Religion, Ideas and Reform

Question 1

How did Wolsey effect Humanist education?

Answer 1

Founded a school in his home town of Ipswich.

1525, he founded Cardinal College, Oxford

Question 2

In what ways did humanism begin to become more prominent in education?

Answer 2

Schools such as St Paul’s school London - appointed a humanist as head

Question 3

In what ways did Henry embrace humanism?

Answer 3

Appointed humanist tutors to Prince Edward and Princess Elizabeth and his sixth wife (Katherine Parr)

Question 4

How did The Renaissance influence England under Henry VIII?

Answer 4

More schools became influenced by humanist approaches to education.

Question 5

Give three other ways in which the Renaissance influenced England under Henry VIII?

Answer 5

Visual culture (paintings, sculptures ect) combined Renaissance elements with traditional gothic styles.

English humanists became influential in Church and government - (Thomas More = influential humanist writer, Lord Chancellor 1530-1532)

Question 6

When were church doctrines and practices changed from?

Who played a major role in this?

Were the changes significant?

Answer 6

Between 1532 and 1540, when Henry VIII’s reforms of the church.

Archbishop Cranmer played a major role in this, particularly after his appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1532.

At this stage in reformation doctrinal changes less significant than the challenge on traditional religious practices but there was no consistent pattern of doctrinal change - reflecting king’s inability to make up his mind definitely about such matters

Question 7

Following the doctrinal changes of 1536, what happened in 1537?

Answer 7

Pilgrimage of Grace

Question 8

What abuses did the church in England suffer from in the early 16th century?
Example?

Answer 8

Corruption including pluralism, simony and non-residence.

Wolsey was an example - spent 200,000 crowns to build Hampton Palace in 1514

Question 9

What is pluralism?

Answer 9

Receiving the profits of more than one post from holding more than one benefice (a permanent Church appointment)

Question 10

What is simony?

Answer 10

Buying or selling of something spiritual

Question 11

What is non-residence?

Answer 11

Receiving the profits of a post but being absent from that post

Question 12

What gave to rise to Protestantism in Europe before it arrived in England?

Answer 12

Martin Luther’s attack on the church in Germany from 1517 - a rejection of church authority.
(Little evidence of a significant move to Protestantism in England following this)

Question 13

Who reformed church and what measures like at first?

Answer 13

Thomas Cranmer (reformer with humanist connections) with the help of Thomas Cromwell - at first measures were quite hesitant

Question 14

What protestant beliefs were initially introduced?

Answer 14

Justification by faith (the belief that a person can achieve grace of faith alone.

Consubstantiation (the belief that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are spiritually the body and the blood of Christ without physically becoming so at the point of consecration ( as opposed to Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation)

Question 15

What did the early protestant doctrine include?

Answer 15

Lutheran influences.

As well as legislation, relics and images were destroyed and an English Bible was introduced

Question 16

How did Henry show his personal dislike for the early moves towards Protestantism?

Answer 16

He was responsible (along with the conservative faction at Court, including Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester and the Duke of Norfolk) for the six articles of 1539

Question 17

What was the position of the church in England as the time of Henry’s death?

Answer 17

An odd mixture of Protestant and Catholic doctrine

Question 18

How would you split up the religous events between 1530 to 1540?

Answer 18

1530-1534: Weakening the clergy.

1534: Henry’s personal power.

1535-1536: Stripping church of wealth (+ another act in 1539).

1536 onwards: Doctrinal changes

Question 19

What acts of were passed in 1530-1534: Weakening the clergy?

Answer 19

1532:
First act of annates - banned payment of annates to Rome.
Submission of Clergy - King = lawmaker for clergy, not pope

1533:
Act in Restraints of Appeals to Rome - King = supreme head of the church of England.

1534:
Act to stop Peter’s pence - abolished payment of tax to Rome

Question 20

Who resigned in 1532 following the Submission of Clergy?

Answer 20

Thomas More

Question 21

What acts were passed in 1534: Henry’s personal power?

Answer 21

First act of succession - Henry’s marriage to Catherine invalid. Mary = illegitimate. Treasonable to deny this.

Act of Supremacy - Oath of supremacy for clergy and laymen = confirming Henry is “justly and rightfully” Supreme head of the English church.

Treason act - Can’t call king a heretic.

Question 22

What acts were passed in 1535-1536: Stripping church of wealth (+ another act in 1539)?

