"F" is for Formularies of Henry VIII

     The door to "Protestantism" in England was opened a bit when Henry VIII broke with Rome over the question of annulment of his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon.  When the Pope, Clement VII, refused, Henry claimed jurisdiction over the English church for himself through the Act of Supremacy of 1534.  This in itself did not introduce Protestant doctrine into the Church of England, apart from rejecting papal supremacy.  Between 1536 and 1540 Henry took possession of the church's monasteries and land.  In 1536, ten articles of faith were produced as a "formulary" of theological positions for Henry's church.  These articles flirted with Protestant ideas but neither condemned the Mass nor the Catholic call for good works.  The "Institution of a Christian a Christian Man" of 1537 further clarified Henry's "semi-reformed" doctrines.  His Act of Six Articles in 1539 returned the church to Catholic orthodoxy apart from papal supremacy.

 

     During Henry VIII's reign, the greatest of all English Bible translators, William Tyndale, was executed on account of his "radical" Protestant ideas (e.g. his substitution of "congregation" for "church" in his translation of the New Testament).  His reported last words, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes."  Below, woodcut depicting the execution of William Tyndale from OCHF Library's copy of The Second Volume of the Ecclesiasticall Historie.  London:  John Foxe, 1631.