England 1539- 1553

Cromwell appeared to regain favour- Cromwell was appointed by Henry as Earl of Essex, however with this apparent regain of favour with the king the plots against Cromwell continued.

The six articles: reasserted the royal supremacy- conservatives accepted this reform
conform to transubstantiation, if refused then the punishment would be burning.
enforced communion of both kinds (clergy only)
outlawed clerical marriage

Gardener- was temporally executed from the council, however the earl of Surrey and sir of John Russel- were able to promote there faction; by using Cromwell and Cranmer,making them isolated.
the conservative faction were happy that Henry was going to pass an act of uniformity of religion an end to the religious experimentation , the act was steered through the house of Lords driven by through by Norfolk, Henry returning to a more catholic doctrine.
Cromwell was made chairman of the committee.

Henry marries Anne of Cleaves, Cromwell arranged this marriage as an alliance with the Duke of Cleaves (the Brother of Anne of Cleaves) who was a Protestant and could offer a form of protection for Henry against the mounting threat of the Spanish and the French. The marriage failed Henry hated Anne and refused to consummate the marriage: Henry felt that Cromwell had tricked him into this marriage and this would lead to Cromwell's downfall. By mid 1540 the marriage was no longer need the peace treaty between Spain and France was over. Norfolk began the Valois Conflict, negations with French, for Henry to gain an accordance with Francis Cromwell had to be removed from the offices, and to do this Norfolk used Catharine Howard.

execution of Cromwell and the marriage to Catherine Howard. While being held prisoner in the tower he was finalising Henry's divorce to Anne, so that he could marry Anne and this is what he wanted to do. The failed marriage to Anne was Cromwell's fault, but Norfolk gave Henry want he wanted. By doing this Norfolk convinced Henry that Cromwell was a heretic and supported sacumentrions, in France ; and association with reformist.... this was a victory conservatives faction over reformist, the believed that now that the king's chief minster was gone and Catherine could influence the king. The reformists had no leader after the death of Cromwell.

At this time it was that Henry was not going to make to Edward becoming an adult so he would mean that he would come to the throne as a minor, and that means that there is the ability for more control over a minor than an adult, so the faction that is in power during the last years of Henry's reign will be in power for Edwards reign. The race was on between the conservatives and the reformists.

Catharine Howard was no Anne she was not politically able like Anne and did not have control over Henry the way Anne did. She also had very little interest in Henry it has been suggested that he was more than twice her age, he was obese and at this point he was smelly , not the man he use to be. Howard flirted with young men more of her own age, this would become her undoing. The Reformist began to gather evidence against her, Cranmer had to present Henry with the evidence against her, Henry was furious, has the investigation progressed he felt that he had been tricked by Norfolk, Henry now realised that he had been made to look like a fool, by choosing to get rid of Cromwell his most loyal and best servant. In an attempt to save himself Norfolk disowned Catharine and declared to be outraged by her behaviour; however his family did suffer his step-mother Agnes Duchess of Norfolk and Lord William Howard were imprisoned and the property was seized. Norfolk escaped punishment- removed himself and his sons from court- this really weakened the conservative party.

The plot against Cranmer can be suggested as backlash because the marriage to Catherine Parr. The conservative party wanted to remove Cranmer as arch bishop and replace him with someone with more conservative views. Gardener told Henry that Cranmer was a heretic and Henry told G to investigate C, also gained consent to arrest C, when G and men went to go and arrest C at a council meeting C presented a ring to G which Henry had given him which showed that he had the full support of Henry, G was heavily reprimanded for his actions.

After the humiliation he experienced with Catherine Howard, Henry wanted to regain his manhood and honour so he tried to engage in foreign policy as he wanted to regain glory and success, he agreed to join Charles on an attack against France and gain land in France, Scotland attacked while in France so Henry also had a war with Scotland, the total cost of this war cost Henry more than two million, this ruined Cromwell's plan to make the Crown finically independent. This war weakened future monarchies.

the marriage to Catherine Parr was a win for the reformist as she was a protestant, and Henry allowed his children to be taught by Protestants, meaning Edward was going to be taught the Protestant believes, so would agree more with the reformist faction, so they would gain his support in his reign. Henry chose to marry Parr as she could be a loving and caring wife he just wanted a wife to look after him, than a pretty young wife.

Henry emphasised that he wanted an end to this extreme struggle on both sides.