Answer 22

1535:
Valor Ecclesiasticus - Survey into wealth and condition of the church = forceful.

1536:
Act of dissolution of lesser monasteries - worth under £200 = closed

1539:
Act of the dissolution of greater monasteries.

Question 23

What religious change occurred from 1536 onwards: Doctrinal changes

Answer 23

1536:
The Ten Articles - 7 sacraments rejected.
Royal injunctions - pilgrimages banned, Children taught the Lord’s Prayer and Ten Commandments.

1537:
Bishops’ book - no discussion of transubstantiation.

1538:
Royal injunctions - Bible in all parishes, birth and marriages and deaths registered in every parish, relics removed.

1539:
Great Bible
6 Articles - radical, confirmed transubstantiation, banned priests marriages.

1543:
King’s book

Question 24

What were the Royal Injunctions?

What and when were the second set of injunctions?

Answer 24

The first set of royal injunctions pronounced against superstitious beliefs on pilgrimages and restricted the number of holy-days, creed and commandments in English

Taken much further with the issue of the second set two years later in which pilgrimages and veneration of relics and images was condemned.

Question 25

What was the Ten Articles?

How was it ambiguous?

Answer 25

The Ten Articles stated that only three sacraments were necessary for salvation.

Praying to saints to forgive sins was rejected but confession was praised - showing a mixture of Catholic (confession praised) and Lutheran (praying to saint for remission of sin rejected)

influences - ambiguous

Question 26

What religious change occurred 1536-40?

Answer 26

Dissolution of the monasteries

Question 27

What religious change occurred in 1537?

Answer 27

The Bishop’s Book restored the other four sacraments (though at a lower status) - more conservative document than the ten articles

Question 28

What religious change occurred in 1538?

Answer 28

The Second set of royal injunctions - ordered the removal of images, the continuance of baptisms, marriages and burials and the placing in churches of a large bible in English

Question 29

When was the first English bible introduced?

Answer 29

The earliest English bible had been published in parts by Tyndale 1525-26 but Coverdale printed the first complete English bible in 1535 (few would be able to read it - still relied on images)

Question 30

What religious change occurred in 1539?

Answer 30

The first edition of the Great Bible, edited by Cranmer.

This was distributed to every church and chained to the pulpit.

The Six articles reasserted Catholic doctrine and denial of transubstantiation was deemed heretical (two reforming bishops resigned) - triumph for the conservatives.

Question 31

What religious change occurred in 1543?

Which act did it come with to ensure social order?

Answer 31

The King’s Book was introduced - it was largely conservative, with some protestant/Lutheran features.
H became fearful of allowing the wrong people to read the wrong parts of the bible:

The Act for Advancement of True Religion restricted the public reading of the bible to upper class males as women and men of other classes had seemingly increased in incorrect opinion and fallen into division and dissent among themselves. - social control came first.

Question 32

What were the three spiritual reasons for the dissolution of the monasteries?

Answer 32

Papal loyalty - monks were loyal to the authority of the Pope in Rome.

The monasteries were bastions of Catholic doctrine - Henry and Cromwell were keen to remove any chance of return to Catholicism on religious grounds.

Perceived corruption - Some monasteries were seen as having poor standards of behaviour and piety.

Question 33

What were the non-spiritual reasons for the dissolution of the monasteries?

Answer 33

Nobles loyalty - Noble’s loyalty could be bought with land acquired from the monasteries ; they would entrench change and resist the restoration of papal authority.

To finance Henry’s arms - a much welcome addition to the royal coffers (particularly as raising taxation could provoke rebellion).

Monasteries were outdated - The 1535 Poor Law provided support within villages, making monastic welfare outdated and printing reduced the need for scribes.

Question 34

What was probably a large reason for Henry of the dissolution of the monasteries and what is it unlikely he was motivated by?

Answer 34

The lure of monastic wealth was likely significant for Henry
He was conservative in his religious views and heavily opposed the destruction of religious objects so it is unlikely religious ideas motivated him even if they did Cranmer and Cromwell.

Question 35

What was the Valor Ecclesiasticus?

Answer 35

1535 - Cromwell set up the Valor Ecclesiasticus (a survey to assess the Church’s wealth)

= Assessment of monastic institutions, identifying any weakness or corruption - they gave enough evidence to allow the dissolution

Question 36

What were the three key events in the dissolution of the monasteries?

