Category: Reformation

Pieces related to the Reformation, not just in England, but across Europe. Includes timelines, sample essays and other bits and pieces.

Timeline of the Scottish Reformation

~ Helene Harrison ~ 1 Comment

 

John Knox 1572.
John Knox 1572.

1514 – Probable date of birth of John Knox.

1536 – Knox is ordained as a priest.

1542 – James V dies and is succeeded by his daughter, Mary Queen of Scots.

James V dies and his successor is his first daughter, Mary, who becomes Mary Queen of Scots. The Stuarts were known for being Catholics, and that is partially why Henry VIII didn’t wish for the succession to pass to the children of his sister Margaret (the mother of James V). Mary was only a year old when she succeeded to the throne and at one point there were plans to marry her to the future Edward VI of England.

1543 – Knox converts to Protestantism.

1545 – Knox becomes an associate and bodyguard to George Wishart.

1546 – Wishart is executed / martyred. Continue reading “Timeline of the Scottish Reformation” →

Timeline of the German Reformation

~ Helene Harrison ~ 2 Comments

 

Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach 1528.
Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach 1528.

1510 – Luther is sent to Rome on monastic business and sees the corruption of the Church.

1517 – Luther posts his 95 theses on a church door in Wittenburg in Germany, formally beginning the Protestant Reformation in Europe:-

The disputation protests against clerical abuses like pluralism, absenteeism, baptism and the sale of indulgences (the idea that people could buy a place in heaven for their souls, and to forgive their sins).

1518 – Luther defends his beliefs in front of Augustinians, and refuses to recant. Frederick the Wise protects him from being handed over to Rome.

1519 – Luther debates papal infallibility and begins a New Testament sermon series.

1520 – Luther is told by papal bull to recant within 60 days or be excommunicated, but he instead burns the bull and writes three texts:- Continue reading “Timeline of the German Reformation” →

Timeline of the Swiss Reformation

~ Helene Harrison ~ 1 Comment

 

Huldrich Zwingli by Hans Asper, about 1531.
Huldrich Zwingli by Hans Asper, about 1531.

1484 – Huldrych Zwingli was born.

1499 – War between the Swabian League and the Swiss Cantons and a Swiss victory forces the Treaty of Basel, granting Swiss independence:-

The Treaty of Basel was an armistice to end the war between Switzerland and the Swabian League, which was a peace-keeping Imperial organisation. The war had lasted nine months and the Emperor Maximilian I was forced to sign a treaty due to an unprecedented Swiss victory.

1509 – John Calvin is born in Noyon, France.

1513 – Peasant and labour rebellions spread outwards from Switzerland.

1522 – Zwingli marries in secret and signs a petition with 10 other ministers to ask the Bishop of Constance for permission to marry; Zwingli also writes his Apologeticus Archeteles as a testimony of his faith. Continue reading “Timeline of the Swiss Reformation” →

Timeline of the English Reformation

~ Helene Harrison ~ 9 Comments

 

Anonymous portrait of Prince Arthur, son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York c.1501.
Anonymous portrait of Prince Arthur, son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York c.1501.

1501 – Katherine of Aragon marries Prince Arthur of England.

1502 – Prince Arthur dies.

1504 – Pope Julius II annuls marriage of Katherine and Arthur.

1509 – Henry VIII succeeds to the throne and marries Katherine of Aragon:-

Katherine testified that her marriage to Arthur was never consummated, and so a dispensation was granted to allow her to marry Henry. The matter of consummation was later a central issue in the divorce.

1516 – Princess Mary (later Mary I) born.

1517 – Luther posts his 95 theses on a church door in Wittenburg in Germany, formally beginning the Protestant Reformation in Europe:- Continue reading “Timeline of the English Reformation” →

Undergraduate Dissertation Chapter – Anne Boleyn’s Fall From Power

~ Helene Harrison ~ 9 Comments

Anne Boleyn’s Fall From Power

“And thunder rolls about the throne” – Thomas Wyatt

Anne Boleyn National Portrait Gallery.
Anne Boleyn National Portrait Gallery.

Lacey Baldwin Smith said that ‘the closer the proximity to the crown, the greater the danger’, and this definitely proved true in the case of Anne Boleyn.[i] Anne was executed for adultery, incest and treason, ‘despising her marriage and entertaining malice against the King’.[ii] However, Henry VIII’s motives behind Anne’s execution remain unclear.

The reasons for Anne Boleyn’s fall from power can affect our view of her public image. Was her fall her own fault? Henry’s? Cromwell’s? These questions tend to be the focal point in the secondary literature, which questions, not only whose fault it was, but also the motives for bringing Anne down. Anne failed to give birth to a son and Henry had fallen in love with Jane Seymour. Did Cromwell see Anne as a threat so plotted to bring her down? Or was her fall the result of an accusation of misconduct by one of her ladies? All of these possible reasons will be discussed in this chapter. Continue reading “Undergraduate Dissertation Chapter – Anne Boleyn’s Fall From Power” →