The Centralization of Power in Reformation England (Review-Essay) (The King's Reformation: Henry VIII and the Remaking of the English Church, By G.W. Bernard by G.W. Bernard ) (Book Review)

In The King's Reformation, George Bernard explains why Henry VIII broke with Rome. He documents how that decision affected the Church in England and determines the extent of opposition and resistance toward the king's religious policies. Readers will find in Bernard's account a prince not content with mere outward toleration of his policies but one who demanded internal assent from his subjects. The crown employed tyrannical methods to secure its policy objectives when persuasion failed. A weak opposition was unable to resist indefinitely a patient yet determined tyrant who was prepared to use all means at his disposal to carry out his plans. However, the characterization of the Henrcian regime as tyrannical is unacceptable to some historians. The inability to arrive at a consensus on such a consequential matter raises doubts about our capacity to notice the warning signs when they are right before our eyes. The year 2009 is the five-hundredth anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne of England. We should recall what he did to the Church in England so that our vigilance will keep free institutions and cherished traditions from suffering the same fate. As with most histories of the English Reformation, Bernard's detailed study begins with the king's decision to seek a male heir by separating from Queen Catherine to marry Anne Boleyn. The details of the case are familiar enough to preclude their retelling here. Suffice it to say that his failure to obtain an annulment from the pope led Henry to deprive the English Church of its independence once guaranteed by Magna Carta. In doing so, the king ensured that widespread religious discord, not previously experienced in England, would last centuries into the future. But that was not all. The process of ecclesiastical disenfranchisement had political implications, too. In order to assert his claims over the Church, Henry had to secure for himself a degree of political power not previously held by an English monarch. Under Henry VIII, England was now said to be an empire with full sovereignty inferior to no other jurisdiction on earth, including Rome. The claim to imperial status necessarily brought with it imperial power that comes not from any earthly source but from God alone. Even Henry's religious reforms were politically motivated. Contrary to the progressive Whig apologetics of past centuries, Henry's promulgation of the English Bible was not meant to advance Reformed theology broadly understood, but to encourage obedience to his royal will by identifying himself with the kings of the Old Testament. (1)