Religious Change under Edward

Question 1

What religious change occurred under Somerset?

Answer 1

• religious policy mostly remained cautious, shown by the moderate 1549 Book of Common Prayer, written by Archbishop Cranmer, who was himself cautious to avoid religious tension
• two key objectives: establish a single form for church services and to have those services be delivered in English so people could understand texts
• by 1547: roughly 20% of people in London were Protestant

Question 2

What changes to doctrine occurred under Somerset?

Answer 2

• Feb 1547: Denunciation of Images in London
• Jul 1547: Royal Injunctions issued
• Dec 1547: Dissolution of Chantries and Religious Guilds
• May 1549: Book of Common Prayer

Question 3

What did the 1547 Royal Injunctions entail?

Answer 3

• bishops ordered to remove all ‘superstitious’ images from churches
• all parishes had to have an English Bible
• attacked many features of popular Catholicism, including lights, images, stained glass, processions and practices such as Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday

Question 4

Why were the chantries dissolved under Edward?

Answer 4

• Crown needed money to pay for expensive foreign policy
• chantries, guilds and lay brotherhoods abolished and their property seized by the Crown
• silver and gold was melted and used to replenish the treasury for war against Scotland
• chantries small religious houses that were entirely Catholic - they didn’t fit in with Edward’s beliefs

Question 5

What was the result of the dissolution of the chantries?

Answer 5

• inflated the economy as there were more coins in circulation, leading to price increases, especially in grain

Question 6

What religious change occurred under Northumberland?

Answer 6

• sought to continue Somerset’s Protestant reforms, seeking to plunder more of its wealth
• wider political context helped - tactically cautious Cranmer beginning to move in a more radical direction (shown by 1552 Book of Common Prayer)
• more radical senior clergymen such as Ridley and Hooper becoming more influential

Question 7

What influence did Edward have on religion?

Answer 7

• became increasingly involved in the policy making process
• took his role as head of the church very seriously and believed it was his role to destroy idolatry
• firmly Protestant nature of official doctrine confirmed in Cranmer’s 42 Articles of Religion in June 1553, which defined essentials of the faith of the Church of England (never implemented due to E’s death)

Question 8

What did the 1552 Book of Common Prayer do?

Answer 8

• removed remaining conservative services
• rewrote baptism, confirmation and burial services
• radically reformed the communion service, including the replacement of water with ordinary bread
• banned the use of ‘popish’ vestments
• restricted the use of church music

Question 9

What evidence shows people were not happy with the religious reforms under Edward?

Answer 9

• Haigh believes there was a crisis at the parish level - as services became plainer they attracted less people
• according to Haigh: 1540-6 70% left money, during E’s reign only 32% left money
• evidence of decline in church attendance
• 1550: radical Hooper admitted that the pace of reform was hampered by an uncooperative public opinion