On The British Nation-state And National Church

During the formation of nation state, England conducted Reformation to comply with the request of social development. Under the guidance of Maxist theory on the nation state, this thesis discusses the foundation of British national church and the relations with the nation state of this period more systematically on the basis of formal studies.The thesis analyses the social situations in England during the formative years of nation States at first. In the 14^th and 15^th century, the king of England became more centralized, the old aristocrats had died out during their civil wars. The new citizens were stronger than before and mastered the socio-economic developing direction gradually. At the same time, national consciousness was on the upsurge, the church declined and resulted in the thoughts of anti-clericalism. In this circumastances, the Reformation broke out. At the earlier time, John Wycliffe put forward the opinion of reforming the church. During the 16^th century, Tudor Dynasty made a series of reformative policies, and produced the national church in England finally. The foundation of Anglican made English church break away from Rome papacy. All of this accord with the ruquest of the nation state. British national church formed its own characteristics. Comparing with Protestants in other western countries, England has the powerful king as a leader; The foundation of English national church is combined with the interests of the nation state; The Reformation is steady in some degree. And the national church is the compromise between the old religion and the new one.The thesis is mainly divided into three parts: Introduction, three chapters and last words. The first chapter discusses British society during the formative years of nation States: the centralized royalty, forming a unified market, the stronger citizens and changes of regious ideas all contribute to the formation of the nation-state; The second chapter discusses the eventual establishment of Britsh national church through Reformation; Chapter III analyses the characteristics of the British national church and its causes.