Religious Change 1534-47 Flashcards
How can the religious changes be divided into periods?
1536-39 = swing towards Protestantism
1539-40 = return to more traditional practises
1541-43 = religious confusion
1544-47 = triumph of the Reformists
Valor Ecclesiasticus
1535
Cromwell commissioned this survey into the wealth and condition of the church
Executions
Carthusian Monks - Bishop Fisher and Sir Thomas More in 1535
300 people were executed between 1533 and 1540
Act for Dissolution of Lesser Monasteries
1536
Lesser monasteries = worth under £200
Anne Boleyn’s beheading
May 1536
Betrothed to Jane Seymour the following day
Act of Ten Articles
1536
Seven Sacraments of Catholic doctrine were rejected
Beliefs in baptism, the Eucharist and penance remained
Royal Injunctions 1
1536
Issued by Cromwell
Ordered the clergy to defend the Royal Supremacy in sermons, abandon pilgrimages, give money to teach children scripture
The Bishop’s Book
1537
Written by the clergy with Cromwell’s influence
Henry insisted that it wasn’t published until he had read it
Drifted towards Protestantism:
No discussion of transubstantiation
Mass was glossed over
Purgatory was present only in implication
Matthew Bible
1537
Distinctly Protestant
Had the King’s permission
Royal Injunctions 2
1538
Issued by Cromwell
The English Bible to be placed in all parishes
All births, marriages and deaths to be registered in every parish
People to be actively discouraged from pilgrimages (Becket’s shrine at Canterbury destroyed)
Relics to be removed from churches (rejection of purgatory)
Followed up with letters to JPs to ensure they were being enforced
John Lambert
Tried and executed for rejecting transubstantiation in 1538
Clear commitment to Catholic beliefs from Henry
Henry excommunicated
1538
The Great Bible
1539
Act of Six Articles
1539
Confirmed transubstantiation, private masses and the hearing of confession by priests
Banned marriage of priests and anyone who had taken vows of chastity, and taking communion in both kinds by lay people
Act for the Dissolution of the Greater Monasteries
1539
All monasteries closed and passed to the Crown
Anne of Cleves
Married January 1540
Sister of the Protestant Duke of Cleves
Cromwell’s fall
Arrested and executed in 1540
One of the charges was for his religious views
Catherine Howard
Married July 1540
The niece of the Catholic Duke of Norfolk
Executed 1542
Act for the Advancement of True Religion
1543
Restricted access to the English Bible to upper-class men and noblewomen in private
The King’s Book
1543
Revised the Bishop’s Book
Defended transubstantiation and the Six Articles, encouraged preaching and attacked the use of images
Written by Henry himself
Catherine Parr
Married July 1543
English litany in churches
1544
Priests did not have to use it
Sir John Cheke
A Protestant humanist
Appointed to tutor Edward in 1544
Chantries Act
1545 passed but not enforced
Allowed for the dissolution of chantries (which were where priests said masses for the souls of the dead, so were important to the belief in purgatory)
Anne Askew
Burned for denying transubstantiation in 1546
Regency Council
Named in 1546 and was heavily Protestant
Prominent Protestants included John Seymour and John Denny
Elizabeth Barton
Holy Maid of Kent
Executed in 1534
Her and her accomplices were dealt with by Act of Attainder meaning that they didn’t have a criminal trail which would have raised their profile
Cromwell’s efficiency at dealing with opposition
Parliamentary opposition dealt with through reason, persuasion and intimidation
Isolated and destroyed opposition e.g. Holy Maid of Kent
Controlled the printing press and pulpit
Legislation gave the reforms an air of legitimacy
Economic gain of dissolution of the monasteries
£1.3 million 1536-47
Lincolnshire Rising
October 1-11 1536
Began in Louth
Bishop of Lincoln was murdered
10,000 people including gentry, priests and monks
Duke of Suffolk’s army collapsed the rebellion
The Pilgrimage of Grace
October-December 1536
Initiated by Robert Aske who ensured all goods were paid for and no murders were committed
30,000 men
Settled at Pontefract Castle - the most important fortress in the North
Henry sent a delegation led by Duke of Norfolk where a truce was signed, all but 10 ringleaders would be pardoned
Pontefract Articles
Presented by the rebels at the Pilgrimage of Grace
Included demands about returning to the “old customs”, restoring supremacy to the “see of Rome” and social issues like “enclosures” and “quinidine”
They were promised a parliament to discuss the issues they had raised and that monasteries wouldn’t be suppressed before then
Cumberland Rising
1537
Bigod was not satisfied that the government would fulfil their demands
Confirmed that the rebels were of bad faith
178 rebels executed including Aske and Bigod
Nobles involved in the Pilgrimage of Grace
Lord Hussey, Lord Darcy (keeper of the most important fortress in the North), Lord Dacre’s sons (the most senior nobleman in the North), Earl of Northumberland
