, but they had produced no
permanent result. In the early years of the sixteenth century,
however, several causes combined to bring about a movement of this
nature extending over a number of years and profoundly affecting all
subsequent history. This is known as the Reformation. The first steps
of the Reformation in England were taken as the result of a dispute
between King Henry VIII and the Pope. In the first place, several laws
were passed through Parliament, beginning with the year 1529,
abolishing a number of petty evils and abusive practices in the church
courts. The Pope's income from England was then cut off, and his
jurisdiction and all other forms of authority in England brought to an
end. Finally, the supremacy of the king over the church and clergy and
over all ecclesiastical affairs was declared and enforced. By the year
1535 the ancient connection between the church in England and the Pope
was severed. Thus in England, as in many continental countries at
about the same time, a national church arose independent of Rome.
Next, changes began to be made in the doctrine and practices of the
church. The organization under bishops was retained, though they were
now appointed by the king. Pilgrimages and the worship of saints were
forbidden, the Bible translated into English, and other changes
gradually introduced. The monastic life came under the condemnation of
the reformers. The monasteries were therefore dissolved and their
property confiscated and sold, between the years 1536 and 1542. In the
reign of Edward VI, 1547-1553, the Reformation was carried much
further. An English prayerbook was issued which was to be used in all
religious worship, the adornments of the churches were removed, the
services made more simple, and doctrines introduced which assimilated
the church of England to the contemporary Protestant churches on the
Continent.

Queen Mary, who had been brought up in the Roman faith, tried to make
England again a Roman Catholic country, and in the later years of her
reign encouraged severe persecutions, causing many to be burned at the
stake, in the hope of thus crushing out heresy. After her death,
however, in 1558, Queen Elizabeth adopted a more moderate position,
and the church of England was established by law in much the form it
had possessed at the death of Henry VIII.

In the meantime, however, there had been growing up a far more
spontaneous religious movement than the official Reformation