Jaunt through English History

From Thomas Cranmer 1533 to Justin Welby 2013 
+ Church of England + Died 480 years of age + Much loved + RIP

In 1533 the Statute in Restraint of Appeals stopped English clergy and laity appealing to Rome on matrimonial issues, enabling Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer to annul Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Henry then married Anne Boleyn (albeit briefly, nudge nudge chop). It also paved the way for Henry to became Supreme Head of the Church of England.

In short, the Church of England came to take on its present constitutional form as a result of a fist fight over marriage and state power. This is well described in Protestant William Cobbett's "The Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland". Read it if you like blood.

History is repeating itself along precisely the same fault lines, and again Britain's Bishops are falling over themselves to break with Christian teaching in order to keep in with secular powers. In Henry's day schools and almshouses disappeared as monastic assets were grabbed by the wealthy. These days, schools and charities are back in the firing line as LGBT heavies move in. (more...)

Jaunt through English History