Haigh, Christopher. “Chapter 6: Divorce, Supremacy, and Schism, 1530-1535.” English Reformations: Religion, Politics, and Society under the Tudors. Oxford: Clarendon, 1993. 105-21. Print.

After we learned about the Protestant Reformation in class, I was intrigued as to how King Henry VIII of England could garner enough support from his fellow elite and clergy to break from the Roman Catholic Church and create the Church of England in 1534. The King’s intention of marrying Anne Boleyn, while he was still legally bound to Catherine of Aragon, spurred him so far to establish himself as the head of both Church and State in England. I wondered whether King Henry VIII also had political motivation to create schism in the Christian faith. As a result, for this assignment I searched the online Skillman Library catalogue for “Henry VIII Church” to find books on this rift. The first and second returns Henry VIII: Court, Church, and Conflict by David Loades and The King’s Reformation: Henry VIII and the Remaking of the English Church by G.W. Bernard respectively caught my eye – so I went to the stacks to take a look.

When I arrived at the right shelf, I noticed that neither of the two books had covers and were quite plain in color. I scanned the rest of the shelf and noticed English Reformations: Religion, Politics, and Society under the Tudors by Christopher Haigh, which had a painted depiction of a figure, resembling Henry VIII, reading the Bible as the cover. Although the title indicated that the text would not purely focus on King Henry VIII, I believed that it would give good background information on the religious and political turmoil in England during the 1530s. When I looked at the table of contents, I found that Chapter 5 gave insight into the politics of English Parliament at the time, while Chapter 6 focused upon the actual division from the Catholic Church. The latter chapter proved to be more interesting.

Author Haigh, in Chapter 6 exemplified the frustration of both King Henry VIII as well as his religious adversaries during the initial request for divorce. Haigh also explained that at first King Henry the VII had not intended to reform the Church. Instead, he merely wished for dissolution of marriage, which was not granted by the Pope. As a result, King Henry VIII’s advisors gave him conflicting guidance. Some were adamant on adhering to Roman Papal decrees while others, such as Thomas Cromwell, “proposed to ignore Rome and seek a dissolution from an English Court under parliamentary authority” (105). Perhaps, King Henry VIII’s decision to circumvent the authority of the Catholic Church provoked the schism, which allowed for a reformation of the Christian faith.

I plan on continuing to read the rest of this book for my paper on the causes for the English Reformation period under King Henry VIII as well as its legacy. I will also include information from the two books I found first (as stated above) to create a more rounded paper.

Teiser, Stephen F., and Jacqueline Ilyse Stone. Readings of the Lotus Sutra. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. Print.

To begin this assignment I searched the Skillman Library catalogue specifically for “Lotus Sutra” since I am interested in how this sacred Buddhist scripture allowed for not only monks or bodhisattvas to attain enlightenment, but also how the Buddha, through the texts, encouraged the laity to journey through the cycle of samsara and hopefully reach nirvana. I was particularly drawn to the second return of my search since it contained edited selections (versions) from the Lotus Sutra from not only India, but also regions in East Asia such as China and Japan. When I looked through the stacks for the book, the front cover captivated me since it incorporated the lotus flower, which symbolizes various Buddhist ideals such as purity, good fortune, and the different stages of enlightenment. Similarly, within the center of the lotus, there was also a depiction of the Buddha with perhaps, his disciples.

As I flipped through thebook, Chapters Three and Six stood out to me the most. Chapter Three titled, “Gender and Hierarchy in the Lotus Sutra,” by Jan Nattier,seemed to correspond to our discussion of gendered religion we have had in the past classes. Throughout the various Buddhist sect versions of the Lotus Sutra, a common theme of classifying monks over nuns (ie. men over women) was evident despite their class status. Likewise male characters were portrayed predominantly compared to female characters in the myths. The idea that men were considered more pure, and therefore more capable of attaining enlightenment is an interesting concept that is rather intriguing to me. Later on Chapter Six, which focused on the “Art of the Lotus Sutra,” by Willa Jane Tanabe, allowed me to see the progression of Buddhism text as it passed through various countries, as well as the paintings and drawings of Buddhist myth scenes and the Buddha himself. Each country, and illustrator, had its (or his) own style of depicting the stories, the guide to living a pure life, and the Buddha. As a visual learner, I enjoyed comparing these symbolic representations.

The books around the Readings of the Lotus Sutra concentrated on Buddhism in East Asia and the many different practices that are found in the region. There were books that further analyzed Zen (Chan) Buddhism in China, those that focused on the origins of Buddhism in India, and the tranlations to other countries. Overall, texts such as The fundamental wisdom of the middle way: Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, Buddhist fundamentalism and minority identities in Sri Lanka, and A few good men: the Bodhisattva path according to the Inquiry of Ugra would be useful if I were to continue my understanding of gendered roles in Buddhism as well as the differences and similarities between Buddhist sect practices.