Thirty-Nine Articles
The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion are the historically defining statements of doctrines of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the English Reformation. First established in 1563, the articles served to define the doctrine of the Church of England as it related to Calvinist doctrine and Catholic practice. The full name for the articles is commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-Nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles.
At the time, the Church of England was searching its doctrinal position in relation to the Catholic Church and the continental Protestant movements. A series of defining documents were written and replaced over a period of 30 years as the doctrinal and political situation changed from the excommunication of Henry VIII in 1533, to the excommunication of Elizabeth I in 1570.
Prior to King Henry's death in 1547, several statements of position were issued. The first attempt was the Ten Articles in 1536, which showed some slightly Protestant leanings—the result of an English desire for a political alliance with the German Lutheran princes. The next revision was the Six Articles in 1539 which swung away from all reformed positions, and the King's Book in 1543 which re-established almost in full the earlier Catholic doctrines. Then, during the reign of Edward VI in 1552, the Forty-Two Articles were written under the direction of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. It was in this document that Calvinist thought reached the zenith of its influence in the English Church. These articles were never put into action, due to the king's death and the reunion of the English Church with Rome under Queen Mary I.