HIS109Y1 Lecture 10: The Reformation in England
Document Summary
Henry viii was a conventional, pious king, reestablishing the idea of the church as integral to the state, unifying the two in turn. The church itself was relatively wealthy, with by 1500 about 10,000 monks and nuns owning at least 10% of the english kingdom. The problem with this however, was that wealth and spirituality often frayed the edge of commitments. Once property of the church, it was property of god or so claimed: colet (d. 1519) John colet is most famous for attempting to reform the english church. He had founded a school to teach boys of good religion. And preached of the obvious abuses by the church. Though his attempts at reform inevitably ended in failure. A worldly cardinal, wolsey controlled both the church and state of england, thus resistant to reform. Wolsey had at one point attempted to withhold text copies of lutheranism, endorsing various threats for those either caught, aware, or knowledgeable of them and their contents.
