Anglicanism

The English "middle way" between Catholic form and Protestant reform.

from 1534 CE → · England, then worldwide · Abrahamic

Anglicanism began when the Church of England broke from papal authority under Henry VIII in the 1530s, then took shape as a distinctive tradition seeking a via media — a middle way — between Catholic and Reformed Christianity. Its worship is anchored in the Book of Common Prayer, balancing ancient liturgy with reformed theology. Spread by the British Empire, it grew into a worldwide Communion of national churches.

Key figures

• Thomas Cranmer (architect of its liturgy)

Texts

• The Book of Common Prayer
• The Bible

Beliefs

• A middle way between Catholic and Reformed
• Scripture, tradition, and reason together
• Sacraments within a reformed church

Rituals

• Liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer
• Eucharist and daily prayer

Grew from

• Roman Catholicism
• Protestantism

Connections in the atlas

• Chase Vault
• The Devil comes to Widecombe church
• Canterbury Cathedral
• John Wesley
• Wesley’s Journal: Aldersgate
• Cross
• ▶ The Reformation and after
• Prayer beads
• The Germanic peoples
• Roman Catholicism
• Lindisfarne (Holy Island)
• The Yoruba and the Atlantic diaspora