The English Reformation began when Henry VIII sought an annulment from Catherine of Aragon and, after Pope Clement VII refused, used Parliament to end papal authority in England. Henry became head of the Church of England, though he personally remained a religious traditionalist. The dissolution of monasteries transferred enormous wealth to the Crown and its supporters.
Under Edward VI, theology and worship became decisively Protestant, especially through the Book of Common Prayer. Mary I briefly restored Catholicism and persecuted Protestants under revived heresy laws. Elizabeth I then created a lasting but deliberately mixed settlement: Protestant doctrine combined with bishops, cathedrals, traditional vestments, and formal liturgy.
Disputes continued through the Stuart period, contributing to civil war, Puritan rule, and religious fragmentation. After the Restoration, Anglicanism remained established, while dissenters and Catholics gradually gained legal toleration. The transformation was therefore not simply a change of belief, but a struggle over sovereignty, worship, property, and national identity.