ABSTRACT
In the course of the sixteenth century, the religious culture of England underwent radical change. Until then there had been one universal or “Catholic”, church in western Europe, headed by the pope in Rome. During the sixteenth century England, in common with some other territories, declared its independence of Rome; the English church was brought increasingly under state control and the king assumed its earthly headship. Monasteries, chantries and religious guilds were dissolved, and much of the wealth of the church was confiscated by the government. This included not only land owned by religious orders, but also objects from parish churches: bells, communion-ware made from precious metals, and richly decorated vestments worn by priests when celebrating Mass. The number of saints’ days was drastically reduced; pilgrimages to shrines were forbidden and the veneration of relics condemned; statues and wall-paintings were defaced and roods were pulled down. Prayers and Masses for the dead, along with the use of palms and ashes, were banned, and Latin services were replaced by a vernacular liturgy. These changes constituted the English Reformation, part of a wider European movement.
