The English Reformation is linked with the name of King Henry VIII, who spearheaded the rise of the Church of England. But while his politics forced him to break with the church in Rome, he was anything but a Protestant. Henrys new church held onto Catholic doctrine. It was only under his children that England would truly pivot towards the Protestant faith. In England, religious change was a gateway to political change as Henry wanted to eliminate papal influence in his court.Jan Huss: The Bohemian ReformationJan Huss burning at the stake, from the Jensky Codex, 1490-1510. Source: Narodni MuseumEarly in the 15th century, Jan Huss started the Bohemian Reformation. At the time, Papal politics were integral to the politics of European states, especially within the Holy Roman Empire. Huss publicly spoke out against certain tenets of Catholicism, and his arguments were exploited by local leaders looking to diminish the influence of the papacy in local affairs.Huss was invited to defend his position at the Council of Constance (1414-1418). This meeting was meant to resolve the Western Schism, which had created three competing popes. Unfortunately for Huss, who was granted a pass of safe conduct, one thing the rival popes could agree on was revoking his pass, convicting him of heresy, and then burning him at the stake. This move to suppress opposition made Huss a martyr.Martin Luther: The Protestant ReformationLuther at the Diet of Worms, by Anton von Werner, 1877. Source: Wikimedia CommonsWhen Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses in 1517, it was heralded as the birth of Protestantism, despite earlier attempts at reform. Luther, like Huss, was given local protection and then, like Huss, was invited to an ecclesiastical council (The Diet of Worms, 1521), under a pass of safe conduct to defend his position. The birth of the printing press meant that Luthers these had spread widely. Learning from their mistakes, rather than executing the intransigent Luther, the council allowed him to return home and consider his errors. The Church later convicted Luther of heresy, but it was too late. The word was out, and he was under the protection of Frederick III, Elector of Saxony.Others followed Luthers lead. Local religions, based on local interpretations of the Bible, were supported by local political authorities. Without this political backing, these reformers would have had little impact.Henry VIII: The English Reformation?Henry VIII, by Hans Holbein, 1540. Source: Museum of Fine Arts, HoustonBy 1521, Henry VIII, now 30, had a decade on the throne as the second monarch of the Tudor dynasty. The Tudors came to power in 1485 after winning the War of the Roses, a thirty-year civil war among English royal cousins. Henrys father, Henry VII, defeated Richard III, but he still needed support for his position, which came in the form of an endorsement from the Catholic Church.When Henry VIII came to power in 1509, he was 18. His first act was to marry Catherine of Aragon. This marriage had been on hold because Catherine was the widow of Henry VIIIs brother, Prince Arthur. Married at the end of 1501, Arthur succumbed to illness in April of 1502.Henry VII was loath to return Catherines dowry but was reluctant to marry her to Henry due to the biblical law cited in Leviticus (20:21), prohibiting a man from marrying his brothers widow. They argued that the marriage had never been consummated, but Catherine was kept on the back burner. When Henry became king, he was already taken with Catherine. As a show of goodwill, the church agreed that the previous marriage was unconsummated, allowing Henry to marry Catherine.The Search for a SuccessorCatherine of Aragon, by Lucas Horenbout, 1525. Source: Wikimedia CommonsThe couple had at least six pregnancies, but only the fifth, their daughter Mary (b. 1516), survived. Considering how recent the civil wars had been, the lack of a legitimate son and heir was a major threat to Henrys power and peace in England. While English history had one example of a daughter succeeding her father to the throne, Henry I and his daughter Matilda, this event was literally known as the anarchy and was too great a risk.In the 1510s, Henry had several mistresses. One, Elizabeth Blount, delivered a surviving infant son (Henry FitzRoy, 1519-1536). Henry acknowledged him, but his illegitimacy caused no fewer problems than a daughter. However, it provided an example of differential diagnostics: Henry could sire a son with someone else.The Infamous AnnulmentMartin Luther, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1528. Source: Cranach Digital ArchiveMeanwhile, Henry was opposed to Lutheran heresy, and even penned his own treatise, the Defense of the Seven Sacraments (Assertio Septem Sacramentorum). This started a 16th-century ink-battle between Luther and the King that earned Henry the title Defender of the Faith (Fidei Defensor) from the papacy. The Church and the King presented a united front against Lutheranism.When the idea that Henry should set aside Catherine, the logical reason, to Henry, was that his marriage to Catherine violated Levitical law. The Church merely had to recognize Gods