The Church of England: comparison of its development during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI

This bachelor thesis aims to compare the development of the Church of England during the reign of Henry VIII and his son Edward VI. In the first part of the thesis there is a brief overview of Henry's and Edward's reigns. The Regency Council that governed the realm while Edward was a child is also mentioned. The work also deals with Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon, as it led to the break with Rome. Furthermore, this thesis is concerned with the documents and acts issued by the parliament that established the royal supremacy over the Church of England in the 1530's. The second part of the thesis focuses on the process of establishing the doctrine and liturgical use during the 1530's and 1540's. Important differences between the development during Henry's and Edward's reigns are compared. These differences concern especially the doctrine of Eucharist and communion or the attitude to clerical celibacy and marriages. Individual chapters of the second part of the thesis are concerned with particular events that are crucial for the development of the Church of England, e.g. the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the suppression of the chantries, English translation of the Scripture or the publication of the Book of Common Prayer. One of the main aims of this works is also to examine the position of..