... break from a church controlled by the Pope and a codified prohibition of Catholic practices, fundamentally reformation was a process linked with the development of the state and its relentless incursion on society. If it is reasonably clear how the reformation evolved in England it is far more uncertain why these changes occurred. There is a spectrum of explanation for the reformation, ranging from pure political events as the cause to the conversion of the population at the other extreme. Although it would be unwise to claim that only one of these was prevalent, historians have disagreed as to which is the most significant. If the government was predominantly responsible for the events of reformation this would not indicate that the church or its ideology was in any sense in a poor state that demanded reform. If the population was readily abandoning Catholic principles and becoming disillusioned with the corrupt and ...

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