Henry XIII is remembered as the King of England who initiated the divorce between the church and the British crown so that the Papacy could have no control over the kingdom and this was something for which he paid by ex-communication. He ascended the throne in upon the death of his elder brother, Arthur, in 1502. His religious inclinations were largely attributed to the fact that he received his religious teaching early and hence it was assumed that they had some impact in his life and his thought process. Having inherited the throne before he was 11 years old, he underwent many challenges that many young people his age underwent.
Many historians consider that King Henry VIII must have been a dilettante king to let his ministers control the affairs of the country at a time when he chose to hunt in the wilderness. In the real sense, he was actually involved in every detail that he deemed to be significant. Therefore as much as they left the affairs of the state to the hands of his ministers and other officers, he was aware of all the occurrences and was pretty much in charge of all that was going on in the country.
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Various pieces of evidence supported the supposition that alludes to the idea that King Henry could have been inclined towards being a catholic (Christianity Today, 2019). However, those who examined his beliefs closely claimed that he was always a Catholic and never changed his religious beliefs even once (Christianity Today, 2019). For a long time in the history of man, religion always carried some power within it especially for those who occupied high positions of power and influence. The more the power an individual had the more their power was placed under scrutiny and examination.
As mentioned in the earlier assertion, Henry ’s interest in theological questions arose from the bias he underwent during his childhood education (Bernard, 2016). From an early age, his father had destined him for the church and he was meant to serve in the church just like many boys his age. By the time he was 11 years old, it was highly unlikely that he had formed intellectual judgments about the good and the evil of religion (Christianity Today, 2019). Certainly, he began to receive secular titles like those of Viceroy of England and Earl Marshal by the time he was five years old according to English traditions.
Besides early orientation to both the religious and the secular worlds, the young Henry had great precocity and he pursued very liberal studies in his early years (Christianity Today, 2019). Therefore, right from the onset, the young heir to the throne was being prepared to take his place and this was slowly building his perception and self-esteem. History is laden with numerous claims and belief that the convictions of young Henry were catholic (Rex, 2014). Others held on to the belief that he converted to a protestant during his time as the king.
Some of the reasons King Henry was regarded as a catholic accrued from his display of protestant attributes even while he was king. He used these as skills and tactics to further his tenure as the king (Christianity Today, 2019). Moreover, he simply used it as a behavior that was accepted by the Catholic Church. Moreover, King Henry’s way of life, as well as his natural beliefs, further ascertained his convictions of the Catholic faith.
The King ’s overall religious convictions are discussed at the time when he was the king. The article further backs that King Henry was simply using religion to empower his people. In other words, religion was a way to spark change for the better (Rex, 2014). An evident example could be when Rex quotes “his knack for yoking conscience to self-interest; his determination to secure not merely the outward obedience but the conscientious consent of those he admired” (Rex 2014). This is clear proof that although King Henry was aware of the potential consequences for further benefitting himself, he was trying to induce change.
King Henry was known as the Tudor Monarch who succeeded his father after and was famous for his many marriages. Great changes in the ways the Christians worshipped in the 16 th century (Christianity Today, 2019). The Roman Catholic Pope was the most important figure at that time and hence he had tremendous powers in determining how people worshiped in Great England.
Getting an annulment for a union was easy in the 16 th century. However, Katherine was not willing to let go of his situation and she sought the support of her cousin (Christianity Today, 2019). Katherine’s cousin as an emperor and he did not want to see Katherine disgraced and hence he sought the troops of the Pope. This was a difficult situation since the Pope was once more drawn into the conflict that the church had nothing to do with. Since time immemorial, the relationship between the Catholic Church and the British Empire has been complex and hard to understand (Christianity Today, 2019). Most of the time, the religion of the empire was determined by the religion that would be selected by the king or the crown.
This caused a rift between the Pope and the King at the time leading to the cessation between the state and the church, with the King appointing himself the overall in charge of all religious affairs in the country (Christianity Today, 2019). This caused a lot of conflict and misunderstanding in the church which led to a period of unrest and suspicion between the members of the church and the ordinary people in the society.
People in times of Tudo were highly religions and were prepared to die for their beliefs and aspirations. It must have been hard for the period the Tudor Kings ruled since they were forced to change their religion every time a new king took power all through the reigns of the 118 years of the Tudor Kings (Christianity Today, 2019). The reign of the Tudor King and queens saw the experience of major changes in the church and the alterations of various essential components in the Christian doctrines.
The marriage between Henry and the aunt of the Spanish king was seen as a means of cementing the union between the kingdom of England and that of Spain. The two countries strived to be allied and believed that the marriage between the two of them would further strengthen ties between the two countries (Christianity Today, 2019). Whereas it did achieve some benefits to some extent, it did not manage to reach certain ends in some respects because of the many divorces.
King Henry became more popular when he defeated the kingdoms of France and Scotland. During those days, although the counties were situated in the same regions and almost shared the same boundaries, there was little peace between them and this was something despicable especially for the growth of Christian religion (Christianity Today, 2019). The nature of his religiosity made him have a mass five times in one day every day unless he was hunting. This is because hunting was an essential component in his pass time and he could not live without it.
By the time it was 1526, King Henry began seeking means and ways to end his marriage with Katherine. The alliance he had formed with Spain was forming restrictions on his international intrigues. Moreover, the king was highly interested in theological disputes which were an essential part of his understanding of religion (Rex, 2014). Lutheranism was invading the English universities leading him to write a defense against Lutheranism. This led to a lot of outranging and controversy at the same time as no one was willing to let go of their convictions.
The Roman Catholic has been at logger's heads with the Anglican Church which has also formed a significant section of the tradition of the English Empire (Christianity Today, 2019). The Victorian rule was the time of the longest period of Catholic domination and this has remained the situation for a long time in the history of the nation (Rex, 2014). The pope threatened ex-communication from the empire and the king plunged ahead with the plans. The king operated in an era of church reformation and his changes to the church were deemed to be conservative. Unlike previous monarchs, he chose neither to be controlled by anyone nor to suffer from the judgment of others.
Various schools of thought and pieces of scholarship pieces of evidence indicate that King Henry never switched to the Catholic religion, for instance, the article “Catholicism without the Pope?” As opposed to switching religions he left the church to make himself leader. This is simply because, during this time, Henry wanted to divorce his wife (Christianity Today, 2019). This was not allowed in the Catholic Church and the Pope refused to grant him this. In retaliation, King Henry left the church and formed his own leadership (Rex, 2014). Furthermore, this article proves that there wasn’t a change in King Henry’s religious beliefs, but more so he changed some rules to benefit him more and to help him in his marriage.
Overall, whereas Catholicism can be considered the religion of choice for much of the British Empire in the reign of King Henry, there were other significant external influences that would not allow any king in his position to openly profess the Catholic Church and the faith. The war between the monarch and the Pope leads to the ultimate ouster of the king and this in part due to his desire to annul his marriage to Lady Katherine. Henry broke from the English church over the control of the church of English. He put English bibles into all churches and this was a protestant move.
References
Bernard, G. W. (2016). Henry VIII: ‘Catholicism without the Pope?’". History, 101 (345), 201-221
Christianity Today. (2019). Henry VIII: Defender of Faith . Retrieved from https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/rulers/henry-viii.html
Rex, R. (2014). "The Religion of Henry VIII". The Historical Journal, 57 (01), 1-32.
