how & why did England change from being a Catholic nation to a Protestant one under Edward VI?

Answer 1

Actually, England became a Protestant nation under Henry VIII. Henry wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Ann Boleyn, but the Pope would not grant him a divorce. So, Henry expelled the Catholic church from England and started the Church of England, with him as the head of the church. Naturally, he got the divorce he was seeking.

Answer 2

Henry VIII was born a Catholic and died a Catholic. On his deathbed he paid to have Masses said for the repose of his soul. Hardly the action of a protestant. The protestant reformation would have hit England sooner had it not been for Henry: he had no truck with the hard line protestants. His son Edward VI was only a child when he became King and was heavily influenced by advisers to adopt a radically protestant church. A complete reversal took place when Queen Mary became Monarch, re-establishing Papal authority to the Catholic Church. Under Elizabeth I a "via media" - middle way was adopted and the mish-mash of a church, neither distinctly Catholic or Protestant was Established in Law. That's it to the present day.

Answer 3

Pastor Billy says you expect an adequate answer to your question here? Edward was a sickly king and did not reign long. He was greatly influenced by his adviser whose name escapes me at the moment and that man was a staunch anti-catholic whose son married Edward's cousin and ascended the throne upon Edward's death only to relinquish it very shortly after to Queen Mary, Henry's eldest Catholic daughter.

In the reign of Edward England was still very Catholic and a nation hoping to return to its Catholic roots. It really wasn't until Elizabeth I that England began to change from a Catholic nation to a Protestant one but as others have commented the plans had taken root under Henry VIII not Edward.

Answer 4

King Henry the VIII wanted to divorce his wife and marry another. This is forbidden by the Catholic Church...actually it's forbidden in the Bible.

But anyway, he did not like the idea of going against the church and since he could not get the permission he wanted...he created his own church and made himself the head. Then he could allow himself a divorce and remarriage without going against the new church..as it were.

A really wonderful story/film about all this is "A Man for All Seasons." The original movie is excellent...done in I think 1966. The remake is not so good.

Answer 5

The first post was false. King Henry VIII had a wife, Katherine, she produced a female. He was cheating on her and asked the pope for an annulment. You see, a divorce is a sin! An Annulment is when you prove the marraige invalid. The pope, knew that he was lying and refused to grant his wish. He got mad, killed his wife, married the new one and started the Church of England. The doctrines were the SAME except the transubstaniation. He also allowed priests to marry. To get more political power, he produced bibles in English, because they were only allowed in Latin. Yes, the Catholic Church had it's faults, but if you want to respect a Protestant reformer, respect Martin Luther, not Henry VIII. I'm Catholic and Martin Luther did the right thing, now the Church is doing better.

Answer 6

It was Henry, VIII. He wanted a divorce from Katherine of Aragon so he could marry Ann Bolin and the catholic church wouldn't allow it. Of course, it proved to be such a pain that he had to resort to cutting off heads for his future brides, and it also got rid of the catholic hold on England.

Mystical is incorrect, Henry's first wife, Katherine of Aragon, was Mary's mother, and Katherine was the lucky one who survived being married to Henry, along with his last wife who lucked out by his death.

Answer 7

the Change was under Henry VIII originally and it was because he wanted a diverse and the Catholic church said NO, so he declared himself the head of the church of England and switched to Protestant. In the end He had 6 wives and 2 where beheaded, the last wife out lived him. His son Edward VI succeeded to the throne to die at about 15 of tuberculosis. to be followed by Lady Jane (for 8 days about to try to keep the Protestant church it failed)Queen Mary who was Catholic took the thron next, followed by her sister Queen Elizabeth I who changed things back to Protestant, as they are still today. Queen Elizabeth I was also the end to the Todor line as she never married.

Answer 8

It would seem everyone is forgetting that Queen Mary (Henry's eldest daughter) re-instituted Catholicism in England when she took the throne.

It wasn't until Elizabeth I that the Anglican Church replaced the Catholic Church for good.

Answer 9

It was Edward's father Henry VIII that broke from the Catholic church when they would not give him an annulment from Katherine of Aragon so that he could marry Anne Boleyn.

Answer 10

Because they were fed up with of the Roman Catholic Church meddling in affairs of state and taking land for church property that couldn't be taxed to provide the crown with tax revenues. Don't think it was under King Edward though it was more likely Henry.