Chapter 6

Question 1

Status of Catholicism in the country at this time

Answer 1

During the reign of Henry VIl all English people belonged, at least theoretically, to the Catholic Church and were under the jurisdiction of the Pope in Rome. Prayers in the Mass were always said for the Pope.

Question 2

Role of Churches in local communities

Answer 2

Lives were lived and regulated according to the Church’s major ceremonies.
The parish church, of which there were over 8000, was the focus of religious experience. The church provided the focus of popular entertainment. Its festivals, which were closely linked to the agricultural year, provided much-needed enjoyment and its guilds and confraternities offered charity, good fellowship and the chance for ordinary people to contribute to the good of their local community.

Question 3

How did the Church help social control be maintained?

Answer 3

The Church made it easier for the social and political elites to maintain social control through its encouragement of good behaviour, obedience and stress on the values of community. It also provided employment opportunities and, for a few like Cardinal Wolsey, the opportunity to advance themselves socially through the attainment of high office in Church and State.

Question 4

What were guilds and confraternities?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

What was the political role of the Church?

Answer 5

The political role of the Church was significant, both in terms of international relations and in domestic matters. The highest position in the Church was held by the Pope in Rome, who not only wielded considerable spiritual power but was also the head of a substantial state in northern Italy.

Question 6

Power balance between Pope and king and example?

Answer 6

It is typical both of Henry VI’s carefulness and the Pope’s influence that he sought, through Thomas Morton, a dispensation to marry Elizabeth of York. On the other hand, successive popes did little at this time to interfere directly with the running of the Church in England; the relationship between Church and Stafe was Brastian. The king was firmly in control and popes were generally eager to grant the favours demanded by the king.
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.

Question 7

Info about clergy in political positions and examples :

Answer 7

It was common for senior clergy to participate at a high level in the political process. During much of the medieval period it was normal for the most senior figures within the Church in England to be drawn from the senior ranks of the aristocracy. Margaret Beaufort’s great uncle, for example, had been a cardinal and bishop of Winchester. The two churchmen who exercised most power under Henry VII were John Morton
and Richard Fox.
Some offices of State, especially that of the chancellor (the highest adviser to the king), were monopolised by clergymen. The most senior clergymen were, on the whole, highly competent and conscientious professionals, often with legal training, who performed their duties to both Church and State effectively. The abbots, who were heads of the wealthiest religious houses, ehered membership of the House of Lords with the bishops. They also had to possess a range of management and administrative skills to keep their complex Organisations running efectively, as well as demonstrating the spirituaity necessary to maintain the reputation of their houses. Not all heads of house lived up to all of these demands, and criticisms of the monastic life were increasing.

Question 8

Spiritual role of local Parishes

Answer 8

The parish church was central to religious experience and this period was, according to Eamon Duffy, emphatically the age of the parish church and of those who worshipped there. The church provided the outward structures of community life. A late-medieval community was a religious one, which believed that the prayers made together, as part of the collective unit of the parish, were more powerful than those from the individual alone. The church provided a framework for controlling how an individual thought, reasoned and behaved. Its function was not only to spread and uphold Christian teaching, it also offered various ways by which an individual could acquire grace in order to reach heaven and minimise the time a soul would spend in purgatory.

Question 9

What were the seven sacraments?

Answer 9

• Baptism, which welcomed the newly born infant into the community.
• Confirmation, which marked the transition from childhood to adulthood.
• Marriage, in which the community could witness two individuals pledging themselves to each other.
• Anointing of the sick, which prepared the dying for their passage into the next world.
• Penance, during which the individual sought God’s forgiveness for the sins which s/he had committed.
Holy Orders, the process by which the priest himself became empowered to deliver the sacraments (rituals) to others.
•Eucharist, in which church members received Christ’s body and blood in the form of bread and wine to be nourished physically and spiritually and brought closer to God.

Question 10

Importance of the Catholic Mass

Answer 10

The central religious experience of the Catholic Church came with the Mass, during which the priest would perform the sacrament of Holy Communion, also known as the Eucharist (thanksgiving). The climax of this ceremony was the point where the priest consecrated the bread and the wine (i.e. declared it to be sacred). Catholics believed that at the point of consecration, the bread and the wine were transformed figuratively and literally into the body and blood of Christ, a process known as transubstantiation. The priest consumed both the bread and the wine; lay members of the congregation

Question 11

For which two reasons was Mass important?

