My wife and I have enjoyed watching a new series called "Wolf Hall" on PBS Masterpiece. In this intriguing show history is retold through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell, "the enigmatic advisor to King Henry VIII, as he maneuvers the corridors of power in the Tudor court. This six-part series follows the back-room dealings of this accomplished power broker, from humble beginnings, who must survive deadly political intrigue." One of the things that I like to do while watching a show like this is to utilize my smartphone to 'fact check' the details. For example, did Queen Anne Boleyn ever commit incest or was it a false charge trumped up against her because she failed to produce a male offspring? What were the actual circumstances surrounding her death? As a Christian, I am also very interested to know what role genuine believers played during the English Reformation?
For those of you interested in learning more about the heroes of the faith I recommend the following books: Katherine Parr: A Guided Tour of the Life and Thought of a Reformation Queen (one of the many wives of Henry) by Brandon Withrow. I also would recommend chapter four in Christopher Catherwood's, Five Leading Reformers: Lives at a Watershed in History. Finally, I would encourage you to read J. C. Ryle's classic book, Five English Reformers.
Here is a snippet of some of the helpful details Chris Catherwood provides in his short, but helpful book, on Five Leading Reformers. "The Reformation, when it finally came to England, came not with a Wycliffe or a Tyndale, but through the gentle scholar of quiet determination, Thomas Cranmer." "What then is the key factor in determining the English Reformation? The answer is surely the top down nature of the English Reformation, a change made initially not on spiritual grounds but on political ones. This is how Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) could be promoted by one King (Henry), lauded by the King's son (Edward) and martyred by the same King's elder daughter (Mary)." "We need now to come on to the events which propelled Cranmer to fame- the issues at the heart of the English Reformation."
Henry VII and his wives. In some ways, "Henry did not want to divorce his Spanish wife, Catherine of Aragon - the issues is actually, and inevitably, far more complicated. England in the fifteenth century had been racked by civil war, known after the event as the War of the Roses...For dynastic-political reasons, Catherine had had then be betrothed to Henry in place of his deceased brother (Arthur)." "In the days when it was thought that the woman determined the sex of the child, Henry was eager to rid himself of Catherine (Kings had to be succeeded by sons). Only one of their children survived- a girl, Mary." More on Mary a bit later.
"Henry was a devout Catholic- with the help of Sir Thomas More he had earlier written a treatise attacking Luther's theology, for which the Pope gave Henry the title, 'Defender of the Faith'. While it is easy to be cynical about Henry's spiritual motives- he was in love with Anne Boleyn, and her sister Mary had been his mistress...Memories of the civil war of the previous century were reasonably fresh. Henry needed a male heir, and quickly. Around 1529 "Cranmer suggested to Henry that he had the right to divorce Catherine and the right to consult local theologians over the matter." The King ordered Cranmer to write a treatise to justify his intentions to divorce the Queen (against the will of the Catholic Pope and Cardinal Wolsey). In 1530, Cranmer and Anne Boleyn's father were sent as English emissaries to Rome itself, to plead the King's case before the Papal authorities. "Within one year Cranmer had been transformed from an obscure scholar into a major player." "When Henry realized that diplomacy was getting nowhere, he began to turn to more drastic financial pressure."
"While Cranmer was settling in to office, Cromwell busied himself with the legal technicalities of the new Church. The key was the royal ecclesiastical supremacy, and an Act of Supremacy, recognizing Henry as Supreme Head of the Church in England, was duly passed in 1534." The English replaced the Pope with a human King. Of course the true Church has but one true Head and that is King Jesus. One of John MacArthur's best addresses highlights the importance of this truth and is well worth your time. "The new Ten Articles of 1536 set out the beliefs of the Church of England. Influenced strongly by Melanchthon, they put forward a Lutheran (biblical) view of justification by faith..." "Perhaps most important of all in the long term, clergy were required to preach from the Bible. Here there was a major and drastic change: no longer was the Bible in England forbidden."
