the reformation Flashcards
what historian wrote the article about the reformation of the generations?
Alexandra Walsham
when did Thomas Parr live?
1483-1635
what did poet John Taylor write about the death of Thomas Parr?
called his extent of life a ‘monument and almost miracle of nature’ - he highlights in his poem published in commemoration of his death that he lived through the ‘protracted and idiosyncratic Reformation’
during the early modern times, what percentage of the population was 21 or younger?
40% to 50%
what is the main premise of Alexandra Walsham’s argument?
that how generations are biologically and culturally connected can be used as a heuristic tool for analysing the causes and reception of the reformation
what example does Alexandra Walsham give when discussing generational analysis as a heuristic tool?
The Seven Ages of Man by John Amos Comenius
what does the seven ages of man by John Amos Comenius say?
different ages have different characteristics, temperaments and instincts - Walsham uses this to support her argument that these generational boundaries correspond typologically with particular eras of human history
what does Walsham believe about age?
it was both a biological fact and a cultural construct
what are the contradicting characteristics of youth?
-innocent, ignorant
-prone to sin, insubordination, idleness
what are the contradicting characteristics of seniority?
-wisdom, gravity, experience
-folly, depravity, senility
what is the problem when is comes to analysing cases of age (Primary sources)?
you can’t fully analyse this as records will always be inaccurate - fiction and fact are inextricably linked
what did catholic supporters claim?
that is was the ‘old religion’ - they claimed that its age was a testament to its truth and legitimacy
what were the writers called who wrote anti-protestant writings?
Thomas Harding and John Rastell
what did Thomas Harding and John Rastell write about protestants?
they castigated protestants as a new-tangled upstart religion fuelled with ‘gross absurdities’ and ‘rotten rags’ - taunting the youth of the religion by teasing ‘where was your church before Luther?’
what did protestant propagandists claim about their religion?
that their church was the real incarnation of the primitive religion of christ - the reformation had not brought a new church but instead resurrected an apostolic and abrahamic one
what did the catholics blame the spread of protestantism on?
the ‘fickleness of youth’
what catholic writers scrutinised the age of reformation pushers?
William Peryn and Miles Huggarde
what did William Peryn and Miles Huggarde call protestant reformers?
branded prots as a movement of ‘lewd laddys’ and ‘beardless boys’ - suggests both a religious opposition but also an opposition to the inversion of the natural hierarchy beginning to take place due to the young protestant reformers preaching their theology
what is an example of protest opposition to the catholic insults?
grammar school boy from Worcester, John Davis composed ballads against the catholic clergy with provocative titles - for example, ‘come down, for all your shaven crowne’
what writing celebrates the inversion of the natural hierarchy and patriarchal structures?
John Foxe’s, Actes and Monuments - which dwells on youth who outshine old theology and are excused of lecturing elders because it is divinely inspired - emphasising the medieval hagiographical trope of the puer senex architypes - the godly child transcends to the stage
what was believed amongst communities about children and religion? give an example.
it was believed that they could have spiritual insights
11year old ‘wise virgin’ Martha Hatfield - she had trance-like visions which made her famous in puritan London in 1653, once a pamphlet had been made describing her
