The Henrician Reformation: 7
Reginald Pole
Reginald Pole was Henry VIII’s cousin. He had acquired a first-class Renaissance education in Italy at the king’s expense, but by the early 1530s he found himself increasingly alienated from Henry’s policies. Spurning almost certain promotion to the archbishopric of either York or Canterbury, Pole returned to Italy. After the execution of John Fisher and Thomas More in 1535 for denying Henry’s claims to royal supremacy over the Church of England, Pole composed a powerful and sophisticated refutation of the king’s position, his Defence of the Unity of the Church. Although it was not printed until some years later, Pole sent a manuscript copy to Henry and his Council, and various English scholars were commissioned to refute Pole in turn, including Tunstall and Stokesley.
The visitation
In 1535, Henry VIII launched a nationwide ‘visitation’ – or enquiry – into England’s monasteries and religious houses. The main purpose of this was to ensure that each and every one of England’s monks signed up to the royal supremacy in person, but it also aimed at investigating and improving their moral condition. The visitation was organised by Thomas Cromwell, a loyal political administrative servant who had helped Henry draft the legislation breaking the link with Rome and whom in 1535 Henry appointed Vicegerent in Spirituals, i.e. the administrative head of Church matters under the king.
(The words given here were written in Latin in the original.)
Question
6. What is this document about?
Material to help teachers and students develop interests and skills as a historian.