English Reformation

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Reformation
Ninety-five Theses, written by Martin Luther in 1517
Precursors Peter Waldo and Waldensians John Wycliffe and Lollardy Jan Hus and Hussites Girolamo Savonarola and Piagnoni Arnold of Brescia and Arnoldists Gottschalk of Orbais Ratramnus Claudius of Turin Berengar of Tours and Berengarians Wessel Gansfort Johann Ruchrat von Wesel Johannes von Goch Friends of God Pataria
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Major political leaders Henry VIII of England Elizabeth I Oliver Cromwell James VI and I William the Silent Gaspard II de Coligny Henry IV of France Jeanne d'Albret Stephen Bocskai Gabriel Bethlen Gustav II Adolf Frederick V, Elector Palatine Philip I of Hesse Electors of Saxony Frederick III John Frederick I
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Conclusion and commemorations Conclusion Confessionalization with subsequent Protestant orthodoxy Peace of Westphalia Simultaneous rise of Pietism and Rationalism Monuments Reformation Wall Luther Monuments Calendrical commemoration Reformation Day Lutheran Anglican
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History of the Church of England
Westminster Abbey (1749) by Canaletto
Middle Ages (597–1500) Anglo-Saxon Christianity Religion in Medieval England Convocations of Canterbury and York Development of dioceses
Reformation (1509–1559) Reformation Parliament Dissolution of the Monasteries Thomas Cranmer Book of Common Prayer (1549) Edwardine Ordinals Book of Common Prayer (1552) Forty-two Articles Martyrs Marian exiles
Elizabethan Church (1558–1603) Book of Common Prayer (1559) Thirty-nine Articles Convocation of 1563 The Books of Homilies History of the Puritans under Elizabeth I Vestments controversy Richard Hooker Foxe's Book of Martyrs Marprelate Controversy
Jacobean period (1603–1625) James I and religious issues History of the Puritans under King James I Millenary Petition Hampton Court Conference Book of Common Prayer (1604) King James Version
Caroline period (1625–1649) Arminianism in the Church of England Caroline Divines Laudianism History of the Puritans under King Charles I
1649–1688 History of the Puritans from 1649 Westminster Assembly Savoy Conference Book of Common Prayer (1662) Great Ejection Nonjuring schism
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The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England was forced by its monarchs and elites to break away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Reformation, a religious and political movement that affected the practice of Christianity in Western and Central Europe.

Ideologically, the groundwork for the Reformation was laid by Renaissance humanists who believed that the Scriptures were the best source of Christian faith and criticized religious practices which they considered superstitious. By 1520, Martin Luther's new ideas were known and debated in England, but Protestants were a religious minority and heretics under the law. The English Reformation began as more of a political affair than a theological dispute.^{[note 1]} In 1527, Henry VIII requested an annulment of his marriage, but Pope Clement VII refused. In response, the Reformation Parliament (1529–1536) passed laws abolishing papal authority in England and declared Henry to be head of the Church of England. Final authority in doctrinal disputes now rested with the monarch. Though a religious traditionalist himself, Henry relied on Protestants to support and implement his religious agenda.

The theology and liturgy of the Church of England became markedly Protestant during the reign of Henry's son Edward VI (1547–1553) largely along lines laid down by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. Under Mary I (1553–1558), Roman Catholicism was briefly restored. The Elizabethan Religious Settlement reintroduced the Protestant religion but in a more moderate manner. Nevertheless, disputes over the structure, theology, and worship of the Church of England continued for generations.

The English Reformation is generally considered to have concluded during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603), but scholars also speak of a "Long Reformation" stretching into the 17th and 18th centuries. This time period includes the violent disputes over religion during the Stuart period, most famously the English Civil War which resulted in the rule of Puritan Oliver Cromwell. After the Stuart Restoration and the Glorious Revolution, the Church of England remained the established church, but a number of nonconformist churches now existed whose members suffered various civil disabilities until these were removed many years later. A substantial but dwindling minority of people from the late 16th to early 19th centuries remained Roman Catholics in England – their church organization remained illegal until the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829.
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