Was the Church of England a Money Grab?

By Tony Baggett @ Adobe Stock

At LewRockwell.com, Ira Katz discusses Eamon Duffy’s book, The Stripping of the Altars, and describes the Protestant Reformation of the Church of England as a money grab by Henry VIII. Katz writes:

The Cambridge academic Eamon Duffy first published The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, 1400-1580 in 1992. The book’s premise is that the Medieval religion of England, including all of the bells, incense, candles, veneration of saints and pageantry of a highly liturgical religion, was still practiced day in and day out throughout England with vigor and belief when a top-down cultural revolution dissolved this essence of English life over a couple of generations. Duffy explores in detail the beliefs and practices at the parish level and how the grand history affected these pious people. It is rather well known that the Tudor king Henry VIII started the process in order to authorize his serial divorces. But Henry liked many of the old “superstitious” practices of the old religion. So it was only during the short reign (1547-53) of his son, the child king Edward VI, that the radical stripping of the altars occurred. Among the Protestant reformers, like Cranmer and Cromwell who probably were the real powers behind the throne, I am sure there was true belief in their iconoclastic form of Christianity. But to implement their reforms a bureaucracy was needed. Each bit of wealth directed toward Catholic religious practice, from books, to candles, to vestments, and more was winnowed and pillaged. Not directly stated by Duffy, but what I infer from his description of events is a classic money grab. So in the end, to understand the history of this period it is most instructive to follow the money. Even Wikipedia describes the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry as a money grab (See this version of ABBA’s “Money, Money’, Money”). Edward’s half-sister, Mary I, became queen upon his death in spite of his wish that the Catholic Mary not succeed him. She was dubbed “Bloody Mary” by her Protestant opponents for the number of religious dissenters burned at the stake during her reign. This was a short respite for Catholics, as art and color returned to English churches during her reign (1553-58). Mary’ Protestant half-sister Elizabeth I succeeded her (the three children of Henry who succeeded him to the throne, like a rock star, were each born from different mothers). During her long reign (1558-1603) Catholic practices were gradually but significantly snuffed out.

A preoccupation of Medievals was the fate of their souls after death.  From the reformers point of view it was the belief in Purgatory, a step of purification before going to heaven, that was a problem. Why was this important? People willed (Duffy gives a lot of evidence from wills) money to be remembered in prayers, masses, and dedications to physical objects in the church that supposedly reduced the soul’s time in Purgatory.

Read more here.