byrd lived in a time of great changes. henry viii had broken away from the roman catholic church and had founded the anglican church. the monarch (king or queen) was the head of the church of england. during byrd’s lifetime the monarchs who reigned had different ideas about what church music should be like. byrd was always a catholic. this sometimes made life difficult for him, but he was always faithful to the monarchy, and he had a lot of tact in dealing with people.