Henry VIII sought divorces from both Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. Religion in England before the break with Rome included the spread of printing which allowed for translations of the Bible into English. Oxford University was said to be "infected with the heresies of Luther" in 1531. Several reformers like Tyndale and Latimer were martyred for their beliefs. Henry VIII wrote "Defense of the Seven Sacraments" in response to Luther, gaining the title "Defender of the Faith" from the Pope. Divorce in England could be granted for various reasons like adultery or preexisting contracts, though Catherine of Aragon's divorce proceedings faced several legal issues.
4. Erasmus Greek to Latin translation Gospel of Matthew
Novum instrumentum
• First published 1514
• Contained annotations
comparing text with
Vulgate
• 229 reprints in 16th C.
• Basis for Tyndale’s
English translation
5. William Warham,
Archbishop of Canterbury
Letter to Wolsey, 1531
• “that University
[Oxford] be infected
with the heresies of
Luther”
• “a great number of
books of said perverse
doctrine”
• Young scholars, infected
with the cause, should
be examined in London
6. Luther in England
Discussants and martyrs
Robert Barnes (1540),
William Tyndale (1536),
Miles Coverdale (exile),
Nicholas Ridley (1555),
Hugh Latimer (1555),
Thomas Cranmer (1556),
Thomas Bilney (1531)
7. Henry VIII
Defense of the
Seven Sacraments
Thomas More ?
Dedicated to Pope Leo X
Henry titled Defender of
the Faith
Over 20 editions
8. Church and Welfare
• Until the fourteenth century almost all
charitable endowments had been in the hands
of the Church-chiefly monasteries
• 15th century – almshouses supported by guilds
• 1495 Vagrancy punished by 3 days in stocks
Some beggars given permission to beg
• 1531 Licenses for begging.
11. Bishops in London
• York Place (later Whitehall)
(Abp. of York)
• Lambeth Palace (Abp. of
Canterbury
• Ely House, Camden (B. of Ely)
• Winchester Palace (B. of
Winchester)
12. Church Courts
• Visitations – audit of spiritual, moral,
administrative and financial state of dioceses
– Correction of problems
• Civil suits – tithes, defamation
– Probate and guardianship
• Marriage
– Broken promises
– Divorce
13. Divorce a vinculo
• A divorce from the bond of marriage. A total
divorce of husband and wife, dissolving the
marriage tie, and releasing the parties wholly
from their matrimonial obligations. (Black's
Law Dictionary)
14. Causes
• Pre-existing contract
• Impediments of relation by blood, marriage or
affinity
• Impotence
• Duress
• Adulterous relationship
• Religious vows
15. Margaret Tudor (1489-1541)
• 1502 Marriage to James IV
• 1513 Widowed after Battle of Flodden
• 1515 Married Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus
• 1521 Initiated divorce proceedings
• 1527 Divorce on grounds of pre-contract
• 1528 Married Henry Stewart
16. Divorce a mensa et tlioro
• A divorce from table and bed, or from bed and
board. A partial or qualified divorce, by which
the parties are separated and forbidden to live
or cohabit together, without affecting the
marriage itself. (Black's Law Dictionary)
19. Catherine of Aragon
Was this the face that might have launched a
1000 ships?
Lucas Horenbout Miniattures, ~1525, NPG
Duke of Buccleuch Collection
20. Legal Considerations
• Stare decisis (Pope Julius grant of
dispensation)
• Adequate representation in England
• Judicial bias in England
• Inability to produce witnesses from Spain
Editor's Notes
Henry VIII writes to Cardinal Benedetto de Accolti, the Bishop of Ravenna.
Henry sends a recommendation for his envoy Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire (and curiously the father of Anne Boleyn) to be sent to represent him in discussions with Emperor Charles V.
The young scholars of Cambridge could not be suppressed. Chief among them was Thomas‘ Bilney. The story of his conversion, narrated by himself in a letter written from prison in I528, has been summarized as follows: “In Trinity College, Cambridge, there was a young man, engaged in the study of canon law, remarkable for his seriousness, his mod- esty and his conscientiousness. His priest was to his soul, what his physician was to his body. He often took his place, pale and anxious, at the feet of his confessor. But the prescriptions given did not reach his case. Masses, vigils, indulgences and free contributions in money, all were tried, but the patient only seemed to grow worse. At times the thought would arise ‘Am I in the right path? May not the priest be in error, or be a selfseeker in all that he does ?’ But the suspicion was instantly re- jected asa suggestion from the enemy. One day the troubled scholar heard two friends talking of a new book. The book was the Greek Testament by Erasmus, with an elegant Latin transla- tion. The scholar was pleased with the sound of the Latin, and would fain have taken up the volume, and have examined it. But he knew that the authorities of the University had condemned all such books, and especially that book as tending to noth- ing but heresy. He abstained; but his desire to look into the volume grew stronger. He stole into the house in Cambridge, where the book was secretly sold. Having obtained a copy, he returned to his room, to read it, and the first text that arrested his attention, was: ‘This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation,’ etc.
Bilney was greatly moved by reading Paul's words to Timothy: "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief" (1Tim 1:15). D'Aubigne writes that Bilney quickly came to see that "it is Jesus Christ who saves, and not the church. 'I see it all,' said Bilney; 'my vigils, my fasts, my pilgrimages, my purchase of masses and indulgences were destroying instead of saving me. All these efforts were, as St. Augustine says, a hasty running out of the right way.'"
Bilney was very small and also noted for hating music.
Affinity would include a previous sexual relationship with a relative.
George Throckmorton asked Henry if he had slept with the mother and the sister and he answered “Never with the mother”
