Never forget the bloody horrors of the English Reformation - Catholic Herald

Martin Luther was a theologian. If you read the Ninety-Five Theses he reputedly tacked up on the door of Wittenberg’s Schlosskirche in October 1517, it is clear his interest lay in the nature of sin, repentance, absolution, penance and salvation. Whatever else his wider agenda was – or became – his initial arguments were presented as scriptural debate on the revealed path to salvation.
The English Reformation, on the other hand, had no basis in theological debate. King Henry VIII despised Luther and all he stood for. Henry’s robust defence of the seven sacraments in the Assertio septem sacramentorum of 1521 was the first royal refutation of Luther’s ideas, and it did not pull its punches, using phrases like “filthy villain” and “deadly venom”. In recognition of its vigour, Pope Leo X granted Henry the title “Defender of the Faith”, and the book went through multiple reprints.
A decade later, Henry’s mind had moved on from the sacraments, and was preoccupied with the politics of …