Religion, ideas and reform Flashcards
(15 cards)
How did Renaissance ideas develop in England during Henry VIII’s reign?
Renaissance ideas in intellectual life and culture had made a tentative appearance in England during the reign of Henry VII, but began to flourish among at least some of the groups within English society under the reign of Henry VIII; he encouraged thinkers such as More and Erasmus and some of his cultural patronage showed the influence of fashionable artistic trends, eg. the effigies on his parents’ tomb
What was the impact of Humanism on education?
Most significant humanist voice in English education was John Colet, who showed his initiative in his refoundation of St Paul’s School, London:
He appointed the school’s governors members drawn from a city guild rather than choosing clergymen
The school’s statues laid down a curriculum, including some works by Erasmus. Teaching methods were derived from humanist principles
He appointed humanist William Lily as the head of the school
Schools such as St Paul’s and Magdalen College School (Oxford) were at the forefront of educational reform; they firmly adopted Platonist educational principles — in practice this meant that pupils should have the ideal of public service instilled into them
These schools’ influence steadily grew and they taught many boys who would later become prominent in the religion and politics of Tudor England
Similar concepts included the foundation of Corpus Christi/Cardinal colleges (Oxford) and St John’s College (Cambridge)
Cardinal Wolsey (much praised by Erasmus) gave his personal commitment to educational improvement: he founded his college and also a school in Ipswich, his home town. He also endowed a professorship in Greek at Oxford
Humanist influences had gained a lasting hold on university curricula by the end of Henry VIII’s reign
How did Renaissance ideas influence English culture?
Signs of the influence of Renaissance ideas on English culture emerged throughout Henry VIII’s reign because:
1) Knowledge of classical learning increased amongst elite groups in society
2) A growing number of schools became influenced by humanist approaches to education
3) Henry VIII saw himself as a promoter of new ideas and humanism
4) Crown needed well-educated diplomats who could communicate with their international counterparts in a fashionably elegant style
Thomas More was the most important English humanist writer; he combined his intellectual interests with his work as a lawyer and statesman
Other writers who demonstrated humanist influences included Thomas Lupset and Thomas Starkey
Renaissance ideas had an increasing influence on visual culture:
1) Henry VIII commissioned Italian sculptor Pietro Torrigiano to produce the tombs of his parents and his paternal grandmother. Both tombs were produced in the Renaissance style and situated in the Lady Chapel (Westminster Abbey) — Henry VII had commissioned it, and the contrast in perpendicular Gothic and Renaissance styles is clear
2) Rood screen celebrating the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn was erected in the early 1530s in the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge; another example of the Renaissance style
However historian Richard Marks has argued that the Gothic remained the predominant cultural art form:
1) Dominant painters at Henry VIII’s court (eg. Hans Holbein) were from the “northern Renaissance” which was influenced more by Gothic elements than the Italian Renaissance
2) Tapestries were mostly Flemish in origin and often displayed chivalric themes from medieval culture
3) Henry VIII was more conservative in his building tastes than Cardinal Wolsey; Henry VIII instituted Nonsuch Palace, surviving evidence shows a continuing taste for the Gothic. However Wolsey’s palace at Hampton Court exhibited more classical influence
4) Church music heard in the Chapel Royal and in cathedrals was Flemish
Italian Renaissance influences were becoming more fashionable, but England’s main cultural links still reflected the close commercial ties which existed between it and the Low Countries
How was the Church corrupt during the reign of Henry VIII?
A range of offences involving corruption was associated with the Church:
1) Pluralism — receiving the profits of more than one post
2) Simony — the purchase of Church office
3) Non-residence — receiving the profits of a post but not being present to perform the duties associated with it
Cardinal Wolsey was the best example of a corrupt clergyman, but many others were also guilty
The Crown used Church offices as a way of rewarding those of its officials who were clergymen
To what extent was anticlericalism evident in English society during Henry VIII’s reign?
