Week 6: The English Reformation

Europe’s Reformation

The Big Issue

• Who made the English Reformation?
• Magesterial Reformation.

• the key question in the English Reformation is who made it?
• Was if from the bottom up?
• Or was it from the top down?
• The old argument is that the reformation was pushed on the monarchs by by the reformers.
• It appears more now that Catholicism was ripped from the people by new legislation from the monarchs.
• This is a magesterial reformation.
• The question though (that we will discuss Wednesday) is how did the monarchy enforce the reformation on the people?

Early Reformers in England

• Robert Barnes (c. 1495-1540)
  • White Horse Inn in London.
• William Tyndale (c. 1494-1536)
  • Translated the Bible into English 1525.
• Henry VIII, the “Defender of the Faith”

• Early reformers existed in England.
• Robert Barnes (c. 1495-1540)
  • English reformer and martyr.
  • Augustinian friar.
  • Oversaw meetings at the White Horne Inn in London.
    • Attended by humanists focused on biblical study.
    • The tavern was called Little Germany.
    • Arrested for heterodox beliefs.
    • Escaped to Wittenberg, where he was influenced by Martin Luther.
    • Returned to england and burned at the stake in 1540 for preaching justification by faith alone.
  • He was a friend of William Tyndale and was influenced by his ideas.
• Tyndale was an English scholar and theologian
  • best known for his translation of the Bible into English.
  • He was influenced by the works of Martin Luther and other reformers
  • his translation played a significant role in the spread of
• Tyndale adopted Zwinglian attitudes towards the Eucharist, which made him a heretic in the eyes of the Catholic Church.
  • He was arrested and executed in 1536 for heresy.
• Big Point: Early reformers were heterogenous from the beginning.
• Henry VIII early on was a staunch catholic and actively put down reformers like Barnes and Tyndale.

Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547)

Henry VIII

• Catherine of Aragon
• Act of Supremacy (1534)
• Dissolution of the Monasteries
• English Catholic Church.
• Pilgrimage of Grace (1536-1537)

• Catherine of Aragon was Henry’s first wife.
  • Produced no sons, only female Mary Tudor (b. 1516).
• Asked for divorce in 1527 from Pope Clement VII.
  • Wanted to mary Anne Boleyn one of the ladies-in-waiting of the Queen.
  • Charles V, Catherine’s nephew, was Holy Roman Emperor and opposed the divorce.
  • Charles V sacked Rome in 1527, which made it difficult for the Pope to grant the divorce.
• Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church.
  • 1531, Forced an assembly of Clergy to recognize the King as the
  • Stopped sending money to Rome.
  • 1533, Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, declared Henry’s marriage to Catherine null and void.
  • Act of Supremacy (1534) made the king the head of the Church of England.
    • Thomas More, Lord Chancellor, refused to take the oath and was executed in 1535.
• English Catholic Church
  • Henry VIII remained a good catholic.
  • Latin mass continued as before.
  • Priestly vestments continued as before.
  • Little real change for the parishioners.
• Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1541)
  • confiscated church lands and wealth, which enriched the crown and nobility.
  • led to the closure of monasteries, convents, and friaries.
  • caused social and economic disruption, as monasteries provided charity and employment.
  • Dissolution was a money grab for the King.
    • Significance: When magistrates were motivated to change religions, they also had material and financial incentives as well.
• Pilgrimage of Grace (1536-1537)
  • A large uprising in Northern England against Henry VIII’s religious policies.
  • Protested the dissolution of monasteries and the break with Rome.
  • The rebellion was eventually suppressed, and Aske was executed.
• Division of his council:
  • Protestants: Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, Edward Seymour (father of Henry’s 3rd wife), and Thomas Cromwell (architect of reformation legislation).

Edward VI (r. 1547-1553)

Edward IV

• Protestant councilors
• Book of Common Prayer (1549)
• 42 Articles of faith (1552)
• Second Book of Common Prayer (1552)

• son of 3rd wife, Jane Seymour.
• Crowned at 9.
• Influenced by Protestant regents.
  • especially Edward seymour and John dudly.
  • They were influenced by Zurich and Geneva.
• 1547,
• Book of common praryer (1549) was the first official liturgy in English.
  • It was a compromise between Catholic and Protestant practices.
  • It retained some Catholic elements, such as vestments and altars, but also introduced Protestant ideas, such as justification by faith alone.
• 1552, a more Protestant version of Second Book of Common Prayer was introduced.
  • Church called holy communion instead of the mass.
• Accepted the 42 articles of faith.
  • Refused predestination.
  • Revoked Christ’s body in the Eucharist.
• Led to unrest:
  • Prayer Book Rebellion (1549) in Cornwall and Devon.
  • Wanted priest’s to say prayers for the dead by name “as their forefathers had done”.