Answer 11

• It was a sacrifice performed by the priest on behalf of the community
• It was a sacred ritual in which the whole community participated

Question 12

Laity’s investment into churches

Answer 12

The communal aspects of late-medieval religion were emphasised by the investment which many lay people made into their parish churches. In addition to funding the lavish rebuilding of many churches, it was largely lay people who paid for the objects which accompanied services. The dying would often leave money to the parish church, which had a triple purpose: to enhance the beauty of worship, to ensure the remembrance of the benefacto. and to reduce the time the benefactor would spend in purgatory.

Question 13

Laity’s investment into Chantries

Answer 13

Benefactors would leave money for the foundation of chantries. Usually chantries were financed from property bequeathed in someone’s will for that purpose. According to Eamon Duffy, ‘the central function of a chantry pries was intercession for the soul of his patron? Benefactors saw their donations as a way of benefiting the religious experience of themselves and their community. This is important for understanding why the dissolution of the chantries by Henry VIII caused so much distress.

Question 14

Info about religious guilds

Answer 14

Another significant expression of communal religious influences was the confraternity (also known as a religious guild or lay brotherhood. These were groups of men (and sometimes women) who gathered together, usually in association with the parish church, to provide collectively for the funeral cost of members, to pay chaplains for Masses for their members, to help maintain church fabric, to make charitable donations and to socialise. Guilds were enormously popular (the small rural parish of Saile in Norfolk had seven).
They also varied greatly in size and wealth. Wealthier guilds could be sources of local patronage and power. Some of them ran schools and almshouses, maintained bridges, highways and sea walls, or, as in Louth in Lincolnshire, paid for expensive projects such as the building of the spire at the parish church. Many parishes in the south and the south Midlands raised funds through church-ale festivals, which involved much drinking and a range of entertainments. Ale made and donated for the event was the chief drink.

Question 15

Importance of pilgrimages

Answer 15

Religion’s social role was evident in a number of other ways. Going on pilgrimage was another way in which the individual could gain relief from purgatory. A pilgrimage could involve visiting the tomb of a saint, such as Thomas Becket at Canterbury, or a shrine built where there had been a reported visitation of the Virgin Mary, such as at Walsingham in Norfolk.
There is evidence to suggest that England’s primary pilgrimage site, the tomb of Thomas Becket at Canterbury, was losing some of its popularity, and some late-medieval religious writers such as Thomas à Kempis were critical of pilgrimage as a practice. However, the vast number of pilgrimage sites made access relatively easy, and the practice of pilgrimage was, in Eamon Duffy’s description, exuberant. A simpler form of pilgrimage happened on Rogation Sunday (Rogationtide) when the whole community would ‘beat the bounds of the parish (walking around the parish boundaries to pray for its protection), carrying banners and the parish cross to ward off evil spirits and reinforce the parish property. This event emphasised the importance of the parish as the key focus of local community in the lives of ordinary people at the time.

Question 16

Importance of the individual religious experience

Answer 16

though religion was emphasised as a social activity, the importance of individual religious experience should not be underestimated; indeed it became more important as the fifteenth century progressed. Individual religious experience was emphasised in the writing of mystics, who believed in the personal communication of the individual with God. The most obvious example of this approach in practice was that of Henry VIl’s mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, whose piety was reflected in her widespread donations, especially to Cambridge University.

Question 17

Info about monasteries and examples

Answer 17

It has been estimated that around one per cent of adult males in England by c1500 were monks, living in religious housing known as monasteries. The monks lived under the rule of the monasteries. Most of these lived in the 900 religious communities which were found all over the country.
The oldest and most common religious order was the Benedictines, named in honour of their founder St Benedict, who first devised the monastic rule.
Many Benedictine houses were large. Some of the larger Benedictine houses, like Durham, also operated as the cathedral churches of their diocese, so fulfilling an important role in the community. Other religious orders included the Cistercians and Carthusians. Their foundation in the late eleventh century was prompted by the lack of zeal shown by Benedictines. Their monasteries were frequently situated in more remote rural areas - examples include the Yorkshire houses of Fountains and Mount Grace. Though monastic recruits came from a wide range of social backgrounds, it is evident that a large proportion of monks in the larger houses was drawn from the wealthier parts of society. It is also evident that many monasteries recruited predominantly from their own localities.

Question 18

Info about Friars

Answer 18

Orders of friars, who worked among lay people and who were largely supported by charitable donations, arose in the thirteenth century. The three main orders of friars were: the Dominicans (or black friars), a preaching order; the Franciscans (grey friars); and the Augustinians. Orders of friars seem to have recruited from lower down the social scale than the larger monasteries.
By the late fifteenth century, as Christopher Harper-Bill has argued, the great days of the friars were over, though the various orders of friars continued to receive substantial bequests in the wills of the faithful.

