Religious changes Flashcards
What was an Eng church like at the end of H8’s reign?
Continuity:
- Hierarchy of Archbishops, bishops and priests in tact.
- Little attempt to change interior
- Latin services with music
Change:
- Jurisdiction of the Pope destroyed - King is Supreme Head of Church
- Monasteries dissolved and money gone to crown
- Churches have an English bible
- Humanism had influenced the wealthy and the king.
Although the Church of Eng had been changed structurally by the royal supremacy by 1547 there had been limited doctrinal change.
Overview of religious changes under EdVI?
- There were churchmen who held Protestant views e.g. Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London but in MANY areas religious beliefs had scarcely been touched e.g. Latin masses.
- Religious policy moved firmly in the direction of PROTESTANTISM
- EdVI = committed Protestant; saw as his mission to destroy idolatry (worship of something other than God) and took his role as Head of Church seriously in a religious sense.
What did the changes to the Protestant Church show?
Reflected EdVI’s extreme Protestant beliefs called Calvinism, the change came in 2 phases:
1. (moderate) 1547-1549 under Lord Protector (Somerset)
2. (extreme) came from the ‘Lord President of the Council’ (N’land)
What was the 1547 Treason Act?
- Allowed religious issues to be discussed and removed censorship
- Protestant material could be brought into Eng for 1st time legally.
What was the 1547 Chantries Act?
- Chantries/guilds abolished and their property seized by crown
- Attack on popular Catholicism as it ends the practice of masses for souls of the dead
- There was a spate of iconoclasm (attacking/destroying religious objects) by more radical Protestants in London
What was the 1549 Injunctions?
- Attacked many traditional Catholic practices e.g. pilgrimages, stained glass windows, processions
- Reflected radical attitudes in EdVI’s govt
What was the 1549 Book of Common Prayer?
- PROTESTANT to be used for all Church services
- More moderate than the Injunctions
- Translated traditional services into English to enhance understanding
- Was ambiguous in relation to the Eucharist using wording that still allowed Cath belief in transubstantiation
What was the social impact of these changes under Somerset?
- Highly significant as they amounted to a sustained attack on the religious experience of ordinary people and further plundering of the Church’s resources.
- 1547 Injunctions attacked many traditional practices e.g. pilgrimages, stained glass windows, processions
- Attack on Chantries took their assets for the Crown and ends the practice of masses for souls of the dead
- Attack on guilds and confraternities (Christian charities) meant Crown confiscated money and property previously used for charitable activities, feasts and celebrations.
- Widespread fear that this was just the start of the systematic asset stripping of the Church
What was N’land’s more radical two-fold strategy?
- Continue Protestant reforms of Somerset
- Plunder more of the Church’s wealth
Why did political context help shape a more radical approach to Protestantism?
- Cranmer was moving in a more radical direction. Reflected in the more radical Book of Common Prayer 1552.
- More radical senior clergy - Ridley Bishop of London and Hooper Bishop of Gloucester becoming more influential
- Continental reformers moved to Eng and were becoming influential on religious decisions
- Increasing influence of EdVI on policy. Took his role as head very seriously. Believe it was his mission to destroy idolatry
What were the key changes of the revised Book of Common Prayer 1552?
- Removal of remaining ‘conservative’ ceremonies as no longer fitted with regime’s religious radicalism.
- Rewriting of baptism, conformation and burial services to make services more understood by congregations
- Radical reform of Communion service, incl replacement of wafer with bread as need for decisive change from ambiguity of 1549 prayer book
- Ban on use of ‘popish’ vestments as seen as objects of ‘superstition’
- Restriction on use of church music as moderate protestants thought that church music hindered religious understanding; radical opinion considered it idolatrous
What was the significance of these changes?
- Conservatives could no longer find anything in the prayer book which they could accept
- Showed Cranmer’s desire to see greater simplicity in church services
- Showed influence of Zwinglianism in the Eucharist declaration ‘do this in remembrance’
- Simpler clerical vestments seen as more in keeping with simpler approach to services
- Simpler approach to music reflected emphasis on greater simplicity in church services
What was the 42 Articles in 1553?
- Official doctrine (statement of beliefs of the Church of England) was firmly Protestant in nature
- Produced by Cranmer - confirmed the firmly reformed path which EdVI wanted
- Did leave some ambiguity between competing varieties of Protestantism.
- However, due to the king’s death they were never implemented.
What is an example of asset stripping of the Church?
- The crown, still in financial difficulties extracted wealth by plundering the property of the bishoprics.
- Gloucester and Worcester combined with 2/3 of Worcester estate going to the crown.
- Bishop of Exeter and Winchester made ‘grants; from their property to the crown
What was the impact on society of the religious changes?
-Evidence from Church warden’s accounts:
- suggest Crown’s orders to destroy old Cath habits were gradually put into effect (although the restoration of Catholicism in 1553 was rapid)
- Expenditure on church goods declined after 1540 this was a reaction to destruction by the crown
- People increasingly felt little point leaving money to the Church if going to be confiscated by the Crown.
Evidence from wills:
- Debated, many did not survive or people did not leave them.
- By the reign of EdVI people were much less likely to leave money to their parish church.
What is historian Haigh’s view on this?
- Represents a crisis at parish level - as services became plainer, plays suppressed, guild abolished so churches got less money from people.
- Evidence of decline in church attendance
- Decline in numbers of priests
What impact did public opinion have on the pace of reform?
- 1550 radical Hooper admitted the pace of reform was hampered by uncooperative public opinion
- Crisis at parish level made worse by fear of Crown attack on church plate - so parishes sold or hid their treasures
- Perhaps unsurprising that accession of Mary witnessed a spontaneous return to Catholic ways in many parishes
