1.6 Religion; humanism; arts and learning

Question 1

Church: What were some beliefs about purgatory?

Answer 1

-Most people would go there when they died, before they went to heaven/hell.
-They believed you could get out of purgatory by giving to the church & through prayers for the dead.
-Taking the seven sacraments, too, helped reduce purgatory time.

Question 2

Church: What was tithe? What was the clergy? What was the laity?

Answer 2

-Tithe was the money you payed towards the church, normally 1/10 of income.
-Clergy are those who deliver religion to others, like priests.
-Laity is everyone else (ordinary people).

Question 3

Church: How did the Catholic Church impact everyday life?

Answer 3

-All English people ‘belonged’ to the Catholic Church, and were under jurisdiction of the Pope, and prayers at mass were always said for him.
-Despite this, most people were concerned with their own religious experience.
-Lives were structured around major ceremonies, and the parish church provided the focus of popular entertainment.
-Festivals provided enjoyment & guilds offered charity, good fellowship, and the chance to contribute to the good of the local community.

Question 4

Church: How was England split up? How many parishes were there?

Answer 4

-It was separated into 2 provinces & 17 different dioceses.
-Each Archbishop controlled each province.
-These dioceses set up geographical borders more than counties did.
-There were 8000 parish churches.

Question 5

Church: Were church officials involved in other areas of society?

Answer 5

-Henry would often reward churchmen with high political office, and it was common for senior clergy to participate in the political process.
-The two most powerful churchmen in Henry’s reign were Richard Fox & John Morton.
-Many Abbots were Lords in HoL with bishops.
-The role of chancellor was monopolised by clergy.

Question 6

Church: Why did people leave money for chantries? What was a confraternity?

Answer 6

-The main purpose of a chantry priest was intercession for the soul of his patron, the benefactor who had left donation in will.
-They saw their donations as a way of benefiting the religious experience of themselves and their communities.
-Confraternities were groups of men who would gather to collectively provide the funeral costs of members, to pay chaplains for masses for their members, to make donations, and to socialise.

Question 7

Church: Were guilds popular? What did they do?

Answer 7

-Immensely so, the small rural parish of Salle in Norfolk had seven guilds.
-Wealthier guilds provided local patronage, and power. Some ran schools, and almshouses, or, as happened in Louth in Lincolnshire, paid for expensive projects, like building a spire.

Question 8

Church: What were some English pilgrimages? Were they popular?

Answer 8

-Visiting the tomb of a saint, like Thomas Becket at Canterbury.
-A shrine where there had been sightings of the Virgin Mary, like Walsingham in Norfolk.
-People began to become more critical of pilgrimages at this time, so the number going to Canterbury decreased.
-However, more accessible, local, ones, like Rogationtide were incredibly popular. Events like these emphasised the importance of the local parish & community.

Question 9

Reform: Provide some evidence that the laity wanted reform by 1509?

Answer 9

-In Canterbury, there were 14 tithe suits in 1482 (out of 250 parishes).
-There were 41 complaints of clerical negligence in Lincoln (of the 1000 parish churches).
-There had been recorded cases of physical assault against members of the clergy.
-Many viewed the Corpus Christi procession as being very hierarchical.
-There were individual cases of greed, & misconduct.

Question 10

Reform: Provide some evidence that the laity didn’t want reform by 1509?

Answer 10

-2/3 of English parishes had renovations done before the reformation.
-Across 20 counties in the north, there were 2182 chantries.
-In Lichfield between 1504-1529, the number of priests ordained each year was double 1364-84.
-By 1500, the most common books in wills were personal prayer books.
-Between 1370-1532, 95% made bequests to the church in their wills.
-There were 150 religious guilds in London & 45 in Norwich.

Question 11

Reform: Provide some evidence that the monasteries were in need of reform by 1509?

Answer 11

-In Rievuax, the number of monks dropped from 200 to 20.
-There were lots of complaints that monks didn’t give sermons properly, there was failure of leadership, there was sexual regularity, and food was of bad quality.
-The Abbot Wallingford of St Albans reportedly allowed his monks to wander off for inappropriate purposes.
-In Canterbury, prisoners accused nuns of being common prostitutes.

Question 12

Reform: Provide some evidence that the monasteries were not in need of reform by 1509?

Answer 12

-The accused nuns were, upon investigation, found to be 50, 80, & 84 years old (so it was unlikely that they were prostitutes).
-In the 16thC, there were 825 religious houses, and 2000 nuns, 3000 friars, and 4500 nuns.
-Fountains Abbey doubled monks from 1440-1520.
-Many of the complaints were very mundane, perhaps they didn’t need drastic change.
-Many Abbots & Bishops sat in the Lords. Figures like Joseph Islip who was a member of the Royal Council.
-Many had printing presses (tech dev.)

Question 13

Reform: What was lollardy? Who founded it?

