Liturgical developments in England under Henri VIII (1534-1547)

Abstract

By passing the Act of Supremacy in 1534, Parliament enshrined the break with Rome and the royal supremacy into the law of the land. The religious reforms which ensued and their impact on the English have already been examined, but the liturgical consequences of the schism and the king’s headship of the Church have not. Yet, the regime immediately required that the liturgy be rid of all mention of the pope and his authority while harnessing public prayer to promote the royal supremacy. Studying the liturgical books in use in the period affords the historian unprecedented access to the religious practices and beliefs in English parishes. Many priests had adapted the liturgy to the royal supremacy which, this thesis argues, had become a functional dogma of the Henrician church.
The European Reformation movement of the mid-16th century is itself deeply concerned with the place of liturgical rituals in Christian life. Under Henry, the meaning and efficacy of the sacramentals was challenged. The liturgy of these ceremonies was no longer considered as a trustworthy deposit of the faith, and sacramental practice, which was no longer thought of as an essential means of salvation, became a battle ground between evangelicals and conservatives. The numerous liturgical experiments, both state-backed and initiated locally, in conjunction with the challenge to the traditionnal understanding of the liturgy, contribute to our understanding of how England gradually became a Protestant nation.