Mary I (r. 1553-1558)

Mary I

• Catholic
• Married Philip II of Spain
• Reinstatement of Catholicism

• Daughter of Catherine of Aragon.
• Reversed the English Reformation and restored Catholicism.
• Married Philip II of Spain in 1554, which was unpopular in England.
• Provoked no more resistance than Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy in 1534.
• Many of the conservative bishops regained their positions.
• Persecuted protestants under old heresy laws.
  • 300 victims.
    • many anabaptists.
    • many were clergy that didn’t flee to the continent.
• Restoration of worship.
  • Latin mass.
  • Priestly vestments.
  • Altars.
  • Pilgrimages.
  • Relics.
• Many of the churches just brought out the old Catholic stuff that had been hidden away during Edward’s reign.

Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603)

Elizabeth I

• Elizabethan Settlement (1559)
• Excommunication by Pope Pius V (1570)
• Ambiguities
• Conventicle Act (1593)
• Puritans and Separatists.

• Daughter of Anne Boleyn.
• Desired a straight forward return to Book of Common Prayer and 42 articles 0f faith of 1552.
• But faced opposition from both sides.
  • Catholics wanted a return to Catholicism.
    • Had just been in power for 5 years under Mary I.
  • Protestants wanted more reform.
    • Many Protestants returned from the continent where they were influenced by much more radical reformers like Calvin and Zwingli.
• Elizabethan Religious Settlement (1559)
  • Accepted the 1552 Book of Common prayer
    • But with language that permitted the Catholic and Reformed understanding of the Eucharist.
  • Ornamental rubric directed priest to wear the traditional vestments.
    • Removed those from office that refused.
  • Made sure the altars, statues and Catholic furnishing were destroyed not hidden away.
• Pope Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570,
  • which made it easier for her to suppress Catholicism.
  • led to political plots against here.
  • That led to more persecution of Catholics.
• She also supressed those calling for more reform.
  • suppressed biblical study groups
• 1593: conventicle Act
  • Death for anyone that didn’t attend the Church of England services.
• Ambiguities:
  • Accepted predestination and Reformed understanding of Eucharist.
• Development of Presbyterianism style church government.
  • These wanted to purify the church of England of its Catholic elements.
  • Sunday was a day of frivolity
    • dancing around the maypole. Drinking.
    • traditional parish festivals took place.
  • These Puritans personalized the doctrine of predestination.
    • looking for a moment of conversion to know they were elect.
    • They primarily wanted a presbyterian form of church government.
  • Separatists also developed that were similar to the anabaptists.
    • they viewed the chruch as the sole preserve of the community.
    • and baptism a part of the conversion experience. (no infantile baptism).
      • these were the pilgrims.

James I (r. 1603-1625)

James I

• Gun Powder Plot (1605)
• Growth of popular Presbyterianism
• Anti-Presbyterian
• Absolutism.
• King James Bible (1611)

• Son of Mary Queen of Scots.
  • Queen Mary of Scots was the daughter of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise.
  • James V of Scotland was the son of James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor, who was the sister of Henry VIII.
• Gun Powder Plot (1605)
  • Attempt to blow up the house of lords by Catholics.
  • Protestants saw it as a diabolical Popish plot.
  • Increased laws against recusants (those that refused to attend Church of England services).
    • forbidden to practice law, medicine, or attend university.
    • no voting or holding local or parliamentary office.
• Anti-Presbyterian
  • Presbyterian church prospered in Scotland.
  • He did not appreciate the church government that was independent of the monarchy.
  • He wanted to be the head of the church in England and Scotland.
• Believed he was answerable to God alone, not his subjects.
• Referred to himself as absolute.
• Married a Catholic, Anne of Denmark
  • gave permission for Catholic practices at court for his wife and followers.
• 1611-1621 didn’t call parliament.
• KING Jemas bible (1611)
  • Authorized version of the Bible.
  • Commissioned by James I in 1604.
  • Completed in 1611.
  • It was a revision of the earlier Tyndale and Coverdale translations.
  • It became the standard English Bible for centuries and had a profound influence on English literature and culture.
  • Did not include any commentary to avoid anti-monarchist interpretations that appeared in the Geneva bible.
• Significance:
  • United religious challenges with political challenges.
  • United his enemies amongst religious issues and driving his political opponents into the arms of the religious opposition.