The English Reformation & Elizabethan England

UK History

Chapter 7 · The English Reformation & Elizabethan England

Chapter 6 ended with Henry VII's death in 1509 and the succession of his son Henry VIII. This chapter covers the religious change that his reign began and the settlement that his daughter Elizabeth reached, along with the Spanish Armada of 1588. The sources are two reference articles, one on the Reformation and one on the Armada. They give the phases and the main figures, but the Reformation article is a short summary, and I mark where it leaves the reasons and the numbers unsupported.

How the Break Began

Henry VIII sought an annulment from Catherine of Aragon in 1527, but Pope Clement VII refused. The source describes this political dispute, and not theological conviction, as what started England's break from Rome.

A Strong Claim in One Sentence The source's framing is that the cause was political and not theological. I did not find the argument or the historians who disagree, and the chapter does not test it. Note also that the annulment request is dated to 1527 and the phase is described as running to 1547.

Four Phases

Phase	Dates	What the source says
Henrician	1527 to 1547	The First Act of Supremacy declares Henry "Supreme Head of the Church of England," severing papal authority. The Treasons Act 1534 makes denying royal supremacy punishable by death, and Thomas More and John Fisher are executed under it. Monasteries are dissolved and their wealth confiscated.
Edwardian	1547 to 1553	Under the nine-year-old Edward VI, Protestant reforms accelerate. The 1549 Book of Common Prayer introduces English-language worship and reformed theology, provoking armed resistance in western England. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer spearheads the changes.
Marian	1553 to 1558	Mary I reverses the reforms, restoring papal authority and the Latin Mass. She authorizes heresy executions, and approximately 280 Protestants are burned, earning her the epithet "Bloody Mary."
Elizabethan	1558 to 1603	Elizabeth I adopts a moderate middle path: reformed Protestant theology alongside Catholic institutional structures such as bishops, cathedrals and formal liturgy.

Enforced by Law

Denying royal supremacy became a capital offence under the Treasons Act 1534. The source names two executions and does not give their dates.

Resistance

The 1549 prayer book provoked armed resistance in western England. I did not find the name of the rising, its size or its outcome.

A Durable Compromise

The Elizabethan settlement is said to have satisfied neither extreme but proved remarkably durable. The source gives no explanation for that durability.

Slow Change The source says the settlement transformed England gradually into a Protestant nation, though Catholicism persisted among gentry families and required underground priest networks. So the date of the settlement is not the date of a Protestant country. I did not find how long the transformation took or how the population divided.

The Spanish Armada, 1588

The Armada sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, and aimed to invade England, overthrow Elizabeth I and restore Catholicism. It was the largest engagement of the Anglo-Spanish War.

Measure	Figure in the source
Spanish ships leaving Lisbon	141, with 10,138 sailors and 19,315 soldiers
After storms	137; only 122 entered the Channel
English fleet	About 226 ships, including 34 Royal Navy vessels and numerous merchant ships
Losses	About 44 Spanish ships in total

The Fighting

Combat began on 31 July near Plymouth.
The most significant battle was at Gravelines on 8 August, with over 600 Spanish deaths and the loss or capture of five Spanish ships.
The English avoided close-quarter combat and kept their distance to use their superior cannon.
The Spanish withdrew, returning via Scotland and Ireland, where more vessels were wrecked.

Dates and Calendars England and Spain used different calendars in 1588. My recollection is that English accounts date the same events about ten days earlier, but I did not verify that, so the dates above are as the source gives them and I do not convert them. The source also says Medina Sidonia reportedly had serious doubts about the mission, which I could not check.

The commanders on the English side were Charles Howard, Francis Drake and John Hawkins. The source calls the defeat a turning point, though Spain launched three later armadas, in 1596, 1597 and 1601.

What I Did Not Verify I did not find the Pilgrimage of Grace, the dissolution's dates and extent, the numbers of monasteries, Elizabeth's own speech to her troops, the role of weather, or any assessment of how decisive the Armada was. The Reformation source dates the Henrician phase to 1527, and I did not check its scheme against others. The chapter therefore gives the outline of both subjects and not the debates around them.

Hands-On Exercises

Exercise 1

Set out the four phases of the Reformation with one measure from each, using only the chapter.

→ Solution

Exercise 2

A student writes "England became Protestant when Elizabeth's settlement was passed." Use the chapter to qualify it.

→ Solution

Exercise 3

Compare the two fleets in the Armada campaign using the chapter's figures, and say what the figures cannot tell you about the outcome.

→ Solution

Quick Reference

1527: Henry VIII seeks an annulment; Pope Clement VII refuses
Henrician: Act of Supremacy; Treasons Act 1534; monasteries dissolved; More and Fisher executed
Edwardian (1547 to 1553): 1549 Book of Common Prayer; armed resistance in the west
Marian (1553 to 1558): papal authority restored; about 280 Protestants burned
Elizabethan (1558 to 1603): reformed theology with Catholic structures
Armada 1588: 141 Spanish ships against about 226 English; Gravelines 8 August; about 44 Spanish ships lost
Not covered: the Pilgrimage of Grace, the dissolution's scale, the weather's role