The Protestant Reformation in Europe was a result of a combination of a number of factors, exacerbated during what Noll (2003) maintains was an ôera of general, dynamic change in European societyö (188). Prior to the Reformation, regionalism, nationalism, increased trade and economic development, and new intellectual worldviews precipitated the climax of the distinct spiritual crisis within society and the Church. Centuries of internal strife within the Roman Catholic Church, including warring popes and a focus on worldly (i.e. material) matters, also helped ripen the sowing field for Protestants roots. By the time of LutherÆs Ninety-Five Theses, Protestantism was taking shape in Europe. Nevertheless, it would remain The English Act of Supremacy (1534) that would forever alter relations between church and state. Within an intellectual genealogy of the major players and theological arguments of the Reformation, it becomes apparent that the struggle for power between church and state represented the foundation of the era that would forever alter the Church in England.
There are a number of significant players in the Reformation in Europe, including Luther, Zwingli, Bucer, Calvin, Mary, Elizabeth, Archbishop Cranmer, King Charles V of Spain and, of course, EnglandÆs King Henry VIII. LutherÆs interpretation of freedom of the individual within Christianity was perfectly suited to the aims of Henry VIII, who was unsuccessful in his efforts to get Pope Clement VII to grant him a divorce to Catherine of Aragon. Catherine was the aunt of SpainÆs Charles V, a devout Catholic and protector of Pope Clement VII, who refused to allow Henry to bring disgrace upon his aunt. HenryÆs approach to the issue was twofold. He found a religious official willing to ratify his divorce and marry him to Anne Boleyn, while pushing through Parliament legislation that would further legitimize his power and validity. As Noll (2003) explains, ôA...