Short answers, pulled from the story.
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation. It is also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, and it forms one of the largest branches of Christianity.
Anglicanism has around 110 million adherents within the Anglican Communion, plus approximately 2.4 million outside the communion, as of 2025. The Anglican Communion is the world's third-largest Christian communion.
The Church of England remained united with Rome until the English Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy in 1534, declaring King Henry VIII the Supreme Head of the Church of England. The break was later consolidated by the Elizabethan Religious Settlement of 1559.
Anglicanism is called a via media, or middle way, because it presents itself as a middle ground first between Lutheranism and Calvinism, and later between Protestantism and Catholicism. The term did not appear until 1627 to describe a church that refused to identify itself definitely as Catholic or Protestant.
Thomas Cranmer, then archbishop of Canterbury, compiled the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549. It was revised in 1559 and again in 1662 after the Restoration of Charles II, and the 1662 version is still considered authoritative.
The Anglican Communion has no international juridical authority, and all forty-two of its provinces are autonomous, each with its own primate and governing structure. The provinces have historically been in full communion with the See of Canterbury, and the archbishop of Canterbury is referred to as primus inter pares, first among equals.