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'The pope suppressed by King Henry VIII'

14 of 98 portraits of King Henry VIII

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'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

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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.

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  • NPG D24931: 'The pope suppressed by King Henry VIII' (from same plate)

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Subjects & Themesback to top

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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