Answer 36

1535 - Cromwell set up the Valor Ecclesiasticus

1536 - Dissolution of the smaller monasteries

1539 - Dissolution of the greater monasteries (this had been carried out by March 1540)

Question 37

What was a “smaller monastery”?

What was Henry’s excuse to dissolve them?

Answer 37

1536 - Act of Parliament = Dissolution of the smaller monasteries.
Income of under £200 per annum or les.

It was argued the smaller religious houses had allowed standards to slip.

Question 38

In what ways was there continuity in religion under Henry VIII?

Answer 38

The hierarchy of the Church remained largely intact
There was little attempt to alter the interior of the churches
Services remained largely traditional in form (they were still held in Latin and music continued to be important in services in cathedrals and collegiate churches)
The Six Articles Act in 1539 and the fall of Cromwell in 1540 weakened the cause of religious reform

Question 39

What happened to renaissance ideas in the reign of Henry VIII and why?

Answer 39

They began to flourish at least among the elite groups within society - partly due to the king who encouraged thinkers like More and Erasmus - humanism looked poised to achieve even greater influence

Question 40

In what ways was there change in religion under Henry VIII?

Answer 40

The jurisdiction of the Pope had been replaced by the more visible authority figure of the King

The monasteries had been dissolved - many monastic buildings fell into ruin and there had been a massive transfer of resources from the Church to the Crown through the dissolutions.

Parish churches were required to possess Bibles in English (though many of them did not).

Religious doctrine had been influenced by Protestantism and humanism - contributing to the undermining of the traditional church.

Question 41

What was anti-clericalism and what are examples?

Answer 41

Opposition to the political and social importance of clergy, often viewed as a weakness of the Church.

Some common lawyers objected to the influence of canon law and there were objections to the legal privileges of the clergy.

Clerical misconduct caused considerable criticism e.g. the death of Richard Hunne.

Question 42

What was the death of Richard Hunn and was it significant?

Answer 42

1514 - A London merchant was found dead in his cell in the Bishop of London’s prison - he had apparently hung himself but it was evident to the coroner’s jury he couldn’t have and therefore that he had been murdered with a poor attempt to cover it up (likely torture had gone wrong).

Case disastrous for the reputation of the church in the short-term but time between this and the break from Rome suggests that by then it was much less likely to have been at the forefront of the minds of the critics of the Church.

Question 43

What happened to the two most influential humanists in royal circles (Sir Thomas More and Bishop Fisher)?

Answer 43

They paid with their lives for their opposition to religious changes

Question 44

What is the evidence that a humanist approach to reform persisted during the final years of Henry VIII’s reign?

Answer 44

Cranmer continued to enjoy the king’s favour even when he was subject to attack by enemies such as the Duke of Norfolk.

The King turned to Humanist John Cheke to be the tutor to son and heir Edward and Roger Ascham to be tutor to Elizabeth.

There was a humanist circle around the King’s last wife (Katherine Parr) and she herself had a humanist education (unusual for woman of the time).

Question 45

What was important about Erasmian reformers?

Answer 45

Not the influence it had on religion policy during Henry’s reign but that it was in a position to influence policy-making during the reign of his successor
However, by the time Edward came to the throne the moderation of many humanist reformers was replaced with more radical strands of reform.

Question 46

What changes occurred to the Church’s structure?

Answer 46

King becomes supreme head.

King appoints Cromwell ‘Vicegerent in Spirituals’ in 1534.

Six new dioceses (areas under jurisdiction of a bishop) created - attempt to improve the church’s administration.

No other changes made to the structure of church as spiritual jurisdiction remained in hands of Archbishops and bishops (different from reformed churches in Europe).

Question 47

What did it mean for Cromwell being ‘Vicegerent in Spirituals’ in 1534?
How long did he have this power?

Answer 47

He outranked Bishops and archbishops, second only to the king, giving him considerable power over the church, the post however died with him.

Question 48

Define veneration?

Answer 48

The honouring with awe and reverence of a religious object

Question 49

In what other way did humanism look as though it would have great influence in Edward’s reign?

Answer 49

The undoubted humanism of Catholic martyrs like More and Fisher shows how diverse humanist influence had become
Wider renaissance culture had become entrenched at court and in the circles of the wealthy and well educated and would retain its cultural prominence for the rest of the century