Voices around Henry VIII, who despite his quarrels with the papacy remained ambivalent about his religious identification, radicalized his policies in the persons of ranting Hugh Latimer and Machiavellian Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer, culminating in 1533 in the ultimate break with the Roman church and, in the name of removing idolatrous objects, the subsequent eponymous stripping of the altars, art, and statuary of the churches and the destruction of abbeys and monasteries, a sad price to pay for the concepts of religious individualism and personal responsibility for salvation.
The reaction of the traditionalists was varied. Some resisted while others went underground or accommodated and accepted the new authority; however, given the opportunity, Duffy emphasizes, the “vast majority” of the people quickly reverted to traditional religion after the deaths of Henry in 1547 and of the young King Edward VI in 1553 and the brief accession to the throne of Catholic Mary Tudor. As the reign of Elizabeth I began in 1558 and the Protestant Church of England was reinstated, many quickly changed sides of the aisle again, but, Duffy asserts, the ultimate defeat of the traditionalists was the result only of lengthy systematic repression, an effort that finally subverted the true will of the people.
In this book you will find a wide array of sources—wills, journals, liturgies, and more—to I think successfully make the case that, contra many centuries of historiography that was Protestant in its sympathies, Catholicism in late medieval England was far from moribund, at least at a grass-roots level.
The shift of the general population’s religious convictions, identities, and preferences took place over a span of generations and was not so abrupt as had often been assumed.
While many “papists” clung to the old beliefs in private, I’m sure the book agrees that the Roman church had become corrupt, immoral, and was badly in need of reform (especially the monastaries). On the other hand, Henry scarcely acted out out of anything but greed and personal animus against the Pope. The sale of monastic properties brought in the equivalent of millions of dollars in modern terms which Henry used to finane his military ambitions and the Court of Augmentations under Richard Rich provided another opportunitiy for corrupt alliances.
Without a doubt, the dissolutions and massive redistribution of wealth and power under Henry VIII was perhaps the most revolutionary events in English history. And “poor” Thomas Cromwell who project-managed it for the King ended up losing his head for his trouble!