Henry VIII: religion, ideas & reform Flashcards
Renaissance ideas definition
-Concerned with establishing the reliability of Latin & Greek texts by going back to original texts.
-Intellectual movement which affected religious teaching & politics.
-Eng humanism influenced by Erasmus who criticised Church abuses & sought to regenerate Christianity thru emphasis on education & rejection of some traditional Church ceremonies.
Education
Humanism took root in schools: St Paul’s School, London under humanist John Colet & Magdalen College, Oxford, promoting more secular education e.g.
-St Paul’s Colet appointed humanist head, governors from city guild (association of craftsmen or merchants) rather than clergymen, curriculum included Erasmus work.
Similar influence in foundation of colleges at Oxford & Cambridge e,g. Christ College, Oxford founded by Wolsey
-By end of H8 reign humanism influences gained lasting hold on uni curricula.
-Uni education or legal training came to replace Church as way to rise to power in politics e.g. Cromwell was lawyer.
H8 appointed humanist tutors to Edward, Elizabeth & Katherine Parr, who received humanist education gathered humanist circle around her.
Erasmus
Visited Eng x4 between 1509-14: appointed as 1st professor of Greek at Cambridge, attended court, friend of Fisher and More.
Ideas known as Erasmianism influenced younger Eng humanists keen to est truth about Christian texts
Influence of renaissance in Eng
-Classical learning spread as humanist groups formed in Oxford & Cambridge.
-More schools by humanist approaches to education.
-H8 saw self as promoter of new ideas.
-Eng humanists influential in govt & Church, most imp Thomas More, both intellectual & lawyer and statesman.
-Well educated diplomats emerged who could communicate elegantly with counterparts abroad.
-Visual culture combined Renaissance elements with traditional Gothic styles.
Reform of the church
Church doctrine & practices were changed between 1532-40 with H8 reforms of Church with Cromwell playing major role.
Weaknesses of the Church
Suffered no. abuses in early 16th C:
1. Corruption - incl pluralism (receiving profits of more than one post) simony (buying Church office) & non-residence (receiving profits of post but absent).
2. Corruption of legal privledges of clergy & clerical misconduct which gave rise to some anticlericalism (opposition to church’s role in political or non religious matters) worst e.g. death of Richard Hunter - found dead in cell in Bishop of London’s prison but was cover up for murder through excess torture.
3. Worldly monasteries that had become substantial businesses no longer fulfilled spiritual duty which led Wolsey to dissolve around 20 houses 1520s.
Evidence of early Protestantism
-Martin Luther’s attack on Church in Ger from 1517 gave rise to Protestantism with followers rejecting papal authority and believing in faith alone.
-Ger Protestants came to London and SE 1520s. However although ideas attracted some Christian humanists, little committed attempt to spread Lutheran Protestantism before “King’s Great Matter” brought discussions of religious issues.
Changes to doctrine and religious practices
Cranmer helped reform Church doctrine with support of Cromwell although measures were quite hesitant at first. Protestant beliefs were introduced such as:
-justification by faith (belief that person can achieve grace by faith alone, regardless of good works)
-consubstantiation (belief that bread & wine of Eucharist are symbols not physical - opposed to Christian transubstantiation).
These points of doctrine at best reluctantly accepted by population. Indeed, H8 personally disliked early moves towards Protestantism.
Attack on traditional religious practices: Royal Injuctions
1536 1st set:
-restricted number of holy days
-discouraged pilgrimages.
1538 2nd set:
-pilgrimages & veneration (honour/awe of religious object e.g. statue) of relics (religious object from past, wood of cross) and images condemned.
-Clergy (priests/bishops) who encouraged pilgrimages, relics, images required publicaly to recant (say no longer held belief)
-each parish Church to have Eng bible & encourage reading of it.
Attack on traditional religious practices: English Bible
In practice few able to read Bibles made available, religious messages still came from religious images.
1st edition 1539 with title page showing H8 “offering” word of God to bishops & MPs.
Within 4yrs H had tired of this role and became fearful of allowing wrong sorts of people to read Bible.
Attack on traditional religious practices: Avancement of the True Religion 1543
Restricted public reading of bible to upper class males only (women and lower class men too many incorrect opinions) H8 worried about keeping of good order thru social control and keeping people in place.
At this late stage in reformation, changes in doctrine less imp than changes in religious practice - affected laity most. Also, there was no consistent pattern to doctrinal change because king could not make up mind whether he wanted to be Protestant, catholic or mixture.
Changes to doctrine
- 1536 The Ten Articles - stated only 3 sacraments (baptism, penance & Eucharaist) were necessary for salvation (Lutheran) but, the definition of Eucharist was ambiguous. Praying to saints to forgive sins rejected (Lutheran) but confession (Catholic) praised.
Significance = showed both Catholic & Lutheran influences on development of doctrine. - 1537 Bishop’s Book - restored other four sacraments omitted from ten articles but given lower status.
Significance = more conservative document than ten articles. - 1539 Six Articles - reasserted Catholic doctrine. Denial of transubstantiation was deem heretical.
Significance = triumph for conservatives. Founded on assumption that there’s been too much religious controversy and that this undermined good ordering of society. Two reforming bishops resigned.
Significance = largely conservative with some Protestant features.
Dissolution of the monasteries
Carried out for various reasons but most lure of monastic wealth must have weighed strongly.
H8 conservative in religious views and heavily opposed to destruction of religious objects so seems unlikely he was motivated by religious ideas even if Cromwell and Cranmer were.
Spiritual reasons for dissolution of monasteries
Papal loyalty - monks loyal to authority of pope in Rome instead of King.
Monasteries were bastions (strongholds) of Catholic doctrine - H8 & Cromwell keen to remove any chance of return to Catholicism on religious grounds.
Perceived corruption - some monasteries seen as having poor standards of behaviour and piety (holiness)
Non-spiritual reasons for dissolution of monasteries
Nobles’ loyalty - could be bought with land acquired from monasteries. They would entrench change and resist restoration of papal authority to keep land & wealth.
To finance H8’s army - a much welcome addition to roya coffers - particularly as raising taxation could provoke rebellion.
Monasteries were outdated - 1535 Poor Law provided support within villages makin monastic charity and welfare outdated. Printing presses reduced need for monks as scribes.
