How did no religious tolerance make it through some countries in europe (Example: England, Henry VIII)?

Question

I was reading about some countries that had no religious freedom (especially during the reformation) and was curious on how they were stable and longlasting. It doesn't seem to make sense to me.

Answer 1

Well the other answers give you a good history of Henry VIII but the answer you are looking for, I believe, is actually quite simple. Religious persecution. The idea that a single religion would help unify the country was very popular and thats why countries such as Spain, England, and France all had official religions. Religious dissenters were persecuted and either killed or exiled. In France you have the Huguenots (french pretestants), in England Catholics were persecuted (actually it was more like a see saw effect between changing monarchs until an act of religious tolerance was passed), and in Spain, when Isabelle of castille and Ferdinand of Aragon married, kicked out the Muslim Moors and Jewish people from Spain.

In all of these countries there were about three options for those of diffrent faiths. A) Death. B) Exile. C) Conversion. It is arguable that this strengthened or hurt the countries but at the time when Spain became Officially Catholic it was one of the strongest Countries of its time. The Holy Roman Empire (which was neither holy nor roman) also had an official religion (though it was not strictly enforced and thus came forth a dissident monk with his 95 theses which we all know as Martin Luther) and had a vast empire "in which the sun never set." ok so thats a paraphrased quote but you get the point.

Answer 2

Henry VIII requested that the Roman Catholic Church grant him an annulment from a childless marriage. The Church refused so Henry declared the new Church of England to be separate from the Roman Catholic Church and placed himself as the head of the Church of England (Anglican in the UK, Episcopal in the US). In that position, any opposition to the Church of England or support for the Roman Catholic Church was deemed an act of treason against the state (the King). So the situation in England was more politically driven than by any difference in religious philosophy.

Answer 3

Henry VIII is a bad example, as he took England out of the Catholic Church and established the Church of England. He did dissolve the monasteries.

Religious dissent is dissent. Stifling dissent is a means of maintaining power in an autocratic system. This makes for longevity and stability.