My British Empire

Chapter 209 Continuation of the Reformation (Part 1)

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The witch incidents in recent years made Edward feel that the religious reform in England was not enough, and Anglicanism had not yet fully occupied the dominant position of belief in England.

There are also reasons for Henry VIII.

It's funny to say that, as the first monarch to implement the religious reformation, Henry VIII himself was a devout Catholic, and he also disliked Protestantism in his heart.

However, the family deserves to be a generation of emperors. In order to have a male heir, marry a new queen, and forcibly carry out religious reforms.

The first step is to directly collect the taxes paid by the Church of England to the Pope to the royal family.

The second step is to appoint the head of the Church of England by the Pope as the king of England, and to appoint bishops in all regions with full authority.

After that, the king united all the nobles and began to divide the church property.

According to the agreement reached, the six floors belong to the Tudor royal family, the three floors belong to the local nobles and gentry groups, and the one floor belongs to those free people, landless farmers, and small landowners.

As a result, everyone in England was happy, and social conflicts were greatly eased.

The Tudor royal family thus occupied a quarter of the land in England, the largest ever.

And the peasant class divided into land in rural areas thus gave birth to a new class—Yomannon.

The so-called Yeoman farmers are like ancient Chinese self-cultivators. They owned their own land and rented the land of nobles and squires. Together with artisans, handicraftsmen, and small merchants, they constituted the middle class in England.

The most profitable Tudor royal family, because Henry VIII had been fighting during the period, in order to raise military expenses, they continued to sell church properties at low prices, which also contributed to the birth of Jomannon.

Wait until the current period of Edward, the land owned by the entire royal family has moved from one-fourth of the country to one-sixth, making it the largest landowner in England.

The Tudor royal family's manors are scattered all over England, densely packed. It can be said that this is also the basis for supporting the Tudor royal family's absolute monarchy.

In history, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I, the three kings, sold their land whenever they were short of money. At the end of the Tudor Dynasty, the land that the royal family copied from the church was almost sold out.

Of course, Edward is not that stupid. As soon as he took office, he immediately stopped the stupid behavior of selling land.

Relying on selling wine and opening taverns to support the royal family's expenses.

Forehead! Off topic, that is to say, the biggest difference between Anglicanism in England and Catholicism is that its leader is not the Pope, but the King of England.

However, once the express train of the Reformation has landed, it cannot get off.

Now the voices of the people of England for the continuation of the religious reform have not stopped, but have intensified.

In this regard, Edward decided to continue the religious reform and not let the express train get out of his control.

So, on the 1st of September, 1549, His Majesty the Great King set up a Royal Commission at Whitehall Palace.

This nine-member Reformation group under the leadership of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer is responsible for formulating bills on church law and priest discipline.

First, let’s introduce the rights structure of Anglicanism. In addition to the nominal head of the king, the Archbishop of Canterbury holds the first power, then the Archbishop of York, and then the bishops of the forty-four dioceses (England and Wales).

So Archbishop Thomas Cranmer actually holds the Anglican power, and he is also a Protestant.

In order to repay Bishop Thomas' support for him, Edward specially appointed him to lead the Royal Commission and preside over matters related to religious reform.

Bishop Thomas was very happy about this, and with excitement, he and other committee members worked together to reform Anglicanism and make it different from Catholicism.

In this regard, on the first day, the Royal Commission discussed the bishop system.

Some people think that we should follow the example of Lutheranism and Calvinism in Europe and remove bishops. That is to say, bishops will no longer be appointed and dismissed by the king, but elected by ordinary priests.

In this regard, Bishop Thomas, who has always been more radical, chose to remain silent, and some people agreed.

After Edward got the news, he didn't eat any food, so he hurried to the Royal Commission and gave an impromptu speech.

Edward stood in front of the conference table with a serious face, staring at the group of people in front of him, his eyes were stern, and he warned with a cold air: "Enough, gentlemen, the king is the pillar of the reform of the Church of England, a person who does not belong to the king There is no reason for the existence of the church, and I don’t want you to go further and further down a small road that deviates from the main road, I think this is rugged, difficult, and difficult to succeed!”

After speaking, Edward glanced sharply at the members who proposed to abolish the bishop system, and the corners of his mouth moved slightly.

After that, Edward gave Bishop Thomas a meaningful look, and then left.

Subsequently, these members were removed from the Royal Commission. After a few months, when no one cared about them, these regional bishops disappeared from the world for various reasons, such as falling off a cliff, riding a horse and being trampled to death by a horse. Waiting for all kinds of strange ways to die.

If their proposal is passed, then Edward's control over the Anglican sect will be infinitely reduced. A religious organization that is not controlled by the king is the most unbearable for the monarchs.

After leaving a few, Edward changed a few obedient ones. After he finished his meal, the committee sent a message.

With the unanimous consent of the committee members, Anglican continued to adopt the bishop system of the Sixteenth Ecumenical Council of Constance (AD 1414-1418).

During this meeting, Pope Martin V's prime minister, Bishop Sasque Agunas, released a new Catholic hierarchy: the Protestant hierarchy is divided into priests and deacons.

The ranks of priests are: priest, bishop, assistant bishop, diocesan bishop, archbishop, archbishop, and cardinal. The chief assistant deacon, the director deacon, and the prime minister deacon rank seven, known as the "seventh rank of deacon".

Of course, the archbishop and privy bishop, directors and deacons are currently abolished temporarily, and they can be re-established when the territory expands.

The new canon stipulates that in England and any of its dependent territories, His Majesty the King of England is the sole head and leader of the church, and no one in the church may violate the king's orders.

Any position in the church is and must be appointed by His Majesty the King. The appointment and removal by any organization or individual has no legal effect and is not recognized.

(end of this chapter)

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