Question 19

Importance of nunneries

Answer 19

Nunneries enjoyed much less prestige, given that they were mostly populated by women who were deemed unsuitable for marriage. A notable exception was the Bridgettine foundation at Syon near Isleworth in Middlesex. Most nunneries were relatively poor, though Syon again was an exception, and the quality of many novices was inadequate as they entered convents as a last
resort.

Question 20

Who were Lollards and what did they believe?

Answer 20

A small minority was critical of the beliefs and practices of the Church.
Lollardy, for example, founded by John Wycliffe, emerged in England in the second half of the fourteenth century and was still to be found during the time of Henry VII. Lollards placed stress on the understanding of the Bible and therefore favoured its translation into English. They were sceptical abour transubstantiation and the principles of the Eucharist, and considered the Catholic Church to be corrupt. They also denied the idea of the special status of the priesthood.
Lollard views were considered heresy but still persisted in parts of southern England, particularly in south Buckinghamshire and around Newbury in Berkshire.

Question 21

Prominence of Lollardy and other heretics

Answer 21

Though the movement seems to have been quite widespread at the end of the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth centuries, its popularity declined after the failed Lollard uprising of 1414. Lollards became fewer in number, the movement lost intellectual coherence and became geographically restricted. Other forms of heresy seem to have been rare. The burning of heretics had been introduced into English law in 1401, though relatively few had suffered this terrible fate.

Question 22

Prevalence of anticlericalism

Answer 22

Criticism of the Church did exist, and it has often been assumed that anticlericalism was widespread in late-medieval England, though this assumption has been challenged by historians such as Christopher Haigh who have argued that specific outbursts of anticlericalism were rare, that they were often politically motivated and that the continued healthy numbers of candidates for the priesthood showed that priests retained the support of most members of the laity.

Question 23

What was anticlericalism?

Answer 23

opposition to the Church’s role in political and other non-religious matters

Question 24

What was heresy?

Answer 24

the denial of the validity of the key doctrines of the Church

Question 25

What was Humanism?

Answer 25

was derived from ‘humanist’ (‘umanista’ in Italian). It was a development of the Renaissance of the fourteenth century and was founded on the rediscovery of original Latin and Greek texts.
Originating in Renaissance Florence, humanists were particularly concerned with establishing the reliability of Latin and Greek translations in order to purify the ideas of religious texts. As such, it was broadly intellectual trend with specific learning objectives. Humanists were believers in the Catholic faith, particularly the notion of free will.
Their work affected not only religion but also politics and economics.
Christian humanism was the movement which arose when this approach was applied to biblical texts.

Question 26

Developments with Humanism in Henry’s reign and key figures?

Answer 26

The earliest humanist scholars of significance in England were William Grocyn (c1449-1519) and Thomas Linacre (c1460-1524). Each of them had experienced humanist approaches to the classics in Florence in the late 1480s. Grocyn began to lecture at Oxford on the ideas of Plato and Aristotle. Linacre was particularly influenced by the scientific thinking which he acquired in Italy, and took a medical degree at the Universitv of Padua. Even more influential as an educator was John Colet (1467-1519).
He saw humanist scholarly approaches as a means of reforming the Church from within. His most important ally in this process was the renowned Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus, who paid his first visit to England in 1499. Erasmus, more than anyone else at least in his own estimation, epitomised the spirit of the new learning. His friendship with Thomas More would give a huge boost to humanist ideas in the early years of the reign of Henry VIII.

Question 27

Who was Erasmus?

Answer 27

Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) was a Dutch scholar whose influential book The Handbook of a Christian Soldier, published in 1504, sought to regenerate Christianity through emphasis on education and rejection of some of the Church’s traditional ceremonies. His satirical works were highly critical of the abuses of the Church.

Question 28

Connection between Humanism and printing at this time?

Answer 28

Printing in England began with William Caxton in 1477, but it was more significant in Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. There was little connection in this period between printing, humanism and the new learning.

Question 29

Who was John Colet?

Answer 29

John Colet (1467-1519), like Grocyn and Linacre, travelled to Italy and was introduced to humanist influences there. After following a largely academic career, he became Dean of St Paul’s, and refounded St Paul’s School in 1512.
His one surviving sermon was highly critical of the standards of the clergy, and this has led many historians to assume that his views foreshadow those who favoured the growth of Protestantism.

Question 30

Overall impact of Humanism in England at this time?

Answer 30

Humanism and the Renaissance had made little impression on England. English intellectual life continued to be dominated by traditional medieval scholastic philosophy which humanists considered to be too formal and old-fashioned.

