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1455-1485 the War of the Roses, which in fact was a series of small wars between the House of York (white rose) and the House of Lancaster (red rose).
Why the war started?
Edward III wanted to strengthen his family, so he married his children to the most powerful English families of that time. In 1455 it suddenly turned out that there was a number of candidates who claimed equal rights to the throne.
It was one of the most cruel and bloody wars in the history of England – they were fighting for everything: the defeat in the war would mean losing all the power, honour and wealth.
During this war English nobility was almost completely destructed for when a prominent man was imprisoned by one of the armies, he was immediately killed.
1485 – Henry Tudor, a distant-relative-to-the-house-of-Lancaster fights Richard III (a king from the House of York) in Bosworth Fields and marries Elisabeth of York. Later he becomes the king.
At that time England was exhausted and all the people wanted was some peace. Henry Tudor (or Henry VII) managed to give it to them:
- he established a stable dynasty
- he restored peace in the country
- he restored economical stability of England -> in 1492 America was discovered. It turned out that England isn’t set at the edge of the world, and that it is one of the best places where a journey to America can start.
He also opened the country to the Renaissance ideas and was a great supporter of an overseas expansion.
1509 – Henry VIII becomes the king
To understand his times better we should consider the situation in Europe at the beginning of XVI century.
In northern Europe (France, Germany, Denmark and Scandinavia) there were more and more people who criticized the double morality of the Catholic Church.
1517 – Luther’s grievances in Wittenburg:
- indulgences (odpusty) shouldn’t be sold
- priests should be subject to the law of the land
- priests are not divine beings -> transubstantiation (przeistoczenie) was questioned
- people should be able to know and understand the Bible -> it should be translated into national languages and explained
Henry VIII (surprise!) was one of the most energetic supporters of the Pope. He wrote a document called Assertio Septem Sacramentorum (Defense of the Seven Sacraments) in which he defended Rome. The Pope was so delighted that he gave him a title Fidei Defensor (Obrońca Wiary), and all the kings of England have this title until now.
Henry VIII had an older brother who was to become a king, but died. Henry inherited the throne and married the widow – Catherine of Aragon. She was pregnant 8 times, but only one child – a girl called Mary – survived. She was getting older and older (and less and less beautiful), Henry wanted to have a son, and when fell in love with Anne Boleyn (much younger and much more beautiful), he asked the Pope to annul the marriage with Catherine.
However, the Pope refused, as he didn’t want to antagonize the king of Spain. In 1527 Henry supported his demands with a Bible quote:
“If a man marries his brother's wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.” (Leviticus 20,21)
For the king Mary didn’t count (she was a girl), so he claimed to the Pope that he was childless as a result of his sin. The Pope was relentless.
1533 – Henry refused to pay Rome the money from churches in England
At that time Vatican was being rebuilt and the Pope needed money VERY much, so it was a clear sign that the king of England wasn’t going to support the Church any more.
The same year The Statue in Restraint of Appeals was announced; it made it illegal for the foreigners to interfere with English state -> the Pope couldn’t criticize Henry VIII.
In the meantime Henry divorced Catherine of Aragon and secretly married Anne Boleyn.
1534 – the Act of Supremacy – Henry VIII made himself the Head of the Church of England
The Act of Succession – a document that removed Mary (Catherine of Aragon’s daughter) from the line to the throne (as Henry was sure that his new wife will give him a son).
1536 – Dissolution of Monasteries
Taking control over the properties of the Church was an obvious step, especially because the king was bankrupt and desperately needed money (and the Church was rich):
- selling the land to the gentry -> a gap between the poor and the rich became bigger
- depopulation of villages -> monasteries were the centres of local live, they gave people work and money; when they disappeared, there was no point in living there
- destruction of monastic libraries -> an experience of cultural loss
- the beginning of the antiquarian movement in England (John Leland and Matthew Parker)
- many monasteries were rebuilt and served as residences for the noblemen (e.g. Lacock Abbey)
What Henry VIII did was a reformation, but only as far as separation from Rome was concerned; it was a political movement. Religious dogmas remained unchanged.
Anne Boleyn gave Henry another daughter, Elisabeth. It was Jane Seymour, the third wife, who became the mother of Edward. However, apart from the throne, the king gave his son syphilis. Edward became the king in 1547 at the age of 10 and ruled for six years, but it was during his reign when the reformation as a change in religious dogmas took place.
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