. and P._, XIV., i., 37, 92,
371.]

[Footnote 1051: _L. and P._, XIV., i., 373.]

* * * * *

The powers conferred upon Henry as Supreme Head of the Church were not
long suffered to remain in abeyance. Whatever the theory may have
been, in practice Henry's supremacy over the Church was very different
from that which Kings of England had hitherto wielded; and from the
moment he entered upon his new ecclesiastical kingdom, he set (p. 378)
himself not merely to reform practical abuses, such as the excessive
wealth of the clergy, but to define the standard of orthodox faith,
and to force his subjects to embrace the royal theology. The Catholic
faith was to hold good only so far as the Supreme Head willed; the
"King's doctrine" became the rule to which "_our_ Church of England,"
as Henry styled it, was henceforth to conform; and "unity and concord
in opinion" were to be established by royal decree.

The first royal definition of the faith was embodied in ten articles
submitted to Convocation in 1536. The King was, he said, constrained
by diversity of opinions "to put his own pen to the book and conceive
certain articles... thinking that no person, having authority from
him, would presume to say a word against their meaning, or be remiss
in setting them forth".[1052] His people, he maintained, whether peer
or prelate, had no right to resist his temporal or spiritual commands,
whatever they might be. Episcopal authority had indeed sunk low. When
Convocation was opened, in 1536, a layman, Dr. William Petre,
appeared, and demanded the place of honour above all bishops and
archbishops in their assembly. Pre-eminence belonged, he said, to the
King as Supreme Head of the Church; the King had appointed Cromwell
his Vicar-general; and Cromwell had named him, Petre, his
proctor.[1053] The claim was allowed, and the submissive clergy found
little fault with the royal articles of faith, though they mentioned
only three sacraments, baptism, penance and the sacrament of the
altar, denounced the abuse of images, warned men against excessive (p. 379)
devotion to the saints, and against believing that "ceremonies have
power to remit sin," or that masses can deliver souls from purgatory.
Finally, Convocation transferred from the Pope to the Christian
princes the right to summon a General Council.[1054]

[Footnote 1052: _L. and P._, xi., 1110; _cf.