How did the spread of protestantism in England differ from the rest of Europe?

Answer 1

The first part of the to this question is all related to the politics of the court of Henry VIII. Henry was second in line to throne, his father Henry VII had a son Arthur who was older. For political reasons an alliance between Aragon (a country now part of Spain) and England was important and so a marraige between Catherine of Aragon and Arthur, the heir to the English throne was arranged. However before Arthur could succeed to the throne he died. In order to carry through the alliance with Aragon it was decided that Arthur's brother (and heir to throne) Henry should marry Catherine - who incidentally was considerable older than Henry. Henry became king in 1509. The marriage occurred and a daughter (Mary Tudor) was born. However in those times it was desirable for there to be a male heir to the throne.

As Catherine of Aragon grew older the likelihood of her bearing a male hier decreased. At the same time Henry VIII became infatuated with a young courtier called Anne Boelyn. At this stage England was still firmly a part of the Roman Catholic Church. However the events which follow would cause a split from Rome.

On the grounds that it was immoral (according to the bible) for a man to marry his brother's wife, Henry VIII appealed to the church to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. That is to say, declare that it was improper for the marriage to have taken place and thus say that they could never have really been married. This would allow him to marry Anne Boelyn and hopefully produce a male hier. Remember, there really wasn't any divorce back then, and even if you did divorce you were strictly forbidden from re-marrying.

The church in England was split over what to do and because of the importance of such a decision the Pope was asked to decide. A trial was held in England with a representative from the Pope there. However either on moral grounds, or (as was seen by Henry) because of political pressures on the Papacy from Spain (who were opposed to any annulment), Henry's request was denied.

The response was primarily one of frustration. Henry VIII made himself the head of the Church of England, and refused to recognise any earthly authority higher than himself within his realm. At this point theologically the Church was still very much a Roman Catholic Church - just without the connection to Rome.

Henry encountered much opposition from within the Church in England, but forced the clergy to swear obedience to him. Those who refused were deposed. The strongest opposition came from the many monasteries throughout England. So Henry had them dissolved. This also helped boost the royal treasury. The monasteries were very wealthy, and owned vast areas of land.

Anne Boelyn gave Henry an heir, but it was another girl (later Elizabeth I). Rumours of adultery lead Henry to have her executed for treason. This also enabled him to re-marry again. His third wife, Jane Seymour, bore him a son.

This son would later become Edward VI ruling from 1547 until 1553. He is important as he was both first in line to the throne and a Protestant. The now independent Church of England was under Edward VI allowed the clergy to introduce many Protestant ideas and practices. However he died young and without an heir. He hoped to prevent his staunchly Roman Catholic sister Mary Tudor from succession by trying to make the Protestant Lady Jane Grey Queen, but his attempts failed.

Mary Tudor, the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, was also the wife of Phillip the king of Spain. As queen she attempted to completely reverse all Protestantism from England and return to Papal authority. Because of her persecution of Protestants she became known as "Bloody Mary". Her reign too was relatively short 1553 - 1558.

In 1558 Elizabeth (daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boelyn) came to the throne. She had a lengthy reign which partially enable her to resolve many of the religious difficulties by establishing a tolerant Protestant church in England. Many of the customs and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church were maintained within a Protestant theology. English was spoken rather than Latin and so long as every one attended Church each week, there was limited (but not encouraged) freedom for additional meetings of non-conformists and Roman Catholics.

This is only the first part of the Reformation in England and I hope in part an the first part of the question. I don't know enugh about the Reformation in Europe to compare it to that in England, other than to say that the English Church gained political independence from Rome prior to actual religious reform taking place. As opposed to such reform in Europe generally being the cause for separation from Rome.

Only thing I can add is that in England - the King (or Queen) is head of the Protestant Anglican church it's unique in Europe. The reason being was that when Henry VIII split from the Catholic Church he used the title "defender of the faith" which ironically had been given to him by the Pope. This was used to give him overlordship over the English Protestant Church - this title still exists today. Anglicanism also covers an umbrella of different types of Protestant streams from High Anglicanism which in many cases is indistinguishable from Catholicism (only difference is the Pope is not the head) to regular strands which would have more in common with Lutheranism in Europe the only difference is that the Monarch is the head of the Church.

Answer 2

The spread of Protestantism in England was basically similar the way it spread in Sweden. In England King Henry VIII had Archbishop Crammer write a book of common prayer in English. It replaced the Roman Catholic worship service. The priests and church hierarchy remained the same. They did the same jobs, except they could now get married. (Many were basically married except without the ceremony!) At the end of the book, there were 41 articles of faith for teaching the young. Since most people did not own a copy of the Book of Common Prayer, most of the population continued to not receive any religious education just like when England had been a Roman Catholic Nation.