The function of the Church and churchmen

Question 1

During Henry V11’s reign, what was central to ordinary people’s lives?

Answer 1

their own religious experiences

Question 2

How were lives lived and regulated?

Answer 2

by the Church’s major ceremonies

Question 3

How many parish churches were there by the end of the 15th century?

Answer 3

over 8,000

Question 4

What are guilds and confraternities?

Answer 4

voluntary associations of individuals created to promote works of Christian charity or devotion

Question 5

What were Church festivals closely linked to?

Answer 5

the agricultural year

Question 6

How did the Church make it easier for the social and political elites to maintain social control?

Answer 6

through its encouragement of good behaviour, obedience and stress on the values of community

Question 7

What did the Church provide for those such as Cardinal Wolsey?

Answer 7

-the opportunity to advance themselves socially through the attainment of high office in Church and State

Question 8

Who helped Henry V11 to get a dispensation from the Pope to marry Elizabeth of York?

Answer 8

Thomas Morton

Question 9

The relationship between the Church and the State was Erastian. What does this mean?

Answer 9

the view that the State should have authority over the Church

Question 10

How can it be argued that the relationship between the Church and State was Erastian in regards to

• wealth
• marriage?

Answer 10

• the papacy had no objection to the way in which Henry used the wealth of the Church to reward those churchmen to whom he had given high political office
• successive popes were eager to grant favours demanded by the king

Question 11

The Church in England was governed through which 2 provinces which were each under the jurisdiction of an archbishop?

Answer 11

Canterbury and York

Question 12

What was it common for senior churchmen in the late fifteenth century to enjoy?

Answer 12

positions of high significance and power within the kingdom

Question 13

During the medieval period, where was it normal for the most senior figures within in the Church in England to be drawn from?

Answer 13

the senior ranks of the aristocracy

Question 14

Margret Beaufort’s great uncle (Henry V11’s mother) had held which Church position?

Answer 14

cardinal and bishop of Winchester

Question 15

Who were the 2 churchmen which exerted the most power under Henry V11 ?

Answer 15

John Morton and Richard Fox

Question 16

Which office of state in particular were monopolised by the clergymen?

Answer 16

the Chancellor, the highest advisor of the king

Question 17

What were the abilities of most senior clergymen? (4)

Answer 17

• highly competent
• conscientious professionals
• often with legal training
• performed their duties to both Church and State

Question 18

Who were abbots? (2)

Answer 18

heads of the wealthiest religious houses, shared membership of the House of Lords with the bishops

Question 19

What skills did the abbots must have? (2)

Answer 19

• possess a range of management and administrative skills to keep their complex organisations running effectively
• demonstrate the spirituality necessary to maintain the reputation of their houses

Question 20

Where did monks live?

Answer 20

in the 900 religious communities which were found all over the country

Question 21

Who were the oldest ad most common religious order?

Answer 21

Benedictines who devised the monastic rule

Question 22

Where is an example of a large Benedictine house which operated as a cathedral church in their diocese?

Answer 22

Durham

Question 23

Where are examples of Carthusians monasteries ?

Answer 23

Yorkshire houses of Fountains an Mount Grace

Question 24

Where was an example of a wealthy nunnery, an exception as most were populated by women unsuitable for marriage?

Answer 24

the Bridgettine Foundation at Syon near Isleworth in Middlesex