Religious Change 1547-58

How Catholic was England in 1547?

There was support for traditionalism, the Dissolution of the Monasteries caused large-scale unrest, and many Catholic practices were in place

How Protestant was Somerset?

Moderately

Were the bishops unified towards religious change?

No. Gardiner was opposed and others were undecided

How did the lower clergy view religious change?

Majority opposed, alongside most of population

Where was in favour of Protestant religious reform?

East Anglia and London had reformist minorities

Religious change July 1547

The Book of Homilies (model sermons), Erasmus’ Paraphrases and an English Bible in every church

Services in English

Preach every Sunday

Remove superstitious images and statues

How radical was Somerset’s policy?

It was cautious

What did Henry VIII’s will say about religious change?

None until Edward was 18

Religious change autumn 1547

Chantries Act

Treason Act repealed

Why was the Chantries Act passed?

Claimed it was an attack on superstition, could be to fund Scottish war

What did the repeal of the Treason Act cause?

Radical views spread, unrest, and iconoclastic attack

Religious change January + April 1548

Proclamations to return order and limit those who could preach after treason act repealed

Religious change September 1548

All public preaching banned

Why was parliament stronger in Autumn 1548?

Success in Scottish campaign

Religious change January 1549

Act of Uniformity ordered Protestant practices - First Book of Common Prayer

What changed under the January 1549 Act of Uniformity?

Sacraments just communion, baptism, confirmation, marriage and burial

Clergy allowed to marry

Singing masses for dead not approved

Holy communion, matins and evensong in English

Laity could receive bread and wine at communion

What remained under the January 1549 Act of Uniformity?

Fast days

Number of Holy Days

Purgatory not condemned or upheld

Saints not banned but discouraged

Religious change December 1548

First Book of Common Prayer unveiled

What was the punishment for clergy not following Act of Uniformity?

Fine or imprisonment. Laity not forced to attend church though

What did Bishop Hooper find in his diocese of Goucester?

311 clergy - 10 could not recite the Lord’s Prayer and 171 did not know the Ten Commandments

Where did Somerset cause religious unrest?

Devon and Cornwall, Yorkshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire

Was the Council unified late 1549 - early 1550?

No, factional struggles between Catholics and Reformists. Protestants emerged triumphant with the rise of Northumberland

What was the new Ordinal?

January 1550, revised the procedure of ordination

What happened to Hooper?

Wasn’t satisfied with having to swear an oath to saints and wear a surplice, so got in a battle with Ridley and Cranmer which caused him to decline the Bishopric of Gloucester

Failed to stop preaching so imprisoned

Compromise reached, took position but had problems imposing religious change

Was imposing religious change easy for the clergy?

No, doctrine was unclear, lack of qualified clergy, cannot correct problems without an Act of Parliament

What was the campaign to remove religious images?

July 1547 - Royal Injunctions ordered removal of superstitious images

February 1548 - All images to be removed

December 1549 - Proclamation ordered destruction of all remaining images

How did Northumberland weaken Conservative bishops?

In 1551, they were deprived of their sees, creating a Reformist majority of bishops

When could Northumberland embark on large-scale Protestant reform?

January 1552, first meeting of parliament since reformist majority of bishops

Religious change January 1552

New Treason Act - an offence to question Royal Supremacy or Church beliefs

Religious change March 1552

Second Act of Uniformity

Changes in The Second Book of Common Prayer

Consubstantiation over transubstantiation

“Eat this, in remembrance” “Drink this in remembrance”

What attempt at religious change was there that was halted by Edward’s death?

The Forty-Two Articles

Was religion clear at the end of Edward VI’s reign?

No, the number of changes since the break from Rome made it largely convoluted

Was religious change accepted at the end of Edward VI’s reign?

People accepted it because they were forced to, but neither welcomed nor opposed it. This also applies to the ordinary clergy. Exceptions are in The Prayer Book Rebellion which opposed change, and in London and East Anglia where support was shown

What was Mary’s Proclamation on Religion?

16th August 1553

“Her Majesty will observe the Catholic religion she has professed all her life and desires that all her subjects would quietly follow suit. However she will not compel any to this until further decisions are made.”

What religious acts did people do upon Mary’s accession?

Chalices appeared in Oxford

Altar and crosses set up at Sir Nicholas Cole Abbey and mass had on 23rd August 1553

Six other churches in London had masses on 24th August 1553

Had Mary conformed to Protestant reform?