Cranmer enjoyed a close relationship with the Queen's family (the Boleyns) but Anne had failed to produce a male heir and Henry's eyes now belonged to another women (Jane Seymour). False charges of incest and adultery were leveled against Anne and she was eventually beheaded (see episode six in Wolf Hall). Anne died, but Cranmer survived (in part because he did not defend the Boleyn family). "Henry's next wife, Jane Seymour, produce the longed-for male heir, Edward, but tragically died in childbirth, leaving Henry a widower." Cromwell was eager to form alliances with Lutheran powers in Germany. Eventually he worked out a marriage between Henry and Anne of Cleves (a Protestant princess). "Henry disliked her on sight, likening Anne to a horse from Flanders! Cromwell's fall was swift and in 1540 he was executed on spurious charges of treason." What goes around often comes around.
"The Act of Six Articles and the death of Cromwell left Cranmer rather exposed. Cranmer's enemies tried to bring him down but Henry trusted this man and so Thomas' life was spared. In 1547 Henry VIII died and his sickly young son Edward came to the throne as Edward VI. Edward was a convictional Protestant (not simply a political Protestant). "Consequently, in 1547, Cranmer was able to bring in a new Book of Homilies, designed to encouraging preaching as an integral part of Christian worship, and also to strengthen the Reformation doctrine of 'salvations as God's free gift of grace and faith." In 1553 Cranmer produced his 42 Articles of official doctrinal belief for the Church of England. "Just as Reformed thinking reached its English apogee, tragedy struck. Edward VI, now increasingly frail, died in 1553."
Lady Jane Grey (a descendant of Henry VII) attempted a coup d'état. If you have never read anything about this hero of the faith my wife highly recommends The Nine Day Queen of England: Lady Jane Grey. Eventually Mary (the daughter of Henry's first wife) overthrew Jane to become Queen. Mary was a staunch Catholic. "Mary immediately began repealing many of Henry VIII's religious edicts and replacing them with her own, which included a strict heresy law. The enforcement of this law resulted in the burning of over 300 Protestants as heretics. Mary's religious persecutions made her extremely unpopular and earned her the nickname 'Bloody Mary (per Mary Tudor source).'" "Thomas Cranmer was thus in dire peril, as the author of the highly overt Protestant reforms under Edward. Many leading Protestants fled to the continent, but Cranmer was brave enough to stay put. In short order Mary had Cranmer arrested and charged him with treason (for supporting Lady Jane Grey). Cranmer was given an opportunity to recant his Biblical convictions or be burned alive. Initially Cranmer recanted his Protestant beliefs. This weak moment of faith reminds us of Simon Peter in the Gospels and Martin Luther at the Imperial Diet of Worms. Luther, you may recall, initially asked for me time when he was given the choice to recant his faith or else (If you have not scene the movie Luther you really need to). Catherwood's commentary on Cranmer here is spot on, "It is easy for those of us who live in the comfort of the West to condemn what looks like cowardice; but, face with a gruesome, painful death, how brave would we really be? Furthermore, in October 1555, he had been forced to watch the gruesome burning at the stake" of the Oxford martyrs (Latimer and Ridley)."
"Just before he was about to die, Cranmer's heroism returned. To the consternation of his accusers, he denounced his recantation and faced death as an unrepentant Protestant. He was martyred in Oxford on 21 March 1556, thrusting the hand with which he had signed the recantation in the flames."
"After Mary's death in 1558, England became a Protestant country again, with the accession of Elizabeth I. Elizabeth, while Protestant, was innately more cautious, and the Church of England was not as overtly Reformed in emphasis as was in its Edwardian heyday. Eventually the Puritans were to split away, and in 1662 many were formally expelled."
"Cranmer's political legacy was therefore mixed. Today the Church of England has a mix of thoroughly Reformed and Evangelical, alongside Anglo-Catholics and theological liberals. His liturgical legacy, however, remains, its magnificent literary style still with us."
