Annals of the Four Masters Quotes
A heresy and a new error sprang up in England, through pride, vainglory, avarice, and lust, and through many strange sciences so that the men of England went into opposition to the Pope and to Rome …. New laws and statutes were enacted … They destroyed the orders, namely the monks, canons, nuns …. The broke down the monasteries and sold the roofs and bells…. burned the images, shrines, and relics of the Saints … and burned the staff of Jesus, which was in Dublin, performing miracles since the time of Saint Patrick.
See {639434}, {639436}, and {639437} for the triggers to this report.
Annals of the Four Masters, Irish Contemporary Histories, Compiled in the Roman Catholic Abbeys of Donegal & Drowes, Description of the Reformation that was brought to Ireland by Henry VIII, 16th Century
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The Irish monks were loyal to the pope and were outraged when he was displaced by King Henry VIII. They were seen as a hotbed of disloyalty and therefore ordered to close. This is one of the many examples where an established government church dictated not only how people should worship but also prohibit other religions from functioning. These examples were well known to the American Founding Fathers and much of educated American opinion which was one of the drivers of the First Amendment and the separation of church and state.
The King had earlier replaced the Pope as the head of the English church. The references to money referred to a then common corruption of the Church whereby people could buy indulgences—religious papal pardons of past or future sins. This was a major revenue source for the Vatican and a major issue for Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformers some of who saw the pope as the Devil incarnate See {623153}. For Martin Luther’s view pf the practice and {626720}, {595195}, and {639436} for other contemporary views.
In effect, the English Parliament replaced the Pope as head of the Catholic church in Ireland with King Henry the VIII. He had already become the head of the Church in England when the Pope refused to grant him the right of divorce so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, The Irish clergy and many Irishman were aghast. They were instructed to erase the Pope from their literature {639436}. They were even more distressed when the English Royal Commission recommended the closing of all Irish monasteries. See {639434}.
The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland (Irish: Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the Annals of the Four Masters (Annála na gCeithre Máistrí) are chronicles of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Deluge, dated as 2,242 years after creation to AD 1616.
