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Discovering Sacred Texts

Henry VIII and the Reformation

Article written by: Susan Doran
Theme: Christianity [/sacred-texts/themes/christianity]
Published: 23 Sep 2019
Professor Susan Doran discusses Henry VIII and the Reformation, looking at
the Catholic devotional texts that were owned by the king, his break with the
Catholic Church and the development of the English Bible following the
Reformation.
Henry VIII was brought up a devout Catholic. Before he became king, he had in his
possession a prayer scroll containing illuminations of the Trinity, the crucified Christ, the
Instruments of the Passion and several martyred saints. Latin prayers were placed on each
side of the images, together with English rubrics (instructions) that explained how the prayers
could offer protection from earthly dangers or the remission of time in Purgatory. Sacred texts
of this kind were common as part of the devotional practices of late-medieval England.
Owners of the scrolls recited the prayers, contemplated the images and touched the material
object so as to become closer to the divine and earn heavenly reward in the afterlife. Henry’s
inscription on the prayer scroll suggests that he used it for these holy purposes and accepted
the theological teachings that lay behind them.

Henry VIII's prayer roll

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Henry VIII’s prayer scroll. Measuring over three metres in length, this roll contains prayers in
Latin and English and fourteen illuminated images, which include martyred saints, St George
slaying the dragon, and Christ’s Passion.

Usage terms

Public Domain in most countries other than the UK

[~/link.aspx?_id=ECD55B95AD4C4306809EAD127933643C&_z=z] .

Henry’s Catholic worship was typical of the era. Along with the prayer scroll, he also held fast
to the belief that purchasing papal indulgences could pardon sin and shorten time in
Purgatory; a popular practice at the time. In 1521 he and Katherine of Aragon received a
‘plenary indulgence’ from Pope Clement VII, which was tied to them carrying out an annual
pilgrimage to a major shrine. When Martin Luther’s protest against the sale of indulgences
sparked off the German Reformation, Henry defended the practice in his rebuttal, ‘Defence of
the Seven Sacraments’.

The British Library also holds another text that shines a light on Henry’s piety; a Book of
Hours that has secret messages exchanged between Henry and Anne Boleyn written in the
margins. Books of Hours were common sacred texts for laypeople’s use. As compendia of
prayers and devotional texts, the books had at their core the ‘Office of the Virgin Mary’, set
prayers addressed to the Mother of Christ and recited daily at eight fixed hours. Mary, it was
hoped, would act as an intercessor between the owner and God. The pages were often
beautifully illustrated by the best artists of the day. Those for the nobility were richly
illuminated with precious gold leaf and lapis lazuli. But, at some time around 1528, Anne and
Henry employed his book for less spiritual purposes. At the foot of the folio showing the Man
of Sorrows, Henry inscribed a lover’s message for Anne in French: ‘If you remember my love
in your prayers as strongly as I adore you, I shall hardly be forgotten, for I am yours. Henry
R. forever.’ Anne chose to pen her response on a page which showed the Annunciation, so
suggesting her wish and power to give the king a son. She wrote in English: ‘Be daly prove
you shalle me fynde to be to you bothe lovynge and kynde’.

Anne Boleyn’s Book of Hours

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Book of Hours once belonged to Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife. With unique
historical importance, this manuscript is a rare example of lovers using a religious book to
exchange flirtatious messages.

Usage terms

Public Domain in most countries other than the UK

[~/link.aspx?_id=ECD55B95AD4C4306809EAD127933643C&_z=z] .

When was the break from the Roman Catholic

Church?
The prayers in these late-medieval sacred books and scrolls were often in Latin to signify that
all Western Christians were part of the Roman Catholic Church. However, Henry formally
broke with the Pope and the Roman Church after Pope Clement VII refused to grant him an
annulment of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon so that he could wed Anne. His appeal for
an annulment was on the grounds that their union contravened the scriptures, citing Leviticus
20. 21, which prohibits a man from marrying his brother’s widow.

In 1533 the English Parliament passed the Act in Restraint of Appeals, which denied papal
jurisdiction in England and ended appeals of court cases to Rome. The 1534 Act of
Supremacy then recognised the king as the Supreme Head of the Church in England with
‘full power and authority’ to ‘reform’ the institution and ‘amend’ all errors and heresies. Henry
and his newly-appointed ‘Vice Gerent in Spiritual Affairs’, Thomas Cromwell, immediately
embarked upon a programme of reform. Cromwell’s Injunctions of 1536, and 1538 attacked
idolatry, pilgrimages and other ‘superstitions’. The lesser monasteries were closed in 1536
and the remaining monasteries were dissolved over the next few years. Those men and
women who resisted the closures were imprisoned or hanged.

