February 11, 2014 (Tuesday)
Today is the anniversary of King Henry VIII being proclaimed head of the Church of England in 1531.
He had six wives. He divorced two, executed two, one died and the other was widowed by his death. This succession of queens was evidence of his quest to have a male heir. When he divorced his first wife, he directly opposed orders from the pope, and was eventually excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church, presumably for other actions, such as destroying Catholic shrines. In the midst of this controversial period, he started his own church, The Church of England, of which he was the head.
These events took place around the same time in history as the Protestant Reformation, which brought new ideas that spread throughout Europe. The confused state of religion in England therefore was even more complicated than in other nations at the time. For the next century each new ruling monarch brought new ideas and new rules regarding religion and the state, oscillating between extremes. The result was the establishment of new religions and new politics, intertwined in both church and state, polarizing the people and their ideas. It was a turbulent period of history.
It was this seething cauldron of new beliefs, new churches, and new ideas across the board that caused people to leave the country and sail to the new world, seeking a better life, free from the turmoil of the old world.
And so they came to these new shores, enduring deprivation and suffering as colonists until finally a new nation was established, built upon the one central idea of freedom. People kept on coming from other countries as well. They are still coming today. There are more than 316 million of us now. Betcha didn’t see that coming, didja, Henry?