Chapter 217: The Continuing Reformation (I)

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The witch scandals of recent years made Edward feel that the Reformation in England was not enough, and that the Anglicans had not yet fully dominated the religion in England.

Among them are also Henry VIII reasons.

Funnily enough, as the first monarch to implement the Reformation, Henry VIII himself turned out to be a devout Catholic, and he was also antipathetic to Protestantism at heart.

However, in order to have a male heir, they married a new queen and forcibly carried out the religious reform.

The first step was to collect the taxes paid by the Church of England to the Pope directly to the Crown.

In the second step, the head of the Church of England is determined by the Pope of Rome as the King of England, with full authority to appoint bishops of various regions.

After that, it was the king who united all the nobles and began to divide the ecclesiastical property of the church.

According to the agreement, six tiers were to the Tudor royal family, three to the local nobility and gentry group, and one to the freedmen, landless peasants, and small landowners.

As a result, the whole of England rejoiced, and social contradictions were greatly alleviated.

As a result, the Tudor royal family occupied a quarter of England, the largest ever owned.

The peasant class that had been assigned to the land in the rural areas gave birth to a new class, the Yomannon.

The so-called yomannon is like the yeoman farmers of ancient China, who owned their own land, rented the land of the nobility and gentry, and together with the artisans, craftsmen, and small merchants, they constituted the middle class of England.

The Tudor royal family, which was the most profitable, continued to sell its property at a low price in order to raise military expenses due to the wars that had been waging war during Henry VIII, which also contributed to the birth of Yomannon.

By Edward's current period, the entire royal family had grown from a quarter of the country's land to one-sixth, making it the largest landowner in England.

And the estates to which the Tudor royal family belonged throughout England are densely packed and densely packed, which can be said to be the basis for the absolute monarchy of the Tudor royal family.

Historically, Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I, these three kings sold their land as soon as they ran out of money, and by the end of the Tudor dynasty, the land that the royal family had copied from the church was almost sold out.

Of course, Edward was not so stupid, and as soon as he took office, he immediately put a stop to the folly of selling his land.

relied on selling wine and opening taverns to support the expenses of the royal family.

Forehead! I digress, that is, the biggest difference between Anglicanism and Catholicism in England is that his leader is not the Pope, but the king of England.

However, once the Reformation express train landed, it could not come down.

The call for the continuation of the Reformation in England has not ceased, but has intensified.

In response, Edward decided to continue the Reformation and keep the train out of his control.

So, on September 1, 1549, His Majesty the Great King set up a royal commission at Whitehall House.

This one was written by Thomas. Nine members of the Reformation group under the leadership of Archbishop Cranmer were responsible for the development of canon law and the discipline of priests.

First, let's introduce the power structure of the Anglicans. In addition to the nominal head of the king, the Archbishop of Canterbury held the first power, then the Archbishop of York, and then the bishops of the forty-four dioceses (England and Wales).

So Thomas. Archbishop Kranmer, who actually holds the power of the Anglican sect, is also a Protestant.

In return for Bishop Thomas's support for him, Edward appointed him to lead the Royal Council to preside over the Reformation.

Bishop Thomas was very pleased with this, and with great excitement, he joined the other members of the committee to reform the Anglicans and distinguish them from the Catholic Church.

On the first day, the Royal Commission discussed the episcopal system.

Some argue that the Lutherans and Calvinists of Europa should be followed and the bishops' system should be dismissed, that is, bishops in the future will no longer be appointed by the king, but elected by ordinary clergy.

In response, Bishop Thomas, who has always been more radical, chose to remain silent, and some people agreed.

When Edward got the news, he didn't eat, and hurried to the royal committee to give an impromptu speech.

Edward stood at the conference table with a serious face, staring at the group of people in front of him, his eyes stern and cold, and he warned: "Enough, gentlemen, the king is the pillar of the reform of the Church of England, and a church that does not belong to the king has no reason to exist, and I don't want you to go further and further down a path that deviates from the avenue, I think it is rugged, difficult, and difficult to succeed!" ”

After speaking, Edward's sharp gaze swept to the members who proposed to abolish the bishopric system, and the corners of his mouth moved slightly.

Edward then gave Bishop Thomas a meaningful look before leaving.

Subsequently, the members were removed from the royal committee, and after a few months, when no one cared, the bishops of the region disappeared for various reasons, such as falling off a cliff, being trampled to death by a frightened horse, and so on.

If this proposal passes, Edward's control over the Anglican sect will be infinitely reduced, and a religious organization that is not under the control of the king will be the most unbearable for monarchs.

After a few departures, Edward replaced a few obedient ones, and when he finished eating, news came from the committee.

With the unanimous consent of the councillors, Anglicans continued to adopt the episcopal system of the Council of Constance of the Sixteenth Ecumenical Council (1414-1418 AD).

In this council Pope Mardin V's chancellor, Deacon Sasco. Bishop Agunas has released a new Catholic order: the Protestant order is divided into the priest order and the deacon order.

The priest hierarchy is: priest, bishop, assistant bishop, diocesan bishop, diocesan archbishop, archbishop, and cardinal, which are called the "seven orders of holy products"; The ranks of deacons are: primary deacon, chief deacon, assistant deacon, parish chief assistant deacon, council deacon, and prime minister deacon, which are called "seven orders of auxiliary priests".

Of course, the archbishop and the privy council, the council deacons and the chancellor deacon, which are temporarily abolished, can also be re-established when the territory is expanded.

The new canon states that His Majesty the King of England shall be the sole head and head of the Church in England and any dependent territory of England, and that no one in the Church shall disobey the King's orders.

All office in the Church is and must be appointed by His Majesty the King, and the appointment or dismissal of any organization or individual has no legal effect and is not recognized.