Although Henry rejected Martin Luther’s theology of justification by faith alone, he did accept
the German reformer’s insistence upon the supremacy of Scripture. After all, the ‘Word of
God’ (Leviticus 20.21) had justified the annulment of his first marriage. Consequently,
encouraged by Cromwell and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer of Canterbury, Henry authorised
an English Bible that could be read by the laity as well as the clergy. At this time the best

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printed translation of the New Testament in English [/sacred-texts/articles/from-sacred-

scriptures-to-the-peoples-bible] was by William Tyndale, who was a Lutheran burned in
Antwerp in 1536. However, the king and his more conservative bishops refused to entertain
the thought of publishing any work of the convicted heretic. Instead, two other Bibles
received a royal licence.

Coverdale Bible
Coverdale Bible
A 1535 copy of Miles Coverdale’s translation of the Bible, a large lectern size Bible,
containing the Old and New Testaments as well as the Apocrypha.

Usage terms Public Domain [http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0]

The first was a translation of the complete Bible by Miles Coverdale – the first of its kind –
which had originally been printed abroad in 1535. In the 1538 edition (the one authorised by
the king), Hans Holbein’s title page shows Henry, flanked by King David and St Paul, handing
the Bible to a bishop. The second translation was also printed abroad. The man responsible
was supposedly one ‘Thomas Matthew’, and so the text became known as the ‘Matthew
Bible’. In fact, ‘Thomas Matthew’ was a pseudonym taken from the names of two of Jesus’s
disciples. This Bible was actually produced by one of Tyndale’s associates, John Rogers.
After his friend’s death, Rogers had compiled a new text based on Tyndale’s printed New
Testament and manuscripts of the Old Testament; Coverdale’s translation was used to fill the
gaps.

Matthew’s Bible
Matthew’s Bible
A 1537 copy of ‘Matthew’s Bible’, printed in Antwerp.

Usage terms Public Domain [http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0]

Neither Bible was thought entirely satisfactory. So in 1538 Cranmer and Cromwell
commissioned Coverdale to revise the ‘Matthew Bible’ and produce a better translation. The
new work was intended to be the realm’s single authoritative Bible. In accordance with
Cromwell’s 1538 Injunctions, it was ordered to be chained to lecterns in every cathedral and
parish church for communal and public reading by clergy and parishioners alike. Because of
its large size, the book became known as the ‘Great Bible’. Its woodcut title page visually
communicated the royal supremacy. Receiving the Word directly from God, the enthroned
king at the top of the page passes the sacred text of the Bible to his spiritual lords on his right
and lay lords on his left. From there, the verbum dei ('Word of God') descends to be read to
the local parish congregation and even to reach prisoners in jail.

The Great Bible, probably Henry VIII's own copy

The Great Bible, probably Henry VIII's own copy
Henry VIII’s ‘Great Bible’, based on an earlier version begun illegally by William Tyndale and
adapted by Miles Coverdale in 1535.

Usage terms Public Domain [http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0]

New Bible, old doctrines

The Great Bible was printed in 1539. That same year Henry clarified the beliefs of his Church
in ‘An Act Abolishing Diversity in Opinions’, better known as ‘The Act of Six Articles’. This
statute laid down Henry’s position on some of the key issues dividing conservatives and
evangelicals in England. Although he tried to find a path between the extremes of Roman
Catholicism and Lutheranism by following what he saw as a policy of balance, the king took
up a conservative position on virtually all of the controversial points. On the Mass, the Act

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affirmed transubstantiation, elucidating that ‘after the consecration, there remaineth no

substance of bread or wine, nor any other substance, but the substance of Christ, God and
man’. Other clauses denied that communion in both kinds was necessary, upheld clerical
celibacy, permitted private Masses (those celebrated by a priest alone) and deemed auricular
confession necessary. A few years later Henry shifted his position somewhat. The 1543
‘Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for Any Christian Man’, known as the ‘King’s Book’
(another formulary of faith), instructed his subjects ‘to abstain from the name of Purgatory’
and questioned the efficacy of prayers for the dead. Nonetheless, the book unambiguously
rejected justification by faith alone and reaffirmed transubstantiation, two positions which
contradicted Luther's teachings. When the king died in January 1547 England was therefore
doctrinally Catholic despite the rejection of papal supremacy. As for Henry’s personal
convictions, he remained conventionally pious. He continued his private devotions in Latin; in
fact one of the last books he commissioned was a beautiful Latin psalter, written and
illuminated by the French émigré Jean Mallard. Four illuminations depict Henry; one of them
showed him reading the book in his bedchamber while another showed him as David playing
the harp (as in I Samuel 16.14-23). Evidently, he identified with the Old Testament theocratic
king. As was his wont, Henry scribbled notes in the book. Some of them explored themes
such as the contrast between the blessed and the wicked, divine judgement, kingship and
the vanity of worldly goods.

