Writing the initial draft for the script

 I began writing my script by making some bullet points on what I wanted to hit upon in the script, then I started writing. Here is my initial draft, I still need to edit this down and make it match with the character. 

Religious:

 

Topics to hit within religion:

 

-       Catholic and Protestant, what are they? Etc.

-       Henry VIII’s split with Rome

-       The dissolution of the monastery

 

 

The Tudor era witnessed the most sweeping religious changes in England since the arrival of Christianity, which affected every aspect of national life. The Reformation eventually transformed an entirely Catholic nation into a predominantly Protestant one.

 

“The separation of Henry and Catherine led to England to breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church and the establishment of the church of England.”

 

At the beginning of the early modern era, people started to question traditional beliefs, one of these being religion. Some felt that the catholic church was taking advantage of people for money through a scheme where they said that people had to pay their way into heaven. This led to conflicts about religion and many people died because of their views. 

 

Attempts to reform the Catholic church and the development of Protestant churches in western Europe are known as ‘The Reformation’. 

 

The Reformation began in 1517 when a German monk called Martin Luther protested about the Catholic Church. Protestants believed in worshipping God more simply, without the need for beautifully decorated churches and lots of money. They felt that there should be no distractions and it should just be God and his people. 

 

This differs from Catholics as they believed in making church look divine in order that people feel closer to God there. 

 

Many people and governments adopted the new Protestant ideas and found themselves attacked by those who remained faithful to the Roman Catholic religion. This led to a split in the church.

 

In England, the people must have become quite confused about what religion they were supposed to be following. 

 

Henry VIII- split the English church away from the Pope, but this was an argument about the succession and power and not a move towards Protestantism. Henry remained a Catholic to the end of his life.

 

Edward VI- Henry VII’s son, was a Protestant.

 

Mary I- Henry VIII’s daughter, tried to restore the Catholic church.

 

Elizabeth I- Another daughter of Henry VIII, was a Protestant but at first tried to follow a ‘middle way’ in religion in order to steady England after periods of religious change. She later began to persecute Catholics and by the end of her reign England was a Protestant country. 

 

During the Reformation, the king replaced the Pope as the Head of the Church in England, causing a bitter divide between Catholics and Protestants.

 

In 1509, Henry married his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Catherine of Aragon had been the wife of Henry’s older brother, Arthur, who had died aged 15. When Arthur died Henry became first in life to the throne. Henry’s farther Henry VII died in 1509. A few months later, Henry was married and had been crowned King Henry VIII.

 

Although Catherine was pregnant seven times during her marriage to Henry, only one baby survived past infanthood – their daughter Mary. This was bad news for Henry, who wanted a male hair to carry on the Tudor line. Henry did not see his daughter as an heir at all.

 

For a Tudor king, having a strong line of succession and a male heir to the throne was imperative. After Henry VII defeated Richard III in 1485 he became the first Tudor king. 

 

Although he had secured the throne, the fact that he had so through violence rather than lineage made his position unstable. This meant for his son Henry VIII, a male heir was key to continuing the line of Tudor kings. Having a male heir would stabilise Henry’s power.

 

After Catherine’s ‘failure’ to produce an heir, Henry became interested in one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn. 

 

The loss of interest in Catherine was partly because Henry believed that his lack of heir was punishment from God for marrying his brother’s wife. 

 

Henry wanted to marry Anne Boleyn, and believed she could produce an heir, but he was still married to Catherine.

 

When he discovered that Anne was pregnant, Henry arranged to marry her in secret at Whitehall Palace - this marked the beginning of the break with Rome.

 

Henry had asked Pope Clement VII for his marriage to Catherine to be dissolved, but the Pope would not agree. 

 

Part of the reason that the Pope refused was because Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, had taken control of Rome – and Charles V was Catherine’s nephew.

 

When Henry secretly married Anne, he was excommunicated from the Catholic church.

 

In 1534 however, Henry pushed through the Acts of Supremacy. The Act made him, and all of his heirs, Supreme Head of the Church of England. This meant that the Pope no longer held religious authority in England, and Henry was free to divorce Catherine. 

 

This break with Rome not only meant that Henry could divorce Catherine of Aragon. It also made him wealthy.

 

The Crown seized the land that monasteries were stood on, and the good and riches inside of them were sold off. The monasteries were disbanded, Henry claimed their income, and the money was used to fund wars abroad and pay off debts. 

 

This was known as the dissolution of monasteries.