| Catholics For a long time England was a Catholic country recognizing the pope as leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Everyone was a Catholic and followed the catholic style of service in Churches. All churchmen obeyed the pope. The Pope believed he had spiritual power over all state leaders. This often led to trouble. |
Protestants People in Europe like Martin Luther began questioning the way the Catholic Church presented Christianity. They wanted to drop some of the fancy customs that had developed. They argued that these were not what the Bible intended. |
| Pope The pope was and still is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. He has always lived in Rome. |
| Monasteries Monks and nuns gave their lives to God. They lived in communities called monasteries (monks) and convents (nuns). They work prayed, looked after the sick, often provided schools and gave shelter to travellers. They were important to communities and were very much missed when Henry VIII had them shut down. (Monasteries and convents can still be found these days in our more free thinking
times). |