Acts of Supremacy in 1534

A pardon granted to marchers in London that occurred in December 1536 also talks about how the Protestant Reformation did more bad than good. The article is introduced with a strong statement “the King’s subjects and commoners, have recently committed rebellion that might have ruined your country”. Although relevant events or facts weren’t presented in this article, there is evidence that this person believes that the corruption of the King and the ineffectiveness of the Protestant Reformation did the opposite of what it was supposed to do. This person also states that the Protestant Reformation made England vulnerable and opened to the Scots. He then goes on to talk about the ignorance and false stories that were told by royalty in order to prove that corruption and destruction of the Catholic faith was aided by royalty along with the negative effects of the Protestant Reformation. Corruption and greed was to blame for the actions of the English King.

In October 1536, Marchers that were negatively affected by the Protestant Reformation seemed to blame the rulers for all of their problems. They claimed that their rulers weren’t doing their job which was to protect and their country from thieves and the Scots. Rather than helping the people of England, the rulers demolished the Catholic system after the Protestant Reformation had its negative effect. Instead, the English population had to rely on charity, faith, poverty, pity, and helping each other. Since the rulers weren’t doing their job, the English people, as individuals, had to give to give to their community in some way. The Protestant Reformation was meant to strengthen the Catholic Church yet it led to is downfall in England. Since the rulers were getting a lot of money out of the previous church grounds, they didn’t seem to mind. The Marchers were mostly furious because the rulers were using land for there own needs rather than for the good of the people. The rulers used the land to make profits from crops yet they put many clergymen in a horrible position.

Two other documents that also proved that the Protestant reformation did more harm than good is represented in a ballad composed by Catholic monks and a petition presented to members of the King’s Council, written by Robert Aske. The ballad talks about how the church was robbed of its fame after the effects of the Protestant Reformation. The churches that were knocked down were replaced with cattle and corn which robbed the people of Catholic Faith of a proper way to praise God. The rulers also built houses on these lands in order to obtain more money. The second document lists a few ideas that were stated in a petition. The first line talks about having Luther, Wycliffe, Hus, and Tyndale destroyed dues to the fact that they basically led the Protestant Reformations destructive path. It then talks about restoring the Catholic to its glory as in Rome and previous empires. The petition also asks the Soverign king to supply weapons since the rulers that are supposed to be protecting the land aren’t doing their job.

Based on the opinions of the English civilians in 1534, there is evidence that Henry VIII; the head of the Anglican Church aided in the destruction of the Catholic Church. This act, which is to this day the legal method of Royal Supremacy in the United Kingdom today, led up to the establishment of the Protestant Reformation in England. Policies such as new taxes, expansion of royal power, dismantlement of the Catholic church, and the destruction of properties were influenced based on the views of Thomas Cromwell, who was the Lord High Chancellor, and Henry VIII, who was the head of the King’s Council. The cruel actions of the two stirred up confrontation in England due to the selfish intentions behind knocking down churches and harming the Catholic faith. Unlike other places in Europe, England was severely damaged by the Protestant Reformation.