While other influences contributed to the break with Rome, succession to the throne was the primary constitutional factor in the transformation of the Church in England into the church of England.

For centuries the Church in England had been moving toward independence from Rome. by Luther's time, most patriotic Englishmen had a sense of the distinctive character of the faith in their fatherland.

The schism in the church came over a royal problem — not over theological conflicts. Henry VIII, King of England, revolted against the pope because he passionately desired Anne Boleyn, a lady-in-waiting of the court. Henry and Catherine of Aragon had borne no male children and Pope Clement VII would not issue them an annulment for fear of offending Catherine's nephew, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain Charles V. When Henry secretly married Anne, he had an English church court declare his marriage to Catherine

With the rising authority of the bishops, especially Leo, who provided the biblical and theological basis for the papal claims, and their growing links of power with the Roman Emperors, the Church in Rome gradually became the Church of Rome. Up until the time of Constantine, history provides no real precedents for the Roman bishops exercising authority outside the boundaries of Rome. But with the conversion of Constantine, and subsequent convening of church councils to dispute heresy, bishops and the Church of Rome steadily grew in power and influence. A major threshold of papal power came with the threat and fear of excommunication.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, Church-of-Rome, ChurchRodent, Constantine, history, Rome, heresy, Pope[/tags]

(1801)

An agreement Napoleon forged with Pope Pius VII which restored the Church of Rome to a special place in France.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, Church-of-Rome, ChurchRodent, Concordat, history, Napoleon, Pope-Pius-VII, Pope[/tags]