Anticlericalism: the opposition to the political and social importance of the clergy
Some common lawyers objected to the influence of canon law, the law of the Church, the legal privileges of the clergy
Cases of clerical misconduct caused considerable criticism, eg. the death of Richard Hunne
Crown was capable of stirring up anticlerical passions
In 1529 Simon Fish (early English Protestant convert) wrote and published Supplication of the Beggars, which was a vicious and powerful attack on many aspects of the Catholic Church; it was portrayed in exaggerated terms as being greedy, corrupt and treacherous. Fish dedicated the work to Henry VIII
Occasional disputes over tithes/other causes of concern did happen, but they were relatively rare. This has led historian Christopher Haigh to conclude that anticlericalism was not a cause but rather a consequence of the Reformation
What was the murder of Richard Hunne, 1514?
Hunne was a London merchant found dead in his cell in the Bishop of London’s prison
He had apparently hanged himself, but it was evident to the coroner’s jury that Hunne could not have done so; therefore he had been murdered and it was covered up by dressing it up as a suicide
Likely an attempt at torture gone wrong, and the torturers had panicked
This incident was disastrous for the reputation of the church in the short term; however the time which had passed between the case and the start of the break with Rome suggests that it was not likely to have been at the forefront of the minds of critics of the Church
How did support for monasticism decline during Henry VIII’s reign?
The operation of religious houses was already open to criticism, and precedents for dissolving the monasteries already existed by the 1530s. The ease and speed with which the monasteries were dissolved supports this
eg. Wolsey secured the dissolution of around 20 religious houses in the 1520s to fund the establishment of Cardinal College, Oxford
Some historians have suggested that monasticism was a relic of a bygone age and had lost its sense of direction; that larger monasteries had become substantial businesses with huge resources in terms of land and buildings
However, some orders (eg. Observant Franciscans, Bridgettines) were clearly flourishing right up to the final days of the dissolution
What evidence is there for early English Protestantism?
Little evidence of a substantial movement towards Protestantism in the years following Martin Luther’s attack on the Catholic Church from 1517 onwards
Some Lollard beliefs survived. There is evidence of the influence of German reformers in London and the EC ports in the 1520s
At an intellectual level — nucleus of future reformers based in Cambridge in the 1520s, who met for religious discussions at the White Horse. Leading figure in this group was Robert Barnes, who had been converted by Thomas Bilney; both would be later burned as heretics in Henry VIII’s reign
Most influential member of the group above proved to be the future Archbishop Cranmer,
Otherwise there is little evidence for committed evangelism
Did Erasmianism have an influence on the Reformation?
Historian James McConica argued that from 1529, a group of humanists with shared ideals based on the ideas of Erasmus helped shape royal policy; however the evidence for this is quite slim:
1) The two most influential humanists in royal circles (Sir Thomas More, Bishop Fisher) were executed for their opposition to the religious changes
2) Some reformers however did have humanist connections, including Archbishop Cranmer. However not all reformers were humanists and many humanists were not reformers at all
3) Some humanists (eg. Bishops Gardiner and Tunstall) went along with reforms they did not believe in order to maintain their lives and positions
However some evidence does suggest that a humanist approach to reform persisted during the final years of Henry VIII’s reign:
1) Cranmer continued to enjoy the king’s favour, even when being subject to attack by enemies (eg. Duke of Norfolk)
2) Henry VIII turned to the humanists John Cheke and Roger Ascham: Cheke was the tutor to Prince Edward and Ascham to Princess Elizabeth
3) There was a humanist circle around the king’s last wife Katherine Parr; she herself had had a humanist education and was a generous patron of the arts and literature
How did the structure of the Church change in Henry VIII’s reign?
King becomes supreme head of the Church:
Confirmed by the Act of Supremacy in 1534, but the Act itself did not confer the supremacy on the king
King appointed Cromwell as Vicegerent in Spirituals in 1534:
Cromwell was second only to the king and therefore outranked the archbishops and bishops
This gave Cromwell considerable power over the Church, however the post died with him
6 new dioceses were created, though one was soon abolished:
This was an attempt to improve the Church’s administration
No other changes were made to the structure of the Church: spiritual jurisdiction continued in the hands of archbishops and bishops. In this way the Church of England differed from reformed churches in continental Europe.
How did the dissolution of the monasteries occur?
