A characteristically English thing!

Professor Chadwick opens his study of the Reformation by observing: "At the beginning of the sixteenth century everyone that mattered in the Western Church was crying out for reformation." 

Through the processes of reform in the sixteenth century, Western Europe divided into a broadly Roman Catholic South and a Protestant (Reformed) North. Although reform took place almost simultaneously across Europe, the reforms in England, whilst open to the influence of the main strands of the continental reforms, were taken by the English who, Latourette suggests: "...worked them into a texture which was essentially and characteristically English". 

So, what were the reasons for the Reformation in England following a different course to that of the Reformation in Continental Europe? On a tour of Switzerland, together we will explore the thoughts and motivation for the reforms made within Switzerland and how they impacted the English Church, chiefly between 1530 - 71.

Before we do so, we need to understand something of the context within which reform took place.