Us Hist 1301 Worksheet 1

1 Jeff McManus US History 1301.P12 8/30/2011 Worksheet #1 1.
The European Reformation was a religious protest movement against the Catholic Church. The European Reformation brought about the various different Protestant religions. Basically, and Christian based religion that is not Catholic is Protestant. The reasons behind this movement had been brewing for hundreds years. The Catholic Church was obscenely wealthy while the vast majority of the followers were merely struggling to survive. A German monk by the name of Martin Luther had become very upset by the selling of indulgences by the Catholic Church. The indulgences were a way for the church to extract even more money its followers for the promise of the forgiveness of sins that would help them reach salvation in heaven. Luther wrote a document called his 95 Theses, which called into question the use of indulgences. Legend states that he nailed the 95 Theses to the local church door, which was a method of opening a debate in his day. The Lutheran Protestants were named for and based on the writings of Martin Luther. Another religious figure prominent in the European Reformation was a Swiss theologian by the name of Ulrich Zwingli. The Anabaptist Protestants were based on the teaching of Zwingli. Finally, a French theologian by the name of John Calvin was a very important figure in the European and the English Reformation. The concept of predestination was unique to Calvinist Protestants. The concept of predestination was a belief that salvation and damnation were predetermined by God at the beginning of time. Of the theologians mentioned Calvin was the most influential on the English conversion to
2 Protestantism. All of the leaders that surrounded King Edward VI were Calvinist and were strongly influenced by the writings and philosophies of Calvin.
2. The English Reformation was different form the European Reformation mainly for the reasons they were started. The European Reformation was started for temporal reasons. The English Reformation was stated for the secular reason that Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife and remarry. This is why Henry VIII is given credit for starting the English Reformation. Henry VIII was responsible for the Anglicans, which kept all of the dogma and rituals of Catholicism, but eliminated the Pope as the leader of the church. In 1534 the Act of Supremacy was enacted an made King Henry VIII the head of the Church of England.
3. During his brief rule King Edward VI accelerated the conversion of Protestantism. His governing council was led by Edward Seymour and John Dudley. Seymour and Dudley were both strongly influenced by Calvinism. The Bood of Common Prayer, written by Thomas Cramner, was also introduced under the reign of Edward VI. Another of Cramners Protestant writings introduced under Edward VI was the 42 Articles of Religion. With the influence of Cramner, Seymour, and Dudley England was led to the strongest Protestant slant in its History under the rule of King Edward VI.
4. The reign of Mary I was in stark contrast to Edward VI. Mary I looked to realign England with the Catholic Church and enactment of Counter Reformation measures.
3 She reinstalled the Catholic personnel that were dismissed under Edward VI. She also repealed the religious legislation of Edward VIs reign. Mary I also reintroduced the Pro Catholic legislation and medieval Heresy Laws. There was also a strong upsurge of Catholic literature. The reintroduction of the Heresy Laws paved the way for the execution of hundreds of Protestants. Mary I did her best to undue all of the things her half-brother and father had accomplished. She also attempted to unite England with Spain in an effort strengthen the Catholic hold and assure a Catholic heir to her throne. Her marriage with Phillip II of Spain was done as an effort to accomplish this. However, her marriage to Phillip II was strained and actually caused England to enter in an ill fated and expensive offensive against France. In addition, she was not able to secure a Catholic heir to the throne from her Spanish marriage. Another area Mary I fell short on was the re-establishment of the monasteries. The majority of her Parliament was made up of Catholic landowners. Many of those landowners had done very well when the monasteries were dissolved. They were less than cooperative in bringing back the monks and giving up the wealth they had received.
5. The reign of Elizabeth I saw a shift back to Protestantism. Her reign saw the Elizabethan Settlement, which consisted of the Act of Supremacy and Act of Uniformity in 1559. The Act of Supremacy made Elizabeth I the Supreme Govenor of the Church of England, which was a semantic softening of the title of Head that was taken by Henry VIII. The Act of Uniformity reintroduced a modified version of the Book of Prayer, and also imposed a fine of one shilling for
4 each absence from parish worship on Sundays and holy days. The Elizabethan Settlement was much more of a compromise when compared to hard line Protestant rule of Edward VI and hard line Catholic rule of Mary I. This compromise provided a time of relative peace in England that provided the finances and resources that lead to the exploration of the Western Hemisphere. During this time there were also influential writers such as Richard Hakluyt that supported and promoted exploration and settlement of North America. There were three attempts at Colonization by the English in the 16th Century. These consisted of Baffin Island, Sagadahoc, and Roanoke. Ultimately none of these attempts were successful.

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1 Jeff McManus US History 1301.P12 8/30/2011 Worksheet #1 1.

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