The pre-reformation church in England

Question 1

The reformation

Answer 1

• Ideological and doctrinal challenges to the Catholic Church that emerged in the early 16th century
• Instigated by Martin Luther (German)

Question 2

Catholicism

Answer 2

• Sole religion of Western Europe
• All Catholics were expected to attend church
• Salvation could only be granted if one attended church
• People followed the seven sacraments

Question 3

The seven sacraments

Answer 3

• Baptism
• Conformation
• Marriage
• Ordination
• Penance (confession)
• Extreme unction (last rites)
• Eucharist

Question 4

Mass and the Eucharist

Answer 4

• Every Sunday and holy days
• Said in Latin by a priest
• Accepted as a re-enactment of Christ’s sacrifice
• Bread and wine truly transformed into the body and blood of Jesus, the worshiper could witness his return (transubstantiation)
• Communion only received once a year, priest stood apart and separated from congregation by rood screen, priest spoke in Latin - priest/congregation worshiped separately. However still the focus of spirituality

Question 5

Penance

Answer 5

• Required to absolve oneself of sin and receive the Eucharist
• If one died having not absolved themselves they would face eternal damnation
• Someone dying in a state of minor sin would face purgatory to be cleansed - time spent here could be shortened by penance on earth
• Penance: prayer, confession, fasting, good works
• People could purchase indulgences (v. expensive)/have masses said in their name to shorten time
• Confraternities: communities of lay people who would pray for the souls of the dead

Question 6

Church community

Answer 6

• Church was focal point of the community
• Religious calender was central to peoples lives
• Church often only stone building for laymen to congregate in

Question 7

Saints

Answer 7

• Powerful intermediaries between God and man
• Virgin Mary was revered
• Specific saints had specific powers ie St Sebastian who protected against the plague
• Spawned upsurge in religious art
• Pilgrimages to shrines/places where miracles had been performed to receive Grace and speed entry to heaven ie Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk

Question 8

Donations

Answer 8

• Bequests in wills to parish churches/monetary donations for building and upkeep of local churches
• Suggests deep level of commitment to Catholic faith

Question 9

What were the causes of dissatisfaction in the Catholic church?

Answer 9

• Uneducated priests
• Clerical abuses
• Benefit of the clergy
• Corruption of religious houses

Question 10

Uneducated priests as a cause of lay dissatisfaction

Answer 10

• Parish priests were uneducated
• Could not conduct proper Eucharist
• Could not understand significance of the mass/recite essential Latin verse

Question 11

Clerical abuses as a cause of lay dissatisfaction

Answer 11

• Some higher level individuals such as Bishops were breaching church discipline
  (i) Simony, purchasing a key office from a cleric/prince
  (ii) Pluralism, holding multiple offices for personal gain
  (iii) Non-residence, bishops who did not live in diocese but still collected tax
  (iv) Nepotism, donating a clerical post to a family member
  (v) Sexual misconduct, breaking celibacy vow

Question 12

Simony

Answer 12

-Purchasing a key office from a cleric/prince

Question 13

Pluralism

Answer 13

-Holding multiple offices for personal gain

Question 14

Non-residence

Answer 14

-Bishops who did not live in diocese but still collected tax

Question 15

Nepotism

Answer 15

-Donating a clerical position to a member of family

Question 16

Sexual misconduct

Answer 16

-Breaking a vow of celibacy

Question 17

Corruption of religious houses as a cause of lay dissatisfaction

Answer 17

• Regular clergy (monks/nuns)
• 800 religious houses in England
• Some houses in state of disrepair
• Some abbots extremely wealthy from land rents
• Breaking vows of abstinence/celibacy

Question 18

Benefit of the clergy as a cause of lay dissatisfaction

Answer 18

• Members of the clergy who had committed serious crimes could avoid being tried in secular courts and be tried in an ecclesiastical (church) court
• Open to abuse/miscarriages of justice

Question 19

Case study: The Hunne Affair

Answer 19

• 1514
• Richard Hunne, a London merchant, challenges church authorities over exorbiant (unreasonable) mortuary fees for burying his infant son
• Hunne arrested for heresy
• Hunne found hanged in cell, many convinced he was murdered
• Church found Hunne posthumously guilty and confiscated all his property
• Bishop of London’s councilor is implicated, but no one is charged
• Stoked flames of anti-clericalism and highlighted church corruption

Question 20

How widespread was anti-clerical feeling at this time?

