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The Reformation and Protestant ideas

Study note

While Henry VIII was breaking with Rome, a much wider change was sweeping across Europe. This was the Reformation, a religious movement against the authority of the Pope and against many of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church.

Those who supported these new ideas were called Protestants. They formed their own churches and held distinctive beliefs. They read the Bible in their own everyday languages instead of in Latin, they did not pray to saints, and they taught that what mattered most was each person's own direct relationship with God. During the 16th century these Protestant ideas grew steadily stronger in England, Wales and Scotland.

The changes reached into government as well as religion. In Wales, the Act for the Government of Wales formally united Wales with England, and this took place under Henry VIII. For the test, remember that the Reformation was a Protestant movement against the Pope, and that Protestants valued reading the Bible in their own language.

Memory tip: Reformation = Protestant movement against the Pope; Bible read in everyday language.

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Question 1 of 3

What was the Reformation?

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The Reformation and Protestant ideas: questions, answers and explanations

  1. 1. What was the Reformation?

    • A movement against the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church
    • A Roman building programme
    • A new system of farming
    • A war between England and Scotland

    Correct answer: A movement against the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church

    The Reformation was a movement against the Pope and Roman Catholic practices.

  2. 2. Under which king was Wales formally united with England by the Act for the Government of Wales?

    • James I
    • Edward I
    • Henry VIII
    • Charles II

    Correct answer: Henry VIII

    Wales was formally united with England under Henry VIII.

  3. 3. Protestants believed that the Bible should be read in people's own languages rather than only in Latin.

    • True
    • False

    Correct answer: True

    True. Protestants read the Bible in their own languages instead of Latin.

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