Head Of The Church In England example essay topic

The History of the Church of England, J.R.H. Moorman, pp. 59-220 Book Report The middle ages began when William the Normans took over England. William liked to regard himself as a reformer. He would not allow the pope to interfere with what he regarded as the king's lawful business. He regarded himself as the head of the Church in England. William appointed his close friend, Lanfranc, as the archbishop of Canterbury. They both ruled England until William's death.

William Rufus who was William the Normans's on took over the throne. Rufus uses the Church as a source of income for his kingdom. While he was ill, he appointed Anselm to take over Lanfranc's position. Anselm on the other hand, accepts papal authority and he wanted to reform the church back to the rule of the Pope.

He insisted to have the pope as the head of the church and not the king. When Rufus passed away, Henry I took over the throne for a short period. Stephen then took over the throne after the death of Henry I. Stephen had a hard time governing England. In fact, he tried to bribe the church in order to keep his throne. Upon his death, Henry II started to reign as the King of England. He believes that the law must be equal for all and universally applied to all.

The Archbishop then was Thomas Becket. Thomas Becket and Henry had some disagreement especially on the issues of whether a secular court has the right to trial a clergy. The main issue was between the Church and the state which was part of a long and universal struggle that was fought all over Christendom. Becket later on fled overseas and for six years remained aboard until the matter was solved. He did return to England after that and went back to Canterbury where he was the Archbishop.

Some of the bishops as well as an archbishop were not too happy about Becket's return, went and complained to the King. Upon hearing the complained, he was furious. Four knights that heard the problem went and murdered Becket. Upon Henry II's death, his two soon Richard I and John was next in line to rule the kingdom. Richard reign for a short time in England due the fact that he was caught up with the Crusades. Most of the time, his minister carried on the duty to govern the country.

After his death, his brother, John took over the throne. During John's reign, England became from bad to worst. In fact, Pope Innocent excommunicated John because of he has no regard for the church at all. However, he surrenders his crown and kingdom to the Pope due to external pressure especially from France. Stephen Langton who was the papal legates to England was allowed to return to be archbishop in Canterbury so that the Pope will have control over the affairs of the church in England.

During Henry, England for a while was run by Papal legates. This is due to the fact that, Henry was a loyal churchman. Also, during his reign, there was growth in the in England though there were resistances as well from the people During this period, there was new type of Christian discipleship. One of the famous ones was the Dominicans and the Franciscans friars. Their main duty was to witness by word and by example to their faith. There was a growth in monasticism as well.

During Reign Edward I, he was served by three archbishops namely Robert Kilwardly, John Pelham, and Robert Win chelsey. King Edward tried to limit the power and independence of the church during his reign. In order to accomplish his task, he passed four act to strengthen the hands of the state. Once again the battle of supremacy between the king and the pope continue on. One of the biggest catastrophes that happened during this period was the Black Death that caused not only death of many people but also social and economical problem Another event that took place during this period was the rise John Wyclif. John Wycliff wrote to many things against the church to the point that the pope issues five bulls condemning him.

He was then imprisoned in Oxford. During his life, he wrote many papers again the abuses of the church as well as the Pope. Wyclif wrote in his book De Dominio Divi no that "since each man is responsible to God alone, there can be no need for a hierarchy and no distinction between priest and layman". Wyclif with the help from some of his friends also translated the Bible into English so that layman could study the bible for themselves. The next in line to reign was Henry IV.

He came to reign in the middle of the Hundred Years' War where the English was driven out of France. It was not a good time to reign. It was also at that time, the Great Schism ended with the election of Martin V as the new pope. He tried also to bring England under his control like his predecessor. During the end of this period, there was a decay of the religious order. For example, the various orders of friars such as the Dominicans and the Franciscan were becoming more and more absorbed into the academic life of the universities.

Rome for the most part had been unpopular in England for several reasons. First and foremost was that so much English money was sent to Rome. Another thing was that the pope continued to appoint Italian couriers to English benefices and lastly, the system of appeals to Rome which often delayed the execution of justice.