Answer 13

-A religious movement that criticised the beliefs & practices of the Catholic Church. It was founded by John Wycliffe.
-They were sceptical about transubstantiation, & principles of the Eucharist.

Question 14

Reform: Give some evidence that Lollardy was widespread.

Answer 14

-30 lollard manuscripts survive from the 15thC, and these contained 294 sermons.
-In Coventry, from 1511-12, between 49-67 people were accused of lollardy.
-There were accusations all across the diocese of Lincoln, which was the largest diocese.
-In Amersham, in 1512, between 10-25% of people were accused of lollardy.
-Joan Boughton & her daughter were both burned for lollardy.

Question 15

Reform: Give some evidence that Lollardy wasn’t widespread.

Answer 15

-The surviving manuscripts were all written before 1420, which implies that it was not a problem in Henry’s reign.
-London only had 23 accusation between 1510-1, and had a population of 50,000, & in 1512 only 1 was accused.
-Lollardy was concentrated in the south-east, particularly Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, & Oxfordshire (towns like Amersham, Marlow, & Witney).
-Almost all those accused renounced their heresies & performed penance, the tiny proportion who were burnt were those who had previously abjured & were again convicted.
-Colchester trials were only 19 men & 14 women.

Question 16

Reform: What was humanism? Who were some key humanists?

Answer 16

-A movement that emerged in the Renaissance with the goal of embracing the moral, artistic, and intellectual potential of man.
-Figures like Erasmus, Thomas More, and John Colet.
-They emphasised the individual over the state.

Question 17

Reform: In what ways did the Humanists agree with Luther?

Answer 17

-Many Humanists agreed with Luther that the study of the Bible & faith alone would get people into heaven.
-Luther, Erasmus, and More all criticised the indulgences of the church.
-Luther & Erasmus both felt that the Pope & monasteries were corrupt.
-Erasmus’ 1511 work, ‘Praise of Folly’ heavily criticised the corruption of the clergy.

Question 18

Reform: In what ways did the Humanists disagree with Luther?

Answer 18

-Erasmus conflicted with Luther’s ideas of free will, as Erasmus’ 1524 book, ‘Freedom of the Will’ asserted.
-They disagreed over the translation of religious texts, as both Erasmus & Colet promoted the teaching of classics.
-More’s book ‘Assertion of the Seven Sacraments’ clearly showed his disapproval of Luther’s ideology.
-Overall, the Humanists simply wanted some reform within the Catholic church, not a completely separate church. Many of them were Catholics, with Colet being ordained a deacon in 1497.

Question 19

Reform: Give some additional evidence that people wanted church reform.

Answer 19

-There was production of translated bibles, so people disagreed with the Catholic Latin Bible.
-It could be suggested that monks with roles in government were power hungry & corrupt.

Question 20

Reform: Give some additional evidence that people didn’t want reform.

Answer 20

-9/10,000 people worked in religious life.
-Foxe referred to the ‘Great Abjuration’, implying that lollards were not prepared to be martyrs, and were not dedicated to their cause, so it was not a real issue.

Question 21

Arts: What were some developments in education?

Answer 21

-‘Song schools’ & ‘Reading schools’ provided elementary education.
-53 new grammar schools were founded between 1460 & 1509.
-Over the 1480s, schools began to take a more humanist approach towards the study of Latin.
-Oxbridge remained the only Universities, and Cambridge underwent expansion due to generosity of Margaret Beaufort, who was responsible for the foundation of Christ’s College & St John’s.

Question 22

Arts: How did Drama develop?

Answer 22

-Plays were often presented in association with church-ale festivals, like at Bishop Stratford’s in Hertfordshire in 1490.
-The most famous dramas were the mystery plays performed at the feasts of Corpus Christi by guilds of towns & cities like York, Wakefield, and Coventry.

Question 23

Arts: How did Music develop?

Answer 23

-Music had become incredibly widespread, going from drinking songs to choral pieces at cathedrals.
-Music underwent the beginnings of a ‘renaissance’ as single-line chants gave way to polyphonic choral music.
-The Eton Choir book, compiled around 1505, was a key example of this.
-Composers & musicians were intertwined with noble families: Thomas Browne was employed in Oxford’s household, and Robert Fayrfax benefitted from the patronage of Margaret Beaufort & the King.

Question 24

Arts: How did Architecture develop?

Answer 24

-The renovation of churches made way for new architectural styles, particularly in a Gothic perpendicular style. This was seen in Saint Mary Redcliffe in Bristol & churches in major wool towns, like Lavenham & Long Melford.
In 1502, Henry approved of the style for the Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey.

Question 25

Arts: How did Printing develop?

Answer 25

-Printing emerged & was concerned with traditional medieval culture.
-William Caxton, who had established a printing press in 1478, printed works like Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’ & other works like chivalric romances & adaptions saint’s lives.
-Caxton is largely credited with bringing the printing press to England.