Primary Source Analysis: The Act of Supremacy 1534
Primary Source Analysis: The Act of Supremacy 1534
The primary source I chose to research is The Act of Supremacy (1534). This was an act passed by the English Parliament establishing the English monarch, which at the time was Henry Tudor VIII, as the head of state and religious head of the Church of England. Although there is always some glamorization in the writing and depiction of historically based movies, I enjoyed both “The Other Boleyn Girl” and the cable series “The Tudors”. I found Henry VIII quite interesting, twisting both law and religion to suit his particular wants. The ideas for The Act of Supremacy document, I assume, would have been from King Henry VIII but was written by Lord Thomas Cromwell to be made into legislation by the English Parliament. Lord Cromwell was the chief minister to Henry VIII from 1532 until 1540. Lord Cromwell was not born into nobility and did not share the traditional views as the rest of the king’s noble advisors did. He wanted to end feudal privilege which was “…a social and economic system defined by the inherited social ranks, each of which possessed inherent social and economic privileges and obligations.” (http://www.usna.edu/Users/history/abels/hh315/Feudal.htm)
Lord Cromwell was a Lutheran Reformist and wanted England to break its ties with the Papacy. He believed in the teachings of Martin Luther whose theology taught that the bible was the only source of divine knowledge revealed from God and that any man capable of reading the bible could ascertain this knowledge – without the church or priest. He taught that all baptized Christians were priesthood holders and did not require a priest’s intervention to pray to God, which was in direct violation of the Pope and Roman Catholic Church. Lord Cromwell’s want for reform and separation from the Papacy fueled his advisement to the king.
As we learned, during the early Middle Ages, the monarch was the sovereign leader of his/her kingdom. When the Papacy
The primary source I chose to research is The Act of Supremacy (1534). This was an act passed by the English Parliament establishing the English monarch, which at the time was Henry Tudor VIII, as the head of state and religious head of the Church of England. Although there is always some glamorization in the writing and depiction of historically based movies, I enjoyed both “The Other Boleyn Girl” and the cable series “The Tudors”. I found Henry VIII quite interesting, twisting both law and religion to suit his particular wants. The ideas for The Act of Supremacy document, I assume, would have been from King Henry VIII but was written by Lord Thomas Cromwell to be made into legislation by the English Parliament. Lord Cromwell was the chief minister to Henry VIII from 1532 until 1540. Lord Cromwell was not born into nobility and did not share the traditional views as the rest of the king’s noble advisors did. He wanted to end feudal privilege which was “…a social and economic system defined by the inherited social ranks, each of which possessed inherent social and economic privileges and obligations.” (http://www.usna.edu/Users/history/abels/hh315/Feudal.htm)
Lord Cromwell was a Lutheran Reformist and wanted England to break its ties with the Papacy. He believed in the teachings of Martin Luther whose theology taught that the bible was the only source of divine knowledge revealed from God and that any man capable of reading the bible could ascertain this knowledge – without the church or priest. He taught that all baptized Christians were priesthood holders and did not require a priest’s intervention to pray to God, which was in direct violation of the Pope and Roman Catholic Church. Lord Cromwell’s want for reform and separation from the Papacy fueled his advisement to the king.
As we learned, during the early Middle Ages, the monarch was the sovereign leader of his/her kingdom. When the Papacy