No, Catholicism sustained her after her mother’s divorce and continued this despite pressures from the Edwardian government

Did Mary understand the Catholic climate?

No, she assumed her stubbornness was the norm, whereas Catholics had remained loyal to the Tudor state largely - possibly because of profit from the Dissolution of the Monasters

Mary’s religious aims

Undo religious changes made since 1529

Restore papal authority

Restore traditional Catholic practices (transubstantiation)

Re-establish religious houses

End clerical marriage and restore priests

Secure Catholicism by having children (Elizabeth a Protestant)

Persecute those who opposed her views

Were peers supportive of Mary’s religious intentions?

Gardiner uncertain about restoration of papacy

Imperial ambassador, Simon Renard, expressed concerns about restoring the monasteries

Charles V and Pope Julius III fearful of overly quick reform

Religious change August 1553

Mass in Latin

Religious change October 1553

Parliament met but refused to repeal the Act of Supremacy

Act of Repeal restored religious situation of 1547 under the Act of Six Articles

Mary gave up position as head of the Church by end of 1553

Opposition to early Catholic restoration

“A dead cat was hanged on the post of gallows, dressed in cloth like the vestment of a priest at mass with crosses front to back” - Charles Wriothesley’s chronicle, April 1554

How many Protestants left England?

800 left for Germany and Switzerland - not an option for the less well off

Religious change March 1554

Royal Injunctions

Religious change April 1554

Heresy Laws reintroduced - parliament rejected this but then persuaded by promise to not reform former monastic lands. MPs had bought monastic land and did not want to lose it

Religious change November 1554

Second Act of Repeal, which repealed all religious legislations since 1529, but protected the rights of those who had bought church land since 1536. Shows that Mary had to compromise with parliament

How did the burnings start?

With John Rogers, a biblical translator who was burnt in February 1555

Who wrote about the burnings and what did they suggest?

John Foxe wrote about the burnings in his book, Acts and Monuments, implying that there was significant opposition to the burnings. Led many accounts to say it was the fires of Smithfield which turned England Protestant

When were Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer burnt?

Ridley and Latimer in October 1555

Cranmer in March 1556

Was the burning of Cranmer wise?

For Mary, he had ended her mother’s marriage and supported Lady Jane Grey - so seemingly yes

Others view it as a mistake because he could have been simply executed for treason, but his burning gave him a stage - withdrew previous recantations

When did Gardiner die, and what was the impact?

November 1555, freeing her to persecute more Protestants

Why did some people support the burnings?

Kent cherry-growers viewed the public spectacle as a chance to sell their produce, as the burnings were so popular that London magistrates had to order them be conducted early in the day so as to reduce the numbers watching

Where was persecuted most by the burnings?

The south-east perhaps due to a higher number of Protestants or more vigilant authorities (supported by the number of letters sent to JPs urging action against heretics)

Actions of Cardinal Pole

Ordered regular visitations from bishops to inspect clerical behaviour

Driving force behind the London Synod which stressed the importance of priestly residency and the need for pluralism and nepotism to end

Ordered publication of Catholic New Testament and a new Book of Homilies

Wanted seminaries in every diocese to train further priests

How did the government attempt to influence the laity towards Catholicism?

Two-pronged approach — control Protestant literature and be proactive

Failed to control Protestant literature, being smuggled into England, and the 19000 copies of the Second Book of Common Prayer enabled underground Protestant reading

Was Catholicism a success?

No, but that is because May had little time and no children to impose Catholicism

Took Elizabeth a long time to make England Protestant, showing success of Marian Catholicism

How many Kent wills were Protestant in 1549?

8%

How many Suffolk wills were Protestant under Edward VI?

27%

How many Protestant wills in Yorkshire and south-west before 1550?

2, 1

How many people did Mary burn?

Nearly 300

How many women did Mary burn?

51

Where were the most burnings?

London, south-east, Canterbury and Colchester

What changed under the Second Act of Uniformity?

Offence to not attend Church on Sundays or Holy Days

Other forms of worship punished by six months imprisonment

Second Book of Common Prayer in order

What changed under the March 1554 Royal Injunctions?

Restored Holy Days, processions and ceremonies.

Many priests lost their jobs for being married, restored once abandoned their wives.

Protestant bishops removed