Answer 20

• Greater in the South-East, highlighted by instances such as the Hunne affair
• Yet many priests properly trained
• Some corrupt church figures but many such as Archbishop of Canterbury John Morton (until 1500) were models of good clerical behavior
• Abuses had been around for a while, little evidence that church was on brink of collapse
• Henry did not challenge fundamental doctrines of the Catholic church, but did use anticlerical feelings to help establish himself as the head of the Church in England

Question 21

Reformation in Europe/Lutheranism

Answer 21

• Martin Luther (1483-1546), German, instigator of reformation
• Posted 95 theses in Wittenberg on a church door in 1517 to criticize the sale of indulgences
• Excommunicated by Pope Leo X in 1520, but escaped prosecution for heresy through powerful patrons in Saxony
• Refused to recant for Charles V at Worms in 1521
• Lutheranism officially recognised at religious peace of Augsburg 1555

Question 22

Impact of Lutheranism in England

Answer 22

• Little impact outside Germany
• 1521, Thomas More/Henry VIII write “Defense of the Seven Sacraments”. Pope calls him “Defender of the Faith”
• Henry anti-Lutheran
• Lutheran alliance may have been considered as a matter of foreign policy to avoid European isolation in 1530s but Henry never accepted Lutheran ideas
• However they were accepted by some key figures ie Thomas Cromwell ‘Vice Gerent in Spirituals’ and Thomas Cranmer the Archbishop of Canterbury
• Henry attracted to idea of Erastian Kingship
• University of Cambridge was hotbed of radicalism. Robert Barnes (evangelical)

Question 23

Main aspects of Lutheranism

Answer 23

• Justification by faith alone: Salvation could be found in faith, not purchased. People were sinners and could make themselves perfect through good works on earth
• Sola Scriptua: All doctrine should be grounded in scripture. Luther translated New Testament into German in 1521. Authority of scripture contradicted papal infallibility
• Priesthood of all believers: People should have a close relationship with God. Clerical hierarchy was unnecessary and papal primacy (pope supreme power, unequaled) unfounded. Each person could read word of God. Ministers required to preach and teach but were not superior to the laity or anyone else

Question 24

Case study: William Tyndale

Answer 24

• Led attack on standards of the clergy and endorsed Lutheran ideas of salvation
• Fled England to the continent and met Luther personally to translate New Testament, published 1525, Distributed by Henry and Cromwell in English in 1538
• Burned as heretic at Antwerp in 1536

Question 25

Who opposed the English church before the reformation?

Answer 25

• Humanists

- Lollards

Question 26

Humanists

Answer 26

• Conservative as they did not propose new doctrines, but instead an increase in the intellectual and moral standards of the church
• Part of wider movement with origins in the Italian renaissance. Thinkers such as Erasmus, the foremost Christian humanist in Europe. Wrote “Praise of Folly” (1509) criticizing the immorality and worldliness of the church
• Return to original scriptures was necessary as the new editions of the Latin Vulgate (Bible) had been mistranslated. Erasmus translated New Testament into Greek in 1516 which undermined the Vulgate
• Impact on lay people was minimal, little disruption of their daily worship by like-minded intellectuals

Question 27

Lollards

Answer 27

-More radical than humanists
-Challenged the doctrines and authority of the Catholic church
Followers of 14th C. theologian John Wycliff: translate Bible to English, close monasteries, secularization of all church property, equality of lay/clergy men.
-Such views regarded as heretical
-Persecution of Lollards in 15th C. forced them underground. Numbers unknown but little evidence of united efforts to advance radicalism in Henrician reformation

Question 28

Contrasting views on health of the Church of England pre reformation

Answer 28

• One side: Corrupt and unpopular, buckled easily under pressure exerted by Henry VIII
• Other side: Pre-reformation church in good health/widely popular. Isolated instances of anti-clericalism but devotion by laity on whole

Question 29

Contrasting views on motives for religious change

Answer 29

• Reformation was an act of state: Policies imposed by Henry on population, Parliament passive “rubber stamp” for policies. “reformation from above” view
• Popular reception of policies: Policies well received by the people, Protestant support for Henry as result of the change. “reformation from below” view

Question 30

Contrasting views on the pace of religious change

Answer 30

• Henrecian reformation did little to change the day-to-day worship of the laity and Catholic orthodoxy remained at the heart of worship. Protestantisation of people didn’t truly commence until reign of Elizabeth I
• Or, Henrecian reformation advanced Protestantism quickly, and it was widely accepted by the mid 16th century