Question 31

Developments in education

Answer 31

This was also a time of widening educational opportunities. ‘Song schools’ and ‘reading schools’ provided elementary education for the very young. Most of what we would now consider ‘secondary’ education took place in grammar schools. Some of these had been in existence for centuries, but there was an increase in new foundations during this period; 53 new grammar schools were founded between 1460 and 1509. Nevertheless, while there was ample provision for the wealthy, for the majority, access to education depended on where they happened to live.

Question 32

Grammar school curriculums

Answer 32

Central to the grammar school curriculum was the study of Latin. Most schools probably continued to teach the subject in the traditional way but he 1480s saw the beginnings of a humanistic approach, particularly at Magdalen College School in Oxford. The teaching of English remained a by-product of the teaching of Latin.

Question 33

Info about university education

Answer 33

University education rested with the ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Oxford had experienced substantial expansion with the foundation of new colleges in the first half of the fifteenth century, but this had ground to a halt. Cambridge, however, had several new colleges during this period, benefiting, in particular, from the generosity of Lady Margaret Beaufort who was responsible for the foundation of Christ’s College and St John’s College.

Question 34

Importance of drama

Answer 34

The most important popular art form of the time was drama. Plays were sometimes presented in association with church -ale festivals, for example at Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire in 1490. Troupes of players, sometimes sponsored by members of the nobility, toured the country. However, the mos famous dramas were the mystery plays performed at the feasts of Corpus Christi by the guilds of towns and cities such as York, Lincoln, Wakefield and Coventry. The performances were important festive occasions in which churches, corporations and guilds combined in public celebrations whichs out straightforward moral and religious messages for the moral improvemen of their audiences.

Question 35

Importance of music and examples

Answer 35

Music was also enjoyed at various levels in the fifteenth century from the local bagpipe and wind groups that entertained the crowds on sainls days - sometimes accompanying bawdy drinking songs - through to the great choral pieces sung in the country’s cathedrals. This music underwent the beginnings of a ‘renaissance as single-line chants gave way to polyphonic choral music, where different parts of the choir sang independent melodic lines, which would be heard in cathedrals and other major churches.

The most important surviving source for such music is the Eton Choirbook, compiled around 1505, a collection of 93 separate musical compositions.
The two most important composers represented in the Choirbook each had very close links with the political establishment of Henry VIl’s reign: Thomas Browne was employed in the household of the Earl of Oxford and Robert
Fayrfax benefited regularly from the patronage of Lady Margaret Beaufort as well as that of the king.
Music performed at court or in the homes of the wealthy (sometimes for a special occasion or, more regularly, given from the minstrels’ gallery to accompany a meal) used instruments such as trumpets, shawms and sackbuts or, in softer music, stringed instruments, recorders and lutes. Browne and Fayrfax also composed secular songs used for entertainment. Carols, not then exclusively associated with Christmas, were also popular.

Question 36

Developments in art and architecture

Answer 36

There was a massive amount of building and rebuilding of parish churches that occurred at this time. The vast number of churches built in the Gothic perpendicular style is an indication of the scale of investment which took place; these include such important places of worship as Saint Mary Redcliffe in Bristol and the major wool churches of East Anglia, such as Lavenham and Long Melford. In 1502 Henry VII approved this architectural style for the Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey. English culture still followed the Gothic traditions of northwestern Europe, with an allegedly primitive visual style.

Question 37

Developments in literature

Answer 37

The new industry of printing was still only concerned with traditional medieval culture. William Caxton, who established his printing press in 1478, printed works such as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and other traditional medieval works, including chivalric romances and adaptations of the saints’ lives. However, tastes began to change and by the time of Henry VIT’s death in 1509 humanist influences had reached England, particularly from Italy. Humanist scholars, foreigners like Erasmus and Englishmen like Thomas More and John Colet, became more fashionable. The works printed by Caxton also became unfashionable, with the emergence of what historian Jack Lander called the ‘humanist contempt for chivalric literature’.

Question 38

Overall state of Church during Henry’s reign

Answer 38

tolerably well and there was remarkably little dissent, although patches of lolard activity did undoubtedly exist. On the whole, however, the Church was Certainly, in the judgement of Christopher Harper-Bill, ‘the institutions of
Tomarkably effective at fulfilling what people perceived as their spiritual needs. the English church in the early sixteenth century do not appear to have been in urgent need of radical reform! The relationships between the Church and education and culture remained strong. The speed of cultural change remained quite slow. Humanism had made inroads in education, but its maior influence would not be felt until the reign of Henry VIII. Visual culture remained predominantly Gothic.