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.
What protestant legacy did Henry’s governing leave?
1534 Act of Supremacy- Monarch still head of the church and no papal influence within England
What Catholic legacy did Henry’s doctrine leave?
- 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
What Catholic and Protestant legacies did Henry leave on practices?
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
What Catholic and Protestant legacies did Henry leave towards attitudes to further reform?
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 doctrine – 9 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
What is context for Edward’s religious policies?
- 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
What did Somerset believe about religion?
- 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)
What were Somerset’s radical religious reforms in 1547?
- 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
What were Somerset’s radical religious reforms in 1548?
- 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.
What were Somerset’s radical religious reforms in 1549?
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
What were Somerset’s conservative religious cautions in 1549?
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
What side of religion were Northumberland’s policies?
Protestant
What changes to personnel did Northumberland make in the govt?
- Conservatives driven out of office; Gardiner (Bishop of Winchester, frozen out during Henry VIII’s reign and imprisoned in the tower) and Bonner (Catholic Bishop of London, kept his head down during Henry VIII ‘s reign, imprisoned by Edward as he was Catholic) imprisoned.
- Tunstall, Bishop of Durham (Kept his head down during Henry VIII was imprisoned unde Edward for opposition to Protestantism)
- Reformers (replaced Catholic Bishops) appointed as bishops of London, Rochester, Chichester, Norwich, Exeter, Durham
- However, radical reformer Hooper (Bishop of Gloucester) imprisoned after Vestments Controversy
What religious changes did Northumberland make from 1550-51?
Instructions to enforce First Act of Uniformity:
* Reformer Ridley made Bishop of London – ordered altars to be removed (more Protestant look and feel)
* Somerset’s prayer book, left the radicals dissatisfied as it failed to distant England from Rome- 1550 Hooper objected to the use of traditional Episcopal vestments in his consecration and was delayed
* Bishop of London, Ridely carried a campaign to move altars away from the east end of Churches and into the nave were Communion tables used to be- designed to strees that Christ was not actually present in the bread and wine- Protestant
* Lutheran form of ordination (still vestments (priests clothes), but no purgatory)
What was the result of the vestments controversy in Jan 1551?
- Northumberland initially sympathetic to radical Bishop of Gloucester-designate Hooper (can’t keep his mouth shut) against more moderate Ridley (lets Catholicism and Protestantism blend); but Hooper later banned from preaching and (Jan 1551) imprisoned
- Compromise – Hooper confirmed as Bishop of Gloucester; pursued local policy of education and reform
- Vestments controversy indicates how the English society was still confused on the religious policies
What were Northumberland’s religious policies in 1552?
1552: Second Act of Uniformity/
Second Book of Common Prayer
* All traces of Catholicism and mass removed; Eucharist clearly defined in terms of consubstantiation (Lutheran, bread and wine joined by Jesus)
* Offence for both clergy and laity not to attend Church of England services; fines and imprisonment (before it was just clergy)
* Survey of wealth of bishops and senior clergy (c.£1m of assets); some transferred to Crown; inventory of parish churches’ gold and silver plate – confiscation had only just begun when Edward died- succeeded by Catholic Mary, and proceedings stopped
Introduction of new Prayer book, 1552
- More clear Protestant tone that book before. Mass was abolished and replaced with Comunion service and the wording of that service stressed that the ceremony was a memorial service- they took bread in rememberance of Christ
- Colourful Catholic vestments replaced by Protestant black and white
What were Northumberland’s religious policies in 1553?
Jun 1553: Forty-Two Articles
* Cranmer intorduces 42 atricles of Religion- influenced by reformer John Calvin (in particular his ideas of predestination)
* Calvinism/ Protestantism
* Rejected good works, purgatory, transubstantiation (in favour of Calvinist spiritual presence); but too late in Edward’s reign to be implemented
When does Edward die?
6th July 1553
