrine.
• 1537 Bishops' Book: Restored the four sacraments left out but these were given a lower status. This was a more conservative document than the Ten Articles.
• 1539 Six Articles Act: Reasserted Catholic doctrine. Denial of transubstantiation was deemed heresy. This was a triumph for the conservatives who believed that there had been too much religious controversy which had undermined the ordering of society.
• 1543 King's Book: Revised the Bishop's Book. The emphasis was largely conservative with Lutheran hints.

• Some aspects of the English Church in 1547 were the same as at the start of Henry's reign e.g. the hierarchy of the Church remained intact, the interior of churches had not changed and services remained largely traditional. The Six Articles Act in 1539 and the fall of Cromwell in 1540 severely weakened the case for reform. Services were still held in Latin and music still played an important role in services.
• But, much had changed: the jurisdiction of the Pope had been destroyed; the King had taken the place of the Pope as the authority figure; the monasteries had been dissolved and many monastic buildings had fallen into ruin; parish churches were required to have bibles in English; and there had been an extensive transfer of resources from the Church to the Crown.
• Religious culture had been influenced by humanism - this had contributed to the undermining of the traditional Church. By the end of Henry VIII's reign, humanism looked poised to achieve even greater influence. 
• Wider Renaissance culture had become entrenched at court and in wealthy and well-educated circles - it would remain prominent for the rest of the century.