'The pope suppressed by King Henry VIII'
1 portrait of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex
'The pope suppressed by King Henry VIII'
after Unknown artist
woodcut, 1570
7 3/8 in. x 6 7/8 in. (188 mm x 175 mm) overall
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D23436
Sittersback to top
- Pope Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici) (1478-1534), Pope 1523-34. Sitter in 6 portraits. Identify
- Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), Archbishop of Canterbury. Sitter in 47 portraits. Identify
- Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex (circa 1485-1540), Statesman. Sitter associated with 28 portraits. Identify
- John Fisher (1469-1535), Bishop of Rochester, cardinal and martyr. Sitter associated with 34 portraits. Identify
- King Henry VIII (1491-1547), Reigned 1509-47. Sitter associated with 99 portraits. Identify
- Reginald Pole (1500-1558), Cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury. Sitter associated with 28 portraits. Identify
This portraitback to top
This image depicts Henry VIII triumphantly enthroned above Pope Clement VII, stressing the central role played by the Tudor monarchs in religious reform in England. Henry had been a devout Catholic and was awarded the title ‘Defender of the Faith’ by Pope Leo X in 1521 for his published criticism of Martin Luther. However, his desire for a divorce from Katherine of Aragon led him to question the authority of the pope and triggered England’s break with the church in Rome.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Bolland, Charlotte, The Tudors Passion, Power and Politics, 2022, p. 52
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- 1517: Martin Luther and the English Reformation (21 July 2017 - 2 December 2018)
- Henry VIII Remembered (20 December 2008 - 12 July 2009)
Events of 1570back to top
Current affairs
Pope Pius V issues a Papal 'bull' excommunicating Queen Elizabeth I from the Catholic Church. The bull provokes widespread anti-Catholicism in England.Elizabeth contemplates marriage with either Charles, Archduke of Austria or Henri, Duke of Anjou.
Art and science
Publication of The Scholemaster by the royal tutor Roger Ascham, which popularises the educational views of the English nobility.The mathematician and antiquary John Dee's preface to the first English translation of Euclid's Elements of Geometrie anticipates the experimental science of the seventeenth century.
The Italian architect Andrea Palladio published I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura (The Four Books of Architecture).
International
Treaty of St Germain-en-Laye ends the Third War of Religion in France. Huguenots (French Protestants) are granted religious freedom and the Huguenot leader Admiral Gaspard de Coligny becomes a dominant force at court.The Treaty of Stettin - Denmark agrees to recognise the independence of Sweden and Sweden abandons its claim to Norway.
Ivan IV (the Terrible), Tsar of Russia, oversees the Massacre of Novgorod.
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