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Liberal historians have traditionally praised and value the importance of the Reformation in the history of England. Reformation changed the worldview of the British, as a result - this people had their amazing impact on the development of Western civilization.

In the methodological approaches to the study of the history of the Reformation, A.G. Dickens traces the deeply rooted attention in British historiography to concrete facts: he carefully arranges his conception in the understanding of the English Reformation not through reasoning of a general nature, but by a detailed exposition and analysis of the facts selected by him. Dickens considered it necessary to examine the state of the church in England on the eve of the Reformation and described the manifestations of traditional religiosity in England in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, while noting that much of the religious beliefs of the English were still traditional. At the same time by the beginning of the XVI c. in Canterbury, Dickens noted, less donations began to be made. Traditional religiosity was equally prevalent both in the social upper classes and in the popular masses [14-18].

A.G. Dickens considered the ideas and activities of the first English supporters of reformist ideas. In his words, when U. Tyndale (1494-1536), engaged in the translation of the Bible into English, discovered the weakness of the grounds for the doctrine of purgatory, he began to expose this teaching and belief in indulgence as a worldwide conspiracy of priests whose purpose is extortion in relation both to the rich, and to the poor. But the doctrine of purgatory met a certain social need, kept in touch with the ancestors. In the doctrine of purgatory there was sincerity and an instructive component, so after the accession to the throne of Mary Tudor (1553-1558) there was some enthusiasm in the restoration of prayers for speeding up the passage of purgatory, and people saw in it not some prejudice but a form of religiosity [20].

The actions of Henry VIII at the turn of the 1520s-30s, aimed at breaking with Rome, were sympathetically perceived by the politically active part of the nation. The Reformation Parliament expressed the interests of the gentry and the merchant oligarchies [138-140]. Prominent propagandist of the king's policy at the beginning of the Reformation period in England was Christopher St. Germain. He was an elderly man, a conservative of religious views, who could not be accused of heresy. He defended the priority of secular power over the spiritual, stressed the need for the consent of Parliament to ensure that the process of lawmaking was being carried out in England [140-142].

The work of the Reformation Parliament, as A.G. Dickens noted, led to the political downfall of Cardinal Wolsey, who was accused of the praemunire statute. Royal dissatisfaction with Wolsey was also due to the fact that he was unable to agree on the divorce of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon in Rome. Henry VIII allowed the parliament to begin a new church policy, and measures were taken that had not yet been aimed at breaking with Rome: the payment for funeral rites and confirmation of wills was now regulated in accordance with the size of the payer's property, limited to pluralities, priests who had benefices were forbidden to take in the maintenance of the chapel, clerics were forbidden to engage in trade. This was the first speech against papal jurisdiction. In February 1531, the king for the first time proposed to the church to recognize the title "Protector and supreme head of the English church and clergy", and the clergy wanted to add to this the phrase "as far as Christ allows"[149].

A.G. Dickens reviewed and analyzed the events related to the religious and political situation in England after the death of Henry VIII upon the accession to the throne of Edward VI. As a result of a detailed analysis of the most important political events in the period of the Reformation, the author came to the idea of how the Reformation process in the country depended on specific political circumstances. 

On December 26, 1546, the dying Henry VIII appointed a regency council of 16 people. The ascent of the Seymour grouping began. Henry VIII bequeathed that decisions in the regency council be made by collective voting, and the power was seized by Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, who became a protector. Only Chancellor Rayotsley was the defender of Catholicism, and by March 5 he was removed from the Privy Council. Somerset established contacts with Calvin, who encouraged him to reform the Church of England according to the Geneva pattern. But Somerset was in no hurry. A "Book of Sermons" was compiled under the leadership of Thomas Cranmer, and parish churches were ordered to put the "Paraphrases" of Erasmus of Rotterdam - this book was to be in the parishes by the order of the church authorities and under Elizabeth. The bishops Gardiner and Bonner, personifying the conservative part of the episcopate, tried to resist [271-285].

To sum everything up, I would like to say that undoubtedly the English reformation is a meaningful event not only in the English history, but in European history as well. 

The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England first broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church.

These events were, in part, associated with the wider process of the European Protestant Reformation, a religious and political movement which affected the practice of Christianity across most of Europe during this period. Many factors contributed to the process: the decline of feudalism and the rise of nationalism, the rise of the common law, the invention of the printing press and increased circulation of the Bible, the transmission of new knowledge and ideas among scholars and the upper and middle classes. However, the various phases of the English Reformation, which also covered Wales and Ireland, were largely driven by changes in government policy, to which public opinion gradually accommodated itself.

The relevance of the theme of the work is that despite the fact that the English Reformation has a long history of research it provokes a great number of disputes. The researchers throughout the world still ague about the main reasons, the role of Henry  VIII and Maria Tudor. So, these questions give possibilities for further research.

In modern British historiography, if we talk about time since the 1960s up to late XX century, determining impact on the development of the liberal direction in the study the history of the religious Reformation in England was certainly provided by the work of Arthur Geoffrey Dickens. The most important works is "The English Reformation," which is the most clear embodiment of Dickens's basic ideas in the understanding of the English religious Reformation.

 At the beginning of the 16th century, the Roman Catholic Church controlled a great deal of religious, political and social power in Europe. During this time, there were several individuals within the Church who wished to return to a more pure and simple Christian lifestyle but would have to work against the Church to do so. England was somewhat distant and isolated from the rest of Europe and while Protestantism tore apart European society, it took a far different form in England, retaining much of the doctrine and the practices of Catholicism. In addition, while the Reformation taking place in Europe was brought about by religious differences and ideals, its basis in England was one of personal and political change. England also experienced the greatest wavering between the two religions as the monarchs of England passed from one religion to the next.

The English reformation occurred for the three main reasons: economic gain, religious disputes, and most of all, because of King Henry VIII emotional life.

The English reformation was a dark period in the English history. It was the time of burnings, beheadings, inquisitions, plots and uprisings.