Divine Kingship and Royal Theology in Henry VIII's Reformation

Abstract

The nature of Henry VIII's religious policy in the last decade of his life remains contentious. He cannot convincingly be described either as a religious conservative or as a quasi-Protestant reformer. His attempted settlement must instead be considered on its own terms. However, it was more coherent than some have allowed. The king's personal religious outlook is central to this: it did not determine his regime's policies, but it was the hub around which those policies turned. At the heart of his settlement was the royal supremacy, which, by elevating a layman to the status of supreme head of the Church, eroded the distinctiveness of the clerical estate. Henry's most distinctive religious policies can be linked to his tendency to see religious issues almost exclusively through kingly eyes. Moral order and outward unity became his chief religious goals; sin and its punishment became the heart of his faith. This view cut across the broader debates of the day, rejecting key elements both of traditional religion and of the reformers' doctrines. Henry was, however, forced to seek allies in both religious camps; and his idiosyncratic priorities, while making that possible, also deepened the profound political ambiguities of late Henrician England.