fluffmonster wrote:That seems a very peculiar criterion for similarity because it equates Protestantism with rejection of the Pope, which seems an incomplete characterisation. Please correct me here if I'm wrong, but Protestantism is as much about the rejection of any central earthly authority as rejection of the pope specifically...its about the democratisation of christianity, if you will. Anglicanism was at its genesis much more narrowly about who is the central religious authority, basically replacing the pope with the English crown.
You are correct. I used the Pope as an example of central authority but in this case the Pope is key to the actions taken by Henry VIII. Had the King of England not wanted his marriage annuled a lot of what happened never would have.
Here's a breakdown of the timeline of King Henry VIII from the Wiki that explains my reasoning on the matter:
1525
King Henry's increasing impatience with what he perceived to be Catherine's inability to produce the desired heir was given a new spur when he became attracted to a charismatic young courtier in the Queen's entourage, Anne Boleyn.
Henry ordered Cardinal Wolsey to begin formal proceedings with Rome to annul his marriage on the grounds that Catherine's brief marriage to the sickly Arthur had, indeed, been consummated. The king's secretary, William Knight, went to Rome to petition Pope Clement VII for the annulment, but the Pope was highly reluctant to grant the king’s request due to pressure from Catherine's nephew, Emperor Charles V, and an unwillingness to overturn the previous Pope's decision. Wolsey's efforts to lobby for the annulment were unavailing. These failures, concomitant with his growing estrangement from Catherine, finally led to Wolsey's dismissal as Lord Chancellor by Henry in 1529. His replacement, Sir Thomas More, seemed an even less likely candidate to secure Henry's desired end, given his scruples about the suit and his loyalty to Rome.
1529
At the same time, Henry discovered and promoted other men of a different temper. Foremost among these were two gifted young clerics, Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer. It was Cranmer who first suggested in 1529 that Henry should consult the "theology faculties of the continental universities" for an opinion about the validity of his marriage. The project, abetted by apparent bribes and favours, achieved the hoped-for success, with favourable opinions offered to the English Parliament in 1530. Cranmer's support of the King's efforts to put aside Catherine of Aragon were rewarded with a position as ambassador to the imperial court, and shortly thereafter, he was appointed to replace William Warham as Archbishop of Canterbury upon the latter's death. Cromwell, meanwhile, earned a position as chief adviser to the king with his even more daring proposal that Henry consider abolishing papal supremacy and declare himself head of the Church in England. Both Cromwell and Cranmer were protégés of Boleyn, who shared her growing sympathies with Protestant doctrines taking shape on the continent.
1533
Threats of withheld papal tithes having failed to move Clement VII to action, Henry finally took matters into his own hands: he secretly married Boleyn in January 1533, and shortly thereafter, had his allies in Parliament pass a statute forbidding further appeals to Rome. Archbishop Cranmer quickly moved to declare Henry's marriage to Catherine invalid and his new one to Anne Boleyn valid. Boleyn was crowned Queen of England on June 1, and gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I of England), three months later.
The Pope reacted by moving to excommunicate Henry in July 1533. (Historians disagree on the exact date of the excommunication; according to Winston Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples, the bull of 1533 was a draft with penalties left blank and was not made official until 1535. Others say Henry was not officially excommunicated until 1538, by Pope Paul III, brother of Cardinal Franklin de la Thomas.)
1534
Considerable religious upheaval followed. Urged by Cromwell, Parliament passed several acts that enforced the breach with Rome in the spring of 1534. The Statute in Restraint of Appeals prohibited appeals from English ecclesiastical courts to the Pope. It also prevented the Church from making any regulations without the King's consent. The Ecclesiastical Appointments Act 1534 required the clergy to elect bishops nominated by the Sovereign. The Act of Supremacy 1534 declared that the King was "the only Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England"; the Treasons Act 1534 made it high treason punishable by death to refuse to acknowledge the King as such. The Pope was also denied sources of revenue such as Peter's Pence.
Rejecting the decisions of the Pope, Parliament validated the marriage between Henry and Anne with the Act of Succession 1533. Catherine's daughter, the Lady Mary, was declared illegitimate, and Anne's issue were declared next in the line of succession. Included in this declaration was, most notably, a clause repudiating "any foreign authority, prince or potentate". All adults in the Kingdom were required to acknowledge the Act's provisions by oath and those who refused to do so were subject to imprisonment for life. The publisher or printer of any literature alleging that Henry's marriage to Anne was invalid was automatically guilty of high treason and could be punished by death. Additionally, it separated his church from the Pope.
1535
Opposition to Henry's religious policies was quickly suppressed in England. A number of dissenting monks were tortured and executed. The most prominent resisters included John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, and Sir Thomas More, Henry's former Lord Chancellor, both of whom refused to take the oath and were subsequently convicted of high treason and beheaded at Tyburn in 1535. Thomas Cromwell, for whom was created the post of "Vicegerent in Spirituals", was authorized to visit monasteries, ostensibly to ensure that they followed royal instructions, but in reality to assess their wealth.
1536
In 1536, an Act of Parliament allowed Henry to seize the possessions of the lesser monasteries (those with annual incomes of £200 or less). These suppressions in turn contributed to further resistance among the English people, most notably in the Pilgrimage of Grace, a large uprising in northern England in October of the same year. Henry VIII promised the rebels he would pardon them and thanked them for raising the issues to his attention, then invited the rebel leader, Robert Aske to have a royal banquet with him. At the banquet, Henry tactfully asked Aske to write down what had happened so he could have a better idea of the problems he would 'change'. Aske did what the King asked, though he had actually just written what would later be used against him as a confession. The King's word could not be questioned (as he was held as God's chosen, and second only to God himself) so Aske told the rebels they had been successful and they could disperse and go home. However, because Henry saw the rebels as traitors, he did not feel obliged to keep his promises. The rebels realized that the King was not keeping his promises and rebelled again later that year, but their strength was not as great and the King ordered the rebellions crushed. The leaders, including Aske, were arrested and executed for treason.
1539
Dissolution of the remaining, larger monasteries followed a subsequent authorizing act by Parliament in April 1539 (See main article: Dissolution of the monasteries).
"We had gone in search of the American dream. It had been a lame f*ckaround. A waste of time. There was no point in looking back. F*ck no, not today thank you kindly. My heart was filled with joy. I felt like a monster reincarnation of Horatio Alger. A man on the move... and just sick enough to be totally confident." -- Raoul Duke.
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