obvious disfavor and issue a new dispensation nullifying the earlier dispensation that allowed the marriage. Easy.The issue was that the papacy was not in a position to support Henrys wishes. Catherines nephew, Emperor Charles V, and the papacy were having their own disagreements. With imperial troops in Rome, even the Popes personal safety was threatened. Charles had an opinion on Aunt Catherines premarital purity and was not shy in supporting his point with force. This was 1527.Near contemporary painting of Anne Boleyn at Hever Castle, c. 1550. Source: The Tudor Travel GuideBy 1532, Henry was not getting any younger. While a young Anne Boleyn was an agreeable replacement bride, the Church would not nullify Catherine or their earlier decision. Henry tried to play by the Church rules, with heavy reliance on his trusted advisor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, but even the Cardinal could not get the annulment passed, hastening Wolseys fall from favor.Henry was the protector of England, but he could not protect it because a priest in Italy could not understand the stakes. When it was suggested that the King take matters into his own hands for the good of the kingdom, he agreed.The Act of SupremacyProtestant Martyr Anne Askew, by Hans Eworth, 1560. Source: Artuk.orgThe Act of Supremacy (1534) made the king the head of the Church of England and severed all ties with the Church of Rome. This was followed by the Treasons Act, making anyone who would not pledge support to the Act of Supremacy (and Henrys divorce from Catherine and remarriage to Anne) a traitor worthy of death. The most prominent conviction under this Act was that of Sir Thomas More.These acts did not change English religion, just politics. The king and not the pope was the head of the church, and all church property was accordingly redistributed, making a few rather wealthy and upsetting quite a few others. Wolseys successor, Thomas Cromwell, served as a scapegoat for the unpleasantness and followed More to the gallows. In ecclesiastical practices, the Church of England changed very little from the Church of Rome.Thomas Cromwell, by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1532-33. Source: Frick CollectionReligious reformers in England, hoping to find safety, were disappointed. Over 60 people were condemned to death for Protestantism or heresy under Henry VIII between 1530 and the end of his reign in 1547.Henrys last wife (number six for those keeping count), Catherine Parr, expressed Protestant ideas at court, where she risked running afoul of her husband. Henrys heresy hunters even secured an arrest warrant for her, but it was reversed by the king the moment it was served. Catherine wisely corrected her course and became a source of relative calm in the last years of Henrys reign.Is the Future Catholic or Protestant?The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, by Paul Delaroche, 1833. Source: National GalleryIt was some time and many lives before Protestantism was safe in England. Edward VI, the long-sought-after son of Henry VIII with his third wife Jane Seymour, succeeded in 1547, at the age of nine. It was Edwards advisors who brought Protestantism into England, clearing out the last vestiges of Catholicism that Henry had held onto. The young king, however, fell terminally ill at 16.This encouraged the Protestant leaders in power, fearful of a return to Rome, to circumvent Edwards successor, Princess Mary, the only surviving and very Catholic child of Catherine of Aragon. This coup-dtat, promoting a royal cousin, the reluctant Lady Jane Grey, was such a hijacking of the state that even English moderates threw their support behind the woman later known as Bloody Mary. Jane was an uncrowned queen for nine days before happily handing over power. She was sent to the executioner to prevent her from later becoming a Protestant phoenix rising in another revolt. She was just 17.Elizabeth I: The Protestant QueenMary Tudor, by Anthonis Mor, 1554, Source: Museo Del PradoMarys reign lasted four years. In that time, she executed over 200 Protestants, earning her that sanguinary moniker. When she died, she was succeeded in 1558 by her half-sister, Elizabeth, daughter of Anne Boleyn.Elizabeth was an outed Protestant upon her coronation. She admirably stated she would not build windows into mens souls so long as they remained loyal to her. Unfortunately, numerous plots to overthrow or simply assassinate her by parties promoting Catholicism made those who subscribed to the religion of Rome less and less free to practice, and the English government more and more hostile to popery during Elizabeths 45-year reign. Elizabeth cemented Protestantism in England because, like Luther, she survived.While few reformations of the 16th century could have survived without secular support. Motivations for that support were often more political than religious. Henry was a devoted Catholic to his end, but intent on securing his kingdoms future. Henrys reformation had little to do with religious ideology and everything to do with authority. To him, the suggestion that he was a Protestant would get the suggester sent to the gallows.