Religion under Edward

Question 1

What religious changes did Edward VI make in 1547?

Answer 1

Royal visitations
Book of Homilies and Paraphrases
Royal Injunctions (July)
Chantries act
Act of Six articles repealed
Treason Act repealed

Question 2

What was the Book of Homilies and Paraphrases?

Answer 2

It was ordered in July 1547 that the Book of Homilies ( a collection of model sermons to be read out by clergy who were unable to preach themselves) and Erasmus’s Paraphrases (summaries of the New Testament) should be placed in every church.
The Book of Homilies contained some Protestant sermons written by Cranmer including one supporting the Lutheran belief of justification by faith alone. Gardiner and Bonner objected and were imprisoned.
The Homilies and Paraphrases were established in almost all parish churches by the end of 1549

Question 3

What were the Royal injunctions?

Answer 3

Orders were given for all clergy to preach in English and have an English Bible and Protestant literature in every parish church.
Superstitious images were to be removed
July

Question 4

What was the significance of the Chantries Act 1547?

Answer 4

4th Nov- 24th Dec in parliament
It contained a crucial new preamble condemning all prayers for the dead
Without prayers, a Catholic soul’s salvation was in peril. It was greatly significant
3000 chantries were dissolved along with 110 hospitals
Confraternities were ended (it is hard to judge the numbers) but there were thousands of them as over 100 existed in Northamptonshire alone.

Question 5

What was the significance of repealing the Act of Six Articles?

Answer 5

It had been passed in 1539 and had re-established key Catholic doctrines. Without it, the Church technically had no doctrine.

Question 6

What was the significance of repealing the Treason Act?

Answer 6

This Act removed the old heresey, treason, censorship and proclamation laws. This allowed people to discuss religion freely withot fear of arrest or imprisonment and to print and publish freely.
Radicals leapt on this opportunity to spread their views and in some cases destroy Catholic images and altars.

Question 7

How can the year 1547 be classified in terms of religious change?

Answer 7

Catholicism came under attack
Removal of Catholicism

Question 8

What events were occurred during the period of unofficial protestantism?

Answer 8

January 1548-September 1548
January-March; series of proclamations issued to dampen Protestant unrest (the privy council felt the need to assert transubstantiation)
11th Feb- All images to be removed from churches
24th April -Proclamation stating only authorised clergy to preach (because of the flood of unauthorised Protestant preachers after the heresey and treason acts repealed)
23rd September -Proclamation stating no preaching until new liturgy was announced

Question 9

What is liturgy?

Answer 9

The instruction setting out how a church service must be performed

Question 10

What were the series of proclamations about from January - March 1548?

Answer 10

The Privy Council felt the need to assert that transsubstatiation was still technically in force and that Catholic rites needed to be adhered to.
The Government was trying to achieve order and was playing time while Cranmer produced the new Prayer book.

Question 11

What was the period 1549-53 known as?

Answer 11

Formative.
A Protestant form of worship and belief was established during the years 1549-1553.
Up to January 1552 a number of ceremonial changes were made

Question 12

What ceremonial changes were made to religion from December 1548-January 1552?

Answer 12

December 1548- First Prayer Book
Jan 1549- Act of Uniformity (made the first prayer book legitimate)
Nov 1549- Parliament removed all laws against clerical marriage, all ecclesiastical courts were in the King’s name
25th Dec 1549- Proclamation issued which ordered the destruction of remainder or images
Jan 1550- New reformed Ordinal
Nov 1550- removal of stone altars and replacement by wooden ones
Jan 1552- New Treason Act

Question 13

What was the impact of the First Prayer Book?

Answer 13

It was a manual written by Cranmer outlining the liturgy to be followed in services.
It was a document in which Cranmer was outlining what he thought would be politically acceptable rather than what he believe. As a consequence, it satisfied few people; the Catholics saw it as implicitly Protestant and the Protestants smacked of popery

Question 14

What liturgy did the First Prayer Book outline?

Answer 14

services in English
Sacraments- Eucharist, baptism, last rites, confirmation and marriage
Communion
Clerical marriage allowed
Purgatory- still unclear
No prayers for the dead
Worship of saints discouraged (not banned)
traditional robes in church
Transubstantiation
Fast and Holy days remained

Question 15

What was the Ordinal?

Answer 15

January 1550
It detailed the ceremony to be followed when clergy were ordained.
The radical Protestant Hooper was outraged by the swearing of an oath to a saint.

Question 16

What events completed the change to Protestantism after January 1552?

Answer 16

January 1552- Second Book of Common Prayer
April 1552- Second Act of Uniformity
Nov 1552- “Black Rubric” proclamation
24 Nov 1552- 42 Articles submitted
1553- A short catechism was produced

Question 17

What was the impact on viewpoint of the Second Book of Common Prayer?

Answer 17

With the advent of the second Prayer Book the worship of the English Church could be described as fully reformed
It was highly Protestant (produced by Cranmer) as it removed all traces of Catholicism and clearly established a Eucharist ceremony.
It was undoubtably the furthest swing of the pendulum towards Protestantism. It broke radically with the past and satisfied radical reformers

Question 18

What was the religious changes made by the Second Book of Common Prayer?

Answer 18

It clearly established a Eucharist ceremony
The Eucharist was now called the Lords Supper; communicants were to kneel
Traditional robes were not to be worn
Altars were replaced by communion tables
In confirmation, the sign of the cross was abolished
It became an offence for both the clergy and the laity not to attend Church of England services (punishable by fines and imprisonment)

Question 19

What was the “black rubric” proclamation?

