Henry VIII was brought up as a devout Catholic. In the early years of his reign he attended mass five times a day and his most trusted adviser was the head of the Catholic Church in England, Cardinal ...

It was not always so. Until the latter part of the 20th century it was broadly assumed that, since England became a Protestant country, this must have reflected the natural inclination of its people.

Editor’s Note: Alec Ryrie is the author of “Protestants: The Faith That Made the Modern World” and professor of Christian history at Durham University in England. If you’re a Protestant, the ...

Five hundred years ago Martin Luther, a German monk, attacked the Catholic Church in a move that sparked the Protestant Reformation. The effects are still being felt in Britain today – from the ...

This Reformation-era cope, present now at the Met, was most likely used at the coronation of King Henry VIII in 1509. (By permission of the Governors of Stonyhurst College; copyright Stonyhurst ...

Brad S. Gregory is the Dorothy G. Griffin Professor of Early Modern European History at the University of Notre Dame. He is author of The Unintended Reformation and, most recently, Rebel in the Ranks: ...