religion, humanism, arts and learning

Question 1

Who did all people belong to during the reign of Henry VII?

Answer 1

The Catholic Church and were under jurisdiction of the Pope in Rome.

Question 2

What was central to the lives of most people in the 15th century?

Answer 2

Their own religious experiences.

Question 3

How many Parish churches were there?

Answer 3

Over 8000.

Question 4

What were the Church festivals closely linked to and what did they provide?

Answer 4

The agricultural year.
Provided much-needed enjoyment and entertainment.

Question 5

What did the Church’s guilds and confraternities offer?

Answer 5

Charity, good fellowship and the chance for ordinary people to contribute to the good of their local community.

Question 6

How did the Church make it easier for social and political elites to maintain social control?

Answer 6

Through its encouragement of good behaviour, obedience and stress on the values of community.

Question 7

What opportunities did the Church provide?

Answer 7

Employment opportunities, and for a few, the opportunity to advance themselves socially through the attainment of high office in Church and State.

Question 8

How was the political role of the Church significant?

Answer 8

In terms of both international relations and in domestic matters; the highest role of the Church was held by the Pope in Rome, who wielded substantial spiritual power and was the head of a state in northern Italy.

Question 9

Why did Henry seek a dispensation to marry Elizabeth of York?

Answer 9

Due to Henry’s own carefulness. The Pope had immense influence and he couldn’t risk doing something that upset him.

Question 10

What was the relationship between the Church and the State like?

Answer 10

It was Erastian, meaning it had the view that the State should have authority over the Church.
The King was in control and popes were eager to grant the favours demanded by the King.

Question 11

What two provinces was the Church in England administered through?

Answer 11

Canterbury and York.

Question 12

Who’s jurisdiction were the provinces under?

Answer 12

Under the control of an archbishop.

Question 13

How many diocese were there and who were they under the control of?

Answer 13

17, each of which were under the control of a bishop.

Question 14

What was common for late 15th century senior churchmen to have?

Answer 14

Positions of significant influence and power within the kingdom.

Question 15

Where were most senior figures of the Church in England drawn from?

Answer 15

The senior racks of the aristocracy - it was common for senior clergy to participate at a high level in the political process.

Question 16

Which two churchmen exercised most power during Henry VII’s reign?

Answer 16

John Morton and Richard Fox.

Question 17

What was the role of the chancellor?

Answer 17

The highest adviser to the king.

Question 18

What were most senior clergymen like?

Answer 18

Highly competent and conscientious professionals, most of which had legal training who performed their duties to both Church and State.

Question 19

Who were the abbots?

Answer 19

The heads of the wealthiest religious houses.

Question 20

What did the abbots share with the bishops?

Answer 20

Membership of the House of Lords.

Question 21

What skills did abbots have to possess and demonstrate?

Answer 21

A range of management and administrative skills to keep their complex organisations running effectively.
They had to demonstrate the spirituality necessary to maintain the reputation of their houses.

Question 22

What did the religious late-medieval community believe about prayers?

Answer 22

That praying together was more powerful than praying alone.

Question 23

What was the Church’s function?

Answer 23

To spread and uphold Christian teaching, and offer ways by which individuals could acquire grace in order to reach heaven, and minimise the time spent in purgatory.

Question 24

What were the 7 sacraments?

Answer 24

• Baptism, which welcomed the newly born infant into the community
• Confirmation, which marked the transition from childhood to adulthood
• Marriage, in which the community could witness two individuals pledging themselves to each other
• Anointing the sick, which prepared the dying for their passage to the next world
• Penance, during which the individual sought God’s forgiveness for the sins which they had committed
• Holy Orders, the process by which the priest himself became empowered to deliver the sacraments (rituals) to others
• Eucharist, in which church members received Christ’s body and blood in the form of bread and wine to be nourished physically and spiritually and brought closer to God

Question 25

Why did people have to observe as many of the 7 sacraments as possible?

Answer 25

In order to reach heaven.

Question 26

What happened during the Mass and what was the main event of it?

Answer 26

The priest would perform the sacrament of Holy Communion, also known as the Eucharist.
The peak of this ceremony was the point where the priest consecrated the bread and the wine (declaring it to be sacred).

Question 27

What did Catholics believe happened at the point of consecration?

Answer 27

That the bread and the wine were transformed figuratively and literally into the body and blood of Christ.

Question 28

Why was The Mass so important?

Answer 28

• It was a sacrifice performed by the priest on behalf of the community
• It was a sacred ritual in which the whole community participated

Question 29

What was one of the most important festivals of the fifteenth century and why?

Answer 29

Corpus Christi, it was where the importances of consecration was emphasised the most.