Answer 19

This explained kneeling to receive the Communion was for the sake of good order, not out of idolatry

Question 20

What were the 42 Articles in Nov 1552?

Answer 20

They were issued by the Government on 9th June 1553, but never became parliamentary law. They were based on Cranmer’s ideas.
Strongly Protestant, being based on the doctrine of justification alone

Question 21

What is a catechism?

Answer 21

1553- it was a manual for teaching the main beliefs of the catholic church it was written in a question and answer format

Question 22

In what ways was Edward VI the main force driving religious changes?

Answer 22

He was the driving force behind the persecution of his Catholic sister Mary
The decisive shift in policy came in 1550-51 when he became a teenager and when Northumberland, as Lord President, was taking noticeably more interest in Edward’s views
He attended Privy Council meetings at which religious changes of his reign were discussed
He favoured and encouraged radical reformers, who held him in high esteem
Edward actively promoted preaching
Northumberland knew that Edward would soon become monarch so persued radical religious policy Edward would like

Question 23

In what ways was Protector Somerset the main force driving religious changes?

Answer 23

He was a Protestant but the governmental problems of maintaining uniformity and order led him to pursue a wavering path towards religious change.
Somerset had been forced by domestic and foreign policy constraints to tread water on doctrinal changes
He initially associated himself with radical reformers Hooper and Bucer, however his moderate enforcement soon lost him their approval.
Somerset is best described as an Erastian Protestant who struggled to reconcile the demands of the government with the religious changes he wanted to introduce

Question 24

How can Somerset be described as only “moderately enforcing Protestantism”?

Answer 24

During his three years in office few conservative bishops were removed and nobody was persecuted for heretical beliefs

Question 25

In what ways was The duke of Northumberland the main force driving religious changes?

Answer 25

Northumberland had declared himself a Catholic in the coup to seize power from Somerset and at his death, yet while he was head of government he was Protestant.
His reasons for Protestantism were political
He appointed radicals e.g. John Hooper became bishop of Gloucester

Question 26

What political benefits were there for Northumberland for making Protestant changes?

Answer 26

He would have increased the bond with Edward and therefore the influence
He thought the religious future lay with the evangelical Protestants
Power and money lay with further stripping of the catholic Church

Question 27

In what ways was Archbishop Cranmer the main force driving religious changes?

Answer 27

He was the towering spiritual figure in the English Reformation. He drafted the Prayer books and the 42 Articles.
It is also important to note that research emphasises the role played by European reformers (all invited to England by Cranmer) and especially Bucer, in the shaping of documents that Cranmer finally produced

Question 28

How important were preachers to the reformation?

Answer 28

The central importance of the Bible within Protestantism meant that the quality and quantity of good preachers were an essential tool to spread the Reformation. Therefore pockets of Protestantism were fostered by effective preachers in London, East Anglia and some large towns such as Newcastle and Exeter.
Ports were often a hotbed for Protestantism.
However on the whole, the lack of preachers was probably the greatest problem faced by the nationwide Reformation

Question 29

How important were bishops to the reformation?

Answer 29

Under Somerset the balance of bishops favoured Catholicism; 8 were undecided, 9 reformers and 10 Catholics
Under Northumberland active reformers were appointed to London, Gloucester etc
However Bishop Hooper in a visitation discovered Protestant bishops were no guarantee of effective clergy e.g. he found 171 out of 311 clergy in his diocese could not repeat the Ten Commandments

Question 30

In what ways was John Hooper the main force driving religious changes?

Answer 30

He was the leader of the Evangelical Protestants. His aim was to sweep away all remaining aspects of Catholicism and enforce a radical and pure form of Protestantism

Question 31

How significant were European reformers in the Reformation?

Answer 31

Their main contribution was to provide ideas and preaching talents to the Reformation.
They are also increasingly recognised as influencing the direction of religious change by putting pressure for a move to the abandonment of Mass.

Question 32

Who were the principal reformers who came to England?

Answer 32

Martin Bucer, who arrived in March 1549 and was made Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge and heavily influenced Cranmer’s Second Book of Common Prayer
Peter Martyr who arrived in December 1547 and asserted that transubstantiation had to go
Bernard Ochino

Question 33

What opposition was there to the reformation?

Answer 33

The period is notable for its lack of opposition and virtual absence of persecution, particularly of the lower clergy.
The only serious organised resistance was the Western Rebellion
Two high-profile opponents were Stephen Gardner and Edmund Bonner (bishop of London)
Gardiner was opposed to the services, toleration of image breaking and any doctrinal changes. He was sent to the tower in 1548
Bonner began to oppose publicly when the Privy Council instructed him to preach at St Paul’s about transubstantiation .
Both were deprived on their bishoprics

Question 34

In what ways was greed a driving force for religious changes?

Answer 34

In the last three years of Edward’s reign, Governent attention was extracting the remaining wealth from the Church.
1552 survey suggested untapped wealth was £1,087,978 and in 1553 Northumberland began to attack these vast resources, which were worth half all monastic wealth and much more than chantries.
Doctrinal shift made the plate vestments and other objects associated with Mass redundant. Northumberland ordered their expropriation in 1553, but there was not enough time to complete collection

Question 35

When were legislation to remove images imposed? and why is this significant?

Answer 35

July 1547; royal injunctions ordered the removal of superstitious images
February 1548; all images to be removed
December 1548; a proclamation ordered all remaining images to be destroyed
Is significant as it shows it was difficult to enforce and suggests the task was not straightforward

Question 36

What is the evidence of will in the extent of religious change?

Answer 36

In Kent preambles to wills in 1549 show that only 8% were Protestant