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Saturday, July 27, 2013

Question from Poppy - Foxe's treatment of reigns of Henry VIII and Mary I

For my dissertation in my third year at University i'm focusing on John Foxe and his book of martyrs. My question is 'Propaganda or reality in John Foxe?'
I am assessing the differences between the reigns of Henry VIII and Mary Tudor in his book to work out if he was bias towards a certain monarch etc.

So far i've found out that, as a Protestant, Foxe obviously documented Mary's reign in a negative light. However, what I cannot seem to find out is why Henry felt the need to deal with heretics when his take on religion seems to be iffy, almost as if he wants to keep both sides happy.

Any help would be great!

1 comment:

  1. Henry VIII considered himself a good Catholic - - he just didn't accept the Pope's authority. He kept all the outward forms of the religion: mass, prayers, etc.

    This wasn't changed until the reign of his son Edward VI who was educated and influenced by rabid Protestants, who succeeded in changing the Church of England into a form that would have horrified Henry. He considered Protestant thought (in those days, basically Lutheranism) to be the vilest heresy, to be stamped out wherever found. Lutherans were burned as heretics under Henry's rule, many by the sainted Thomas More, when he was Chancellor!

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