Henry VIII’s Psalter

Henry VIII’s Psalter
Commissioned by King Henry VIII, this Psalter (Book of Psalms) gives an insight into the
king’s self-assurance as divine ruler of England.

Usage terms

Public Domain in most countries other than the UK

[~/link.aspx?_id=ECD55B95AD4C4306809EAD127933643C&_z=z] .

English devotional manuscripts

While Henry continued, it seems, to prefer Latin for his sacred texts, some of his subjects
were turning to works in English for their devotions. In 1539 an English edition of Wolfgang
Capito’s Precationes Christianæ ad Imitationem Psalmorum was printed in London. The
translator was Richard Taverner, who was working for Cromwell during the 1530s and
translating works of both Erasmus and Lutherans. A manuscript containing a selection of
psalms and prayers from the translated Precationes was owned by Anne, Countess of
Hertford, who was the second wife of Henry’s brother-in-law Edward Seymour (to be created
1st Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector on Henry’s death). Known as ‘Taverner’s prayer
book’, the small book is richly decorated on each page with a full-page border in colours and
gold, while small illuminated initials mark the start of each prayer and psalm. Extracts from
Taverner’s translation were also put together in a manuscript prayer-book owned by Henry’s
great niece, Lady Jane Grey, who became noted for her Protestant piety during the next
reign. The prayers, however, do not assert any particular confessional position. Some
traditionalist prayers are included, but in none of them is there any reference to Purgatory.

Taverner Prayer Book

Taverner prayer book
This tiny, richly decorated book of Psalms and prayers in English was most likely made for
the noblewoman and literary patron Anne Seymour (née Stanhope), Countess of Hertford
and later Duchess of Somerset (c. 1510–1587).

Usage terms

Public Domain in most countries other than the UK

[~/link.aspx?_id=ECD55B95AD4C4306809EAD127933643C&_z=z] .

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Lady Jane Grey's prayer book

Page from Lady Jane's Prayer book, f.74v
This tiny Book of Prayers, written in English, is probably that used by Lady Jane Grey on the
scaffold at her execution in 1554.

Usage terms

Public Domain in most countries other than the UK

[~/link.aspx?_id=ECD55B95AD4C4306809EAD127933643C&_z=z] .

Henry’s last wife, Katherine Parr, shared the reformist tendencies of her friend, the Countess
of Hertford. She almost certainly had a spiritual influence on both the king’s younger
daughter Elizabeth and Lady Jane Grey when they each spent time in her household.
Katherine wrote several devotional works while queen. Her reworking of Thomas à Kempis’
De Imitatione Christi [/collection-items/of-the-imitation-of-christ-by-thomas--kempis] (from an
English edition) was printed in 1545 under her own name (the first book printed under the
name of a woman in English). To compliment her stepmother, the twelve-year-old Elizabeth
gave the king her own trilingual translation (Latin, French and Italian) of the work as a New
Year’s Day gift for 1546.

Prayerbook of Princess Elizabeth

Prayerbook of Princess Elizabeth
In December 1545, King Henry VIII was presented with this carefully embroidered volume as
a New Year’s gift. The prayer-book had been assembled by his twelve-year-old daughter,
Elizabeth, who would herself ascend to the throne in 1558.

Usage terms

Public Domain in most countries other than the UK

[~/link.aspx?_id=ECD55B95AD4C4306809EAD127933643C&_z=z] .

Paving the way for Protestantism

Henry VIII’s Reformation had begun an attack on sacred objects, such as saints' relics and
shrines. Some sacred texts were also defaced or destroyed, especially those which
venerated popes or St Thomas Becket [/people/thomas-becket] , who had stood up to King
Henry II. Many manuscripts and books in monastic libraries were trashed or dispersed during
the dissolutions, although the antiquarian John Leland managed to collect and conserve a
large number for the king. Despite this, sacred texts remained an important part of English
religious culture. Indeed more of them began to appear in English, and of course several
English Bibles came into circulation. However, for those who were evangelical or Protestants,
the works contained no mention of purgatory and were not be handled as holy objects in
themselves. The ground was being laid for the full-blown Protestantism introduced on
Henry’s death by Archbishop Cranmer and Lord Protector Somerset.

Written by Susan Doran

Susan Doran FRHS is Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Oxford and
Senior Research Fellow at Jesus College, Oxford, and St Benet's Hall, Oxford. She
specialises in the high politics, religion and culture of the 16th and early-17th centuries. She
edited the catalogue of the British Library exhibition Henry VIII: Man and Monarch in 2009,
and her book Elizabeth I and her Circle first appeared in 2015. Since then she has been
working on the early years of James I's reign.

The text in this article is available under the Creative Commons License.
[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/]

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