History Research Paper

English Reformation

Research Question: How was Henry VIII able to change the religion of England in
the English Reformation?

Preliminary Thesis:

1. Henry was made Supreme head of this new church.

2. The English people were already unhappy with the Roman Catholic Church.
3. Thomas Cromwell got rid of all the monasteries by using the law to his
advantage.

Preliminary Bibliography:

George, Margaret. The Autobiography of Henry VIII. New York: St. Martin's Griffin,
1987.
Guy, John. Tudor England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.

MacCulloch, Diarmaid. "The Myth of the English Reformation." The Journal of British
Studies 30.1 (1991): 1-19. Print.

Mayer, Thomas F. "Review: [Untitled]; Popular Politics and the English

Reformation." Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies 36.1
(2004): 109-11. Print.

Russell, Conrad. Oxford illustrated history of Tudor & Stuart Britain. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1996

"The Reformation." History Learning Site. Ed. Chris Trueman. Web. 14 Nov. 2009.
<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/reformation.htm>.

Tyacke, Nicholas. "Anglican Attitudes: Some Recent Writings on English Religious

History, from the Reformation to the Civil War." The Journal of British Studies
35.2, Revisionisms (1996): 139-67. Print.

Preliminary Outline:

1.
a. King Henry VIII was able to gain control of religion in England by
intimidation.
b. After Henry forced the Archbishop to grant him a divorce. The only
reason the Archbishop went against the Pope’s suggestion is because
he was afraid that not granting the divorce would not put him in good
standing with king Henry.
2.
a. Since the English people were tired of the corruption of the Catholic
Church, which made switching religions easier.
b. Like much of the Europe the people in England were tired of the
church taking all of their money from them. So when Henry came to
reform the religion for his own gain, his people saw no problem with
switching along with him
3.
a. Thomas Cromwell found a way to get rid of the monasteries by using
the law to his advantage.
b. Cromwell would trick monks and nuns to make them look bad in the
reports that he was doing on the monasteries. One such trick was
making them speak when they would have taken a vow of silence.