The Gospel and Henry VIII

An appraisal of the religious policies of the final years of Henry VIII's reign.

This book looks at the last years of Henry VIII's life, 1539–47, conventionally seen as a time when the king persecuted Protestants. The book argues that Henry's policies were much more ambiguous, and that it was during these years that English Protestantism's eventual identity was determined.During the last decade of Henry VIII's life, his Protestant subjects struggled to reconcile two loyalties: to their Gospel and to their king. This book tells the story of that struggle and describes how a radicalised English Protestantism emerged from it. Focusing on the critical but neglected period 1539–47, Dr Ryrie argues that these years were not the 'conservative reaction' of conventional historiography, but a time of political fluidity and ambiguity. Most evangelicals continued to hope that the king would favour their cause, and remained doctrinally moderate and politically conformist. The author examines this moderate reformism in a range of settings - in the book trade, in the universities, at court and in underground congregations. He also describes its gradual eclipse, as shifting royal policy and the dynamics of the evangelical movement itself pushed reformers towards the more radical, confrontational Protestantism which was to shape the English identity for centuries.