6) Mid-Tudor crisis: Religious changes Flashcards

- The religious and ecclesiastical policies 1547–1558 - legislation, including the Prayer Books and Acts of Uniformity and the extent and results of religious change under Edward and Mary - support for, and opposition to, the religious changes at a local level including unrest, attitudes to Marian policies, Catholic restoration and persecution.

1
Q

What protestant legacy did Henry’s governing leave??

A

1534 Act of Supremacy- Monarch still head of the church and no papal influence within England

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2
Q

What Catholic legacy did Henry’s doctrine leave?

A
  • Doctrine based on Six Articles 1539: broadly Catholic: seven sacraments; transubstantiation; communion in one kind; celibate priests; masses for dead allowed
  • Monasteries had been dissolved
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3
Q

What Catholic and Protestant legacies did Henry leave on practices?

A

Protestant:
* No worship of saints
* English litany
* English Bible (restricted)
* No pilgrimage
* No monasteries

Catholic:
* Many Catholic rituals and processions
* Paintings and statues of saints allowed
* Chantries survived, despite 1543 Act

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4
Q

What Catholic and Protestant legacies did Henry leave towards attitudes to further reform?

A

Protestant:
* Young king brought up by Protestant John Cheke
* Moderate (?) Protestant Somerset supported by Privy Council majority
* Majority of political elite not hostile to further reform
* All bishops supported royal supremacy

Catholic:
* Bishops split on doctrine9 reformers (Cranmer, Ridley), 10 conservatives (Gardiner, Bonner), 8 undecided
* Lower clergy mostly conservative
* Wider population probably conservative, except East Anglia and vocal minority in London

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5
Q

What is context for Edward’s religious policies?

A
  • 1546 Catholic faction lacked effective leadership: Norfolk in prison, Gardiner was excluded from Henry VIII’s regency council, and Turnstall was too old
  • Reformers grew in new govt: Becon, Turner and Hooper returned after their exile under Henry VIII for radicalism
  • Earl of Hartford, Denny and Paget protestants in power
  • John Cheke protestant tutor for Edward
  • Lots of foreign protestants attracted to England, e.g Martin Bucer
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6
Q

What did Somerset believe about religion?

A
  • Somerset himself: Protestant Somerset supported by the Privy Council majority. Cautious and moderate in religion. Known as the ‘good Duke’, pragmatist, initially cautious of pushing his own agenda.
  • Majority of wider political elite not hostile to further reform (from pervious reforms they were awarded the land from the monasteries, so supportive of reform in pursuit of material or political gain)
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7
Q

What were Somerset’s radical religious reforms in 1547?

A
  • Cranmer’s book of Homilies and Erasmus’ Paraphrases in every parish

Chantries Act
- shuts down all Chantries. Published by Cranmer in 1547, designed to help those priests who were not used to preaching sermons. This highlighted the lack of Protestant preaching ministry, as the existing clergy had been told to introduce an English Bible into their parishes. But beyond remained essentially Catholic, administering the sacraments in accordance with the Catholic Six Articles- would take a generation of Protestant clergy to break the mold

  • The government claimed that this was an attack on superstition, as Chantries were places where masses for the souls of the dead were said
  • 2400 chantries, 90 colleges & 110 hospitals were dissolved
  • The main motivation was probably to raise money to fund the war against Scotland
  • Commissioners were sent out in 1548 to visit the chantries, and confiscate their land and property
  • Their gold and silver plate was melted down to make coins

Treason Act
* Repeal of old treason act, heresy and censorship laws led to public disorder in London and other larger towns. (people should be allowed a little more free speech)

Royal Injunctions, July 1547
- The government made a series of proclamations which moved the church towards Protestantism

  • The clergy were ordered to conduct services in English, preach every Sunday & ensure there was an English Bible was in their church
  • The clergy were instructed to remove all ‘superstitious’ images and statues from their churches
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8
Q

What were Somerset’s radical religious reforms in 1548?

A
  • Treason Act cont- Jan: proclomations (direct instruction from the Monarch) to uphold existing doctrine (begins to lessen allowance of free speech) and to remove images from Churches. Sept: ban on all public preaching (no free speech)
  • 1548 Proclomations: demanded the removal of images from churches and the ending of many ceremonies now deemed superstitious, like the use of ashes and Holy water.
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9
Q

What were Somerset’s radical religious reforms in 1549?

A

First Act of Uniformity (Cranmer’s)

First English book of common prayer
- services in **both kinds **but clerical vestments stay (written by Cranmer), essentially translated the Latin ceremonies and words into English and put forward a moderate interpretation of the Eucharist- sufficiently ambigious to allow for the real presence of Christ and many Catholics (including Bishop Gardiner) gave it their approval
- Communion in both kinds, but still transubstantiation
- 5 sacraments- communion, baptism, confirmation, marriage, burial
- Celrical marriage allowed
- No sung masses for the dead
- Worships of sainst discouraged, encouraged to remove pictures of saints
- Fines for defaulting clergy, but not for normal people skipping Sunday church

Visitations from 1549:
- Bishops were instructed to carry out visitations, or inspections, to test whether the clergy and laity knew the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer
- The thoroughness of the investigations suggests that Church leaders were willing to take action to ensure the changes were carried out
- With men such as Bishop Hooper, the Protestant Bishop of Gloucester, the government had figures who could enforce the changes enthusiastically

An act was passed allowing clergy to marry- in some districts up to 1/3 married
- Far from radical in terms of ideology but did emphasise the growing importance of parliament in the process of religious change. Under HVIII it was the King’s authority that was the man enforcer of religious acts.
- Under Edwards Parliament’s authority was more pronounced- The new Book of Common Prayer was enforced by the Act of Uniformity passed by Parliament.
- Due to Edward’s youth and the novelty of the Protector within legality, the control of religious affairs dropped to Parliament

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10
Q

What were Somerset’s conservative religious cautions in 1549?

A

Act of uniformity did not mean that all Catholic practices disappeared:
- Fast days remained, as did the number of Holy Days
- Belief in purgatory was neither condemned or upheld
- The worship of saints was not banned, only discouraged

  • The laity were not punished for not attending church
  • There was opposition, unrest breaking out in Devon, Cornwall, Yorkshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire – this was one reason for Somerset’s fall in the autumn of 1549

Visitations:
- Bishop Hooper discovered in his diocese of Gloucester that out of 311 clergy, 10 could not recite the Lord’s Prayer and 171 did not know the Ten Commandments
- The results show how difficult a task it would be to enforce Protestantism

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11
Q
A
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