[donmeaker]

Live by the Established Church, die by the Established Church.

The art was created and collected when the Catholic Church was the Established Church of England, Wales, Scotland.

Then the politics changed. The government, of which the Church was part, took a different tack, and had something different they wanted from the the branch of the government that was the church, and their assets were scrapped or liquidated.

[vladimir998]

“Then the politics changed. The government, of which the Church was part...”

That’s a complete falsehood. That is proved to be a falsehood by the Act of Supremacy in 1534. If the Church was part of the state then no such Act would have been necessary. Learn some history before you post about it.

[MrChips]

Not so simple. There was no "established" church. There was just one Church. And they had enjoyed the protection of the king for time immemorial. The inviolability of Church property and Church lands was sacrosanct. From my Masters thesis . . .

. . . the spiritual tenure of the ecclesiastical benefice was a contractual obligation carrying the weight of inviolability, land held in benefit permanently from the king and enjoying his protection with associated reciprocal obligation. The English monarchs of the 15th century had maintained that obligation, founding new monastic institutions and encouraging reform within old ones. Such care and patronage was readily apparent in the separate reigns of Henry V, Henry VI, Edward IV, and even in that of Henry VII.

[marshmallow]

Ah yes....the property actually belonged to the government, not the Catholic Church.....coz the government and the Catholic Church were one and the same.

Pure, unadulterated fantasy.

The Catholic Church in England, preceded the monarchy and will be around when the monarchy (and its established church) disappears, which by the looks of things, could be any day now.

FYI, in the 300 years preceding the Reformation there were many attempts by the state to influence the jurisdiction of the Church and several anti-papal laws , such as the Statutes of Provisors and Praemunire were passed indicating clearly that the Catholic Church was not the established church, although the monarchy wished to subject its ecclesiastical functions to temporal powers.

The English bishops refused to consent to the acts and had their opposition tabled in Parliament.

The history of state antagonism to Catholicism in Britain doesn't begin with Henry VIII although he is the best known and most virulent example. It existed before the Reformation.......a strange situation for an "established" church.