Chapter 12 - Religion, ideas and reform Flashcards
what is erasmianism?
the body of ideas associated with Erasmus and his followers
who were the Oxford reformers?
men such as Grocyn, Linacre and Colet who were among the first English scholars to adopt humanist ideas and approaches.
who was the most significant humanist voice in English education?
John Colet
how did colet show his initiative in his refounding of St Paul’s School, London?
firstly, he appointed as the school’s governors members drawn from a city guild rather than choosing clergymen.
secondly, the school’s statutes laid down a curriculum, including some works by erasmus, and teaching methods derived from humanist principles.
he reinforced the type of school he envisaged by appointing William Lily (a humanist) as head.
how did Cardinal Wolsey give his personal commitment to educational improvement?
by founding his college and also a school in his hometown of Ipswich
what schools were at the forefront of educational reform?
schools like St Paul’s and Magdalen college, Oxford, firmly adopted platonist educational principles.
what does platonism refer to?
the ideas of the greek philosopher plato, interest in his ideas had been revived in fifteenth century Florence and had then spread around much of Europe.
how was erasmus received in English intellectual circles?
with enthusiasm, he was a friend of fisher and more and he had some influence on a younger generation of English humanists.
why is it important not to exaggerate the scope of Erasmian humanism?
its scope was quite limited and much of the change that took place stemmed from the influence of new religious thinking rather than simply scholarly renaissance humanism.
why did more signs of the influence of renaissance ideas on English culture appear in Henry VIII’s reign?
- knowledge of classical learning increased amongst the elite groups in society
- a growing number of schools became influenced by humanist approaches to education
- Henry VIII saw himself as a promoter of new ideas and of humanism
- the crown needed well-educated diplomats who could communicate with their counterparts in other countries in a fashionably elegant style.
who was the most important English humanist writer?
Thomas More
which other English writers also demonstrated humanist influences?
Thomas Lupset and Thomas Starkey
what shows how renaissance ideas also had influence on visual culture?
Henry VIII commissioned the Italian sculptor Pietro Torrigiano to produce the tombs of his parents and of his grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort.
who was the best known painter at court?
Hans Holbein
what is evidence that Henry was more conservative in his building tastes than Wolsey?
surviving evidence of Henry’s building programmes show a continuing taste for the gothic, whereas Wolsey’s Hampton court clearly exhibited more classical influence.
what was the most distinctive influence on music?
flemish
what is evident across the cultural range?
that while Italian renaissance influences were becoming more fashionable, England’s main cultural links reflected the close commercial ties which existed between England and the Low Countries.
what did Henry VIII do between 1532 and 1540?
- he withdrew the church from the jurisdiction of the papacy
- established the king as supreme head of the church
- dissolved the monasteries
- began to alter the church’s doctrine and practices.
what offences involving corruption were associated with the church?
- pluralism
- simony
- non-residence
what was pluralism?
receiving the profits of more than one post
what is simony?
the purchase of church office
what is non-residence?
receiving the profits of a post but not being present to perform the duties associated with it.
what is the best example of a corrupt clergyman?
Cardinal Wolsey
what is anticlericalism?
opposition to the social and political importance of the Clergy
what examples of legal opposition to the Clergy were there?
some common lawyers objected to the influence of canon law, and there were objections to the legal privileges of the clergy
what is canon law?
the law of the church
what is an example of clerical misconduct which caused considerable criticism?
the murder of Richard Hunne
what was the murder of Richard Hunne?
Hunne, a London merchant, was found dead in his cell in the bishop of London’s prison. he had died in a torture attempt that had gone wrong and it had been dressed up as a suicide.
what was the impact of the murder of Richard Hunne?
it was disastrous for the short term reputation of the church.
but the time which had elapsed between the case and the start of the break with Rome suggests that by then it was much less likely to have been at the forefront of the minds of critics of the church.
what was the Supplication of the Beggars?
a book written by Simon Fish (an early English protestant convert) in 1529 which was dedicated to Henry VIII. it was a vicious and powerful attack on many aspects of the Catholic Church, which was portrayed in exaggerated terms as being greedy, corrupt and treacherous.
what did Christopher Haigh conclude about anticlericalism?
it was less a cause but rather more of a consequence of the Reformation.
what precedents for dissolving the monasteries already existed by the 1530s?
Wolsey had secured the dissolution of around 20 houses in the 1520s to fund the establishment of cardinal college, Oxford.
what supports the argument that some historians put forward about monasticism being a relic of a bygone age?
the speed at which they were eventually dissolved
what monastic orders were flourishing right up to the final days of the dissolution?
Observant Franciscans and Bridgettines
