There was a 'Revolution' in Tudor Government. Discuss this statement with reference to the period 1532 to 1540

It could certainly be argued that the more constant use of Parliament by the King and his ministers constituted a major ‘Revolution’ in government because of the more common utilisation of the institution for passing legislation to legalise the actions of the king in the name of the break from Rome. The passing of the Treason Act in 1534 meant that the King could no longer be accused of Blasphemy, and therefore nullified any claims from the papacy that the actions being taken collectively by Cromwell and Henry were morally wrong. In addition to this, the passing of the Act Extinguishing the Powers of the Bishop of Rome in 1536 meant that Cromwell’s dissolution of the Monasteries – which brought the Crown £320,000 through the Valor Ecclesiasticus – was considered completely legal. Finally, the passing of the 1533 Act of Supremacy meant that Henry’s position of power at the head of the church of England could not be questioned by the clergy or the laymen of England. This has all been used by some Traditionalist Historians such as Geoffrey Elton to constitute a claim that there was a Revolution in government at the time of Cromwell’s climb to power. However, whilst it is true that there was a move towards a fervently dictatorial style of monarchy between 1532 and 1540, this was not revolutionary. Similarly claimed by revisionists such as John Guy and David Starkey, the use of Parliament was not a change in the name of a pre-conceived Revolution, but rather was brought about by necessity. This does not constitute a Great Revolution as the theory seems to suggest, but rather a state of panic that resulted in a few changes being made. Furthermore, the uses of Parliament declined after the early 1530s, with Parliament being used as a tool rather than an inherent and powerful institution. Whilst there were key Acts passed through the Lords and Commons between 1532 and 1540, these became relatively sporadic towards the end of the 1530s. Therefore, whilst the use of Parliament increased in the early 1530s, like many other changes that occurred in this period, the change did not last and slowly died away to restore the old system of government. This does not constitute a ‘Revolution’ but merely a brief change in the way that government worked in the period.