1535 — Valor Ecclesiasticus was compiled, a survey set up by Cromwell to discover exactly how wealthy the Church was; it gave him a broadly accurate indication of the resources available for the Crown to plunder
Accordingly, four “visitors” were sent round the country to inspect all monastic institutions: they found much to criticise, though they had clearly been instructed to find evidence of weakness and corruption
1536 — Act of Parliament dissolved the smaller monasteries, those with an income of under £200 per annum or less
The initial dissolution of the monasteries was presented as a mechanism for preserving and improving the quality of monasticism, with the argument that the smaller religious houses had allowed standards to slip
Scope of dissolution widened after the Pilgrimage of Grace: the heads of religious houses that had been implicated in the rebellion surrendered voluntarily to the Crown
1539 — an Act dissolving the remaining monasteries was passed. By March 1540 all of the remaining religious houses had been dissolved
How did Cromwell attack traditional religious practices?
This began with the issue of the first set of royal injunctions in 1536 and was taken much further with the issue of the second set in 1538
1536 injunctions — encouraged more moral conduct; placed a restriction on the number of holy days to be observed; discouraged pilgrimages
1538 injunctions — veneration of relics and images condemned as “works devised by men’s fantasies”; clergy who upheld the virtues of pilgrimages, relics and images were required to publicly recant
The implications of the 1538 royal injunctions on traditional worship were undoubtedly radical
What was the impact of the English Bible and how was its availability limited?
1538 injunctions required each parish church to acquire an English Bible and encourage every person to read the same Bible; in practice, few would actually be able to read this, as religious messages still came primarily from visual messages for the majority
The first edition of the Great Bible appeared in 1539; the title page showed Henry VIII graciously “offering” the word of God to Cranmer and his bishops from one hand, and to Cromwell and other politicians from the other
Within four years, Henry VIII had become fearful of allowing the wrong sorts of people to read the wrong parts of the Bible, and that by providing widespread access, the bonds of social control on which good order depended would be loosened
1543 — the Act for the Advancement of True Religion restricted the public reading of the Bible to upper-class males
What changes to religious doctrine occured during Henry VIII’s reign?
There was no consistent pattern of doctrinal change, reflecting the king’s inability to make up his mind definitely
1536 Ten Articles:
Only three sacraments — baptism, penance and Eucharist — were seen as necessary to salvation (Lutheran) but the definition of Eucharist remained ambiguous
Confession (Catholic) was praised
Praying to saints for remission of sins (Lutheran) was rejected, but praying to saints for other purposes was still deemed laudable
Ambiguous document which showed both Lutheran and Catholic influences on the development of doctrine
1537 Bishops’ Book:
Restored the four sacraments omitted from the Ten Articles, but they were given a lower status
More conservative document than the Ten Articles had been
1539 Six Articles Act:
Reasserted the Catholic doctrine
Denial of transubstantiation was deemed heretical
Triumph for the conservatives
Founded on the assumption that there had been too much religious controversy, which undermined the good ordering of society
Two reforming bishops resigned their posts
1543 King’s Book:
Revised the Bishops’ Book
Emphasis was largely conservative, but with some Lutheran hints
Was there change or continuity in religious in culture by 1547?
Some aspects of the English Church in 1547 were familiar to the start of Henry VIII’s reign in 1509
The hierarchy of the Church remained largely intact; there had been little attempt to alter the interior of churches. Services remained largely traditional in form: continued to be held in Latin, music still played an important role in services in cathedrals and collegiate churches
The passing of the Six Articles Act (1539) and the fall of Cromwell in 1540 had seriously weakened the cause for religious reform
However, much more had changed:
1) Jurisdiction of the Pope had been destroyed and the king became a much more visible authority figure
2) The monasteries had been dissolved; many monastic buildings were falling to ruin, there had been a massive transfer of resources from the Church to the Crown
3) Parish churches were required to possess Bibles in English (though many of them did not)
4) Religious culture had been influenced by humanism, which contributed to the undermining of the traditional Church. By the end of Henry VIII’s reign, humanism looked poised to achieve even greater influence
Wider Renaissance culture had become firmly entrenched at court and in the circles of the wealthy and the well educated; it would retain its cultural prominence for the rest of the century
