Timelines of the English Reformation: Henry VIII and the Henrician Reformation

From our current class at Saint Barnabas Dunwoody, every Thursday following the 7pm Eucharist.

1521: King Henry VIII granted title Defensor Fidei, Defender of the Faith, by Pope Leo X.

1527: King Henry decides to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon, widow of his brother Arthur, for which marriage Henry had received special dispensation from Rome – the Pope is imprisoned by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Catherine’s nephew.

1529: Seeking a male heir, King Henry resolves to repudiate papal authority, moves to divorce Catherine of Aragon by seeking judgements of invalidity of the marriage from university scholars abroad.

1530: The Clergy are forced to recognise Royal Supremacy in Convocation.

1532: A Common’s Petition for Royal Supremacy and the Submission of the Clergy acts are passed; acts opposing taxes, annates and first fruits sent to the See of Rome, are passed in Convocation.

1533: Thomas Cranmer consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury with papal approval; appeals to Rome outlawed; Archbishop Cranmer declares Henry’s marriage to Catherine invalid. Henry marries Anne Boleyn; Anne crowned Queen; the Pope excommunicates Henry and declares his marriage to Anne invalid.

1534: Parliament passes the Act for Submission of the Clergy, revises the regulation of church appointments, and forbids ecclesiastical appeals to Rome; it forbids payment of Peter’s pence; canonical dispensation powers are transferred to the See of Canterbury from the See of Rome: the Royal Supremacy is enacted. The oath of royal succession and royal supremacy are required. The royal succession given to Anne’s children, not Catherine’s.

1535: Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher refuse the oaths and are executed by the King.

1536-1539: the Dissolution of the Monasteries; the transfer of wealth to the monarchy; six new Dioceses created, Westminster, Gloucester, Peterborough, Oxford, Chester, Bristol; the Pilgrimage of Grace in the north is suppressed.

1536: The Ten Articles accepted by the Church of England:

1. That Holy Scriptures and the three Creeds are the basis and summary of a true Christian faith, reasserting the binding authority of the Bible, the three Ecumenical Creeds, and the first Four Ecumenical Councils.

2. That baptism conveys remission of sins and the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit, and is absolutely necessary as well for children as adults, reasserting the necessity of baptism for salvation, even in the case of infants. Article II states that 'infants ought to be baptized;' that, dying in infancy, they 'shall undoubtedly be saved thereby, and else not; the opinions of Anabaptists and Pelagians are 'detestable heresies, and utterly to be condemned.'

3. That Penance consists of contrition, confession, and reformation, and is necessary to salvation, reasserting the Sacrament of Penance, with confession and absolution - which are declared 'expedient and necessary.'

4. That the Body and Blood of Christ are really present in the elements of the Eucharist, reasserting the substantial, real, corporal presence of Christ's Body and Blood under the form of bread and wine.

5. That justification is remission of sin and reconciliation to God by the merits of Christ; but good works are necessary, reasserting justification by faith, joined with charity and obedience.

6. That images are useful as reminders, but are not objects of worship, reasserting the use of images in churches.

7. That saints are to be honoured as examples of life, and as furthering our prayers, reasserting the veneration of the saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

8. That saints may be invoked as intercessors, and their holy days observed, reasserting the invocation of saints.

9. That ceremonies are to be observed for the sake of their mystical signification, and as conducive to devotion, reasserting the observance of various rites and ceremonies as good and laudable, such as clerical vestments, sprinkling of holy water, bearing of candles on Candlemas, and imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday.

10. That prayers for the faithful departed are good and useful, but the efficacy of papal pardon, and of Masses offered at certain localities, is rejected, reasserting prayers for the dead.

1538: English Bibles are set in Churches.

1539: The Six Articles are accepted by the Church of England.

1. The doctrine of transubstantiation. Those denying this were to be burnt.

2. The reasonableness of withholding of the Cup from the laity - Holy Communion in both kinds is unnecessary.

3. Clerical celibacy, priests ought not to marry.

4. Observance of vows of chastity: the vows of chastity ought to be observed in both sexes.

5. Permission for private Masses: private Masses are allowable.

6. The importance and necessity of auricular Confession.

If Articles II through VI were impeached, the penalties were, for the first offence, confiscation of property, and for the second, execution as a felon. 

1543: The requirement and authorisation of the Use of Sarum as the liturgical rite for the Province of Canterbury; the King’s Book is promulgated.

The Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for Any Christian Man, also known as the King's Book, was published in 1543, and attributed to Henry VIII. It was a revision of The Institution of the Christian Man, and defended transubstantiation and the Six Articles. It also encouraged preaching and condemned the wrong use of images.

1544: The English Litany is promulgated to be used throughout the Church of England, the first English language liturgy officially authorised in the Reformation.

It contains three invocations of saints:

Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God our Saviour Jesus Christ, pray for us

All holy Angels and Archangels and all holy orders of blessed spirits, pray for us.

All holy patriarchs, and Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, and Virgins, and all the blessed company of heaven, pray for us.

1545: Chantries in the Church of England are suppressed.