Edward VI: Somerset - Religious Changes

Question 1

What were the main religious changes made between 1547-1549?

Answer 1

• 1547 - Six Articles reversed
• Feb 1547 - denunciation of images in London
• July 1547 - injunctions issued
• Dec 1547 - dissolution of chantries and religious guilds
• January 1549 - Act of Uniformity
• May 1549 - introduction of Book of Common Prayer

Question 2

How Protestant was Somerset?

Answer 2

• Seemed to be a genuine Protestant
• Late convert to Protestantism
• Welcomed religious radicals like John Hooper and Thomas Becon into his household

Question 3

What were the religious effects of the relaxation of press censorship?

Answer 3

• Reduction in press censorship supported by the government
• Led to drastic increase in number of pamphlets and writings against Catholicism
• Circulated the ideas of Martin Luther and John Calvin

Question 4

What is iconoclasm?

Answer 4

• The destruction of (religious) images
• Radical Protestants believed the third of the Ten Commandments meant no religious images were allowed
• ‘You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above […]. You shall not bow down to them or worship them.’

Question 5

When were images in London denunciated?

Answer 5

• Feb 1547

Question 6

Why were images in London denunciated?

Answer 6

• Reflected radical attitudes among churchmen, especially Nicholas Ridley
• Ridley was supported both within government and by Protestant activists within London who engaged in iconoclasm

Question 7

Who was Nicholas Ridley?

Answer 7

• Prominent reformer in Edward VI’s reign

- Chaplain to Henry VIII

Question 8

When were injunctions issued?

Answer 8

• July 1547

Question 9

What injunctions were issued?

Answer 9

• Attacked many features of popular Catholicism

• Lights
• Images
• Stained glass
• Processions and practices associated with Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday

Question 10

When were chantries and religious guilds dissolved?

Answer 10

• December 1547

Question 11

What were chantries?

Answer 11

• Chapels built with money left by rich Catholics

- In chantries, priests would pray for them, enabling them to get through Purgatory more quickly

Question 12

What were religious guilds?

Answer 12

• Religious guilds were groups of ordinary Catholics who had done charitable work in their villages

Question 13

Why were chantries and religious guilds abolished?

Answer 13

• Crown needed money to fund expensive foreign policy

- These properties were seized by the Crown

Question 14

When was the Book of Common Prayer introduced?

Answer 14

• May 1549

Question 15

What was the Book of Common Prayer?

Answer 15

• Official liturgical book of the Church of England
• Largely written by Thomas Cranmer
• Written in English
• Hinted at belief in transubstantiation
• Compromise between Catholics and Protestants

Question 16

When was the Act of Uniformity passed?

Answer 16

• 1549

Question 17

What were the aims of the Act of Uniformity?

Answer 17

• To impose a uniform standard of worship across England to end religious confusion and argument that had been growing since 1534 (Act of Supremacy)

Question 18

Describe some of the terms of the Act of Uniformity

Answer 18

• English was the language of worship
• Congregations should be offered both bread and wine during communion (breach of Catholic tradition of reserving wine for priest)

Question 19

Describe some of the Catholic elements in the Act of Uniformity

Answer 19

• Did not create a separate Protestant Church
• Services conducted similarly to Catholic services (except for language)
• Priests dressed and behaved the same