6) Religion, Humanism, Arts & Education

Explain briefly the structure and leadership of the Church in England under Henry VII… (5)

• Catholic and led by the Pope, who wielded both spiritual and political power.

• Guilds and Confraternities - voluntary associations dedicated to promoting spiritual and charitable works. E.g. some dedicated to repairs of roads or repairing churches.

• Erastian in Nature (state over church).

• Episcopalian structure (Hierarchical) with provinces, diocese, and parishes.

• Regular clergy (regulated, in abbeys or nunneries). Secular clergy (in the world and leading the Church).

Define ‘Erastian’?

Where the state (the Crown) is supreme over the Church in ecclesiastical matters.

define ‘Episcopalian’?

Refers to a Church structure governed by bishops, who hold spiritual and administrative authority over a designated geographic area called a diocese.

Explain briefly the Church’s doctrine at the time of Henry VII’s reign… (3/4)

• Based on teachings of Bible and Jesus - Bible was word of God.

• Papal infallability & traditional dogma E.g. beliefs about grace and purgatory - payments to church in order to be made righteous with God.

  • Payments funded monasteries and as taken a vow of poverty, used the money to buy land and livestock (employ people or rent to tenants).

• the 7 sacraments…

Explain briefly the liturgy of the Church during the reign of Henry VII…

Mass, including the Eucharist (follows belief about transubstantiation where the bread and wine becomes the actual body and blood of Jesus.

• sermons, prayer, pilgrimage, saints day, icons, paintings, stained glass windows, etc…

How many secular / regular clergy were there?

secular - 35,000
regular - 10,000

Define Anti-clericalism…

Refers to hostility to the Church and the churchmen from the laity - usually based around the idea that the church had become corrupt.

Give some examples of pluralism in the church during Henry VII’s reign?

• Lesser educated clergy were left to pastoral duties and leading the parish churches as better educated clergy were drawn to administrative work within government.

  • E.g. John Morton was both Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor (example of pluralism).

Give some examples of ‘sinful lifestyles’ in the Church during HVII’s reign?

• Evidence of clergy living sinful lifestyles that were not in line with the teaching of the Bible/ Church. E.g. Sexual immorality or corruption with money…

Give some examples of absenteeism in the church during the reign of HVII?

• Absenteeism/ Pluralism - wages typically less than £15 p/a, therefore tried to serve in more than one position to earn more money. ¼ of parishes estimated to have non-resident clergy.

Give some examples of simony in the church during the reign of HVII?

• Simony - the buying or selling of ecclesiastical privileges or positions…

• e.g. Henry sold position of Archdeacon of Buckingham for £300.

Give some examples against the idea of anti-clericalism being present in the Church during the reign of Henry VII… (3)

• Non-resident senior clergy can be explained by political appointments made by the King (not just pluralism for money).

• Clerical bureaucrats would pay a stipend, roughly £5, to a curate to carry out their pastoral duties sufficiently.

• Although some were initially appointed to positions due to their legal skills rather than spiritual commitment, many still took their pastoral duties seriously. E.g. John Morton and Richard Fox worked hard to improve the quality of their diocesan clergy.

Overall, was anti-clericalism widely experienced within the church during the reign of Henry VII?

• most of the complaints about the Church at this time were more relevant to the clergy themselves, NOT about the Church as an institution.

Define Anti-Papalism…

the view that alongside anti-clericalism, there existed popular hostility to the Pope’s spiritual control of the English Church.

Give evidence for anti-papalism under HVII? (2)

• English Church was mostly Erastian in nature - Pope was eager to grant favours by the King. e.g. did not object to Henry using the wealth and administrative skills of the Church for State’s use.

• Earlier in the 15th century, Pope Martin V acknowledged that the King of England governed the Church in England.

Evidence against anti-papalism under HVII? (3)

• Henry was keen to retain the support of the Pope e.g. sought a papal dispensation to marry Elizabeth of York in 1486.

• appointed Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini as ‘Cardinal Protector’ in 1492 to act on his behalf in negotiations with the Pope which helped ensure favourable response to his request.

• King recognised the Church’s role in establishing his right to rule and strengthening his claim to the English throne.

Why was Henry’s appointment of a ‘Cardinal Protector’ significant?

• demonstrated Pope’s opinions were valued.

• allowed him to limit the right of the sanctuary and benefit of the clergy, asserting his (the King’s) authority further.

what is lollardy? key beliefs? (2)

• stressed the importance of understanding the Bible - favoured the translation of the Bible into English.

• considered the Catholic Church to be corrupt and did not trust many of their specific teachings.

define humanism?

an intellectual movement founded on establishing the reliability of Greek & Latin texts in order to purify religious texts - sought to reform the Church from within (still Catholic).

• wished to improve the quality of education amongst the clergy/laity & attacked the veneration of the saints + selling of indulgences + the luxurious living of the senior clergy.

key humanists?

William Grocyn, Thomas More, and Dutch scholar Erasmus.

Examples of humanism within the Church? (2)

• William Melton wrote on the need to educate parish clergy.

• Erasmus was critical of the abuses of the Church - wrote ‘The Handbook of a Christian Soldier’ in 1504 which emphasised education and rejected some of the traditional Catholic ceremonies.

evidence for/against lollardy?

increased persecutions for lollardy (estimated 11 burned for heresy under HVII) BUT should seen as evidence of stability brought by Tudors?

• allowed the Church to focus on increased suppression rather than an actual increase in supporters.

evidence against rise in humanism within the Church?

• traditional medieval scholastic philosophy remained dominant.

• majority of printed works remained Saint's’ Lives, Books of Hours, and Service Books - thus university education was not changing the beliefs of the majority of clergy or laity.

evidence FOR corruption of the regular clergy?

Number of ‘minor orders’ were less observant - made up fuel for attacks upon abuses more general than actually existed across the institutions as a whole.

evidence AGAINST corruption of the regular clergy? (3)

• more men and women in orders since the Black Death - despite slipping standards, the Carthusians remained a shining example and the Friars remained committed to holy poverty.

• HVII bestowed patronage on many Francisians during his reign.

• official visitations showed most in good order + number of orders that had shortcomings were relatively trivial.

Give evidence FOR declining quality of pastoral care?

significant discrepancy between Parishes.

Give evidence AGAINST declining quality of pastoral care? (3)

• most people still regularly attended Church and believed it to be a holy place/basic Church teachings.

• Church vital for community through emphasis on communal worship, celebration of Holy Days, Saint’s days, May Day and Corpus Christi.

• belief in afterlife and Purgatory was widely held and doctrine of transubstantiation was central belief of ordinary people.

Evidence FOR popular support for the Church? (3/5)

• many still invested in church/donated money to the Church.

  • substantial gifts of vestments, plates & jewels + foundation of chantries and their financing continued.

• nearly 2/3 of England’s Parish Churches either rebuilt or improved under HVII.

  • e.g. in Louth, £305 was raised to build the parish church + more money raised between 1501-1515 to add a spire.

• confraternities and guilds remained popular - e.g. Salle in Norfolk had 7.

evidence AGAINST popular support for the church?

whatever appeared as popular support was in reality superstitious motivations related to fear of the afterlife.

evidence of limited change - education? (3/4)

• society remained dominated by traditional scholastic philosophy.

• latin was main subject in schools

  • BUT had few exceptions e.g. Magdalen College in Oxford only taught for proficiency.

• suggests growth in education opportunities due to England experiencing peace for first time since beginning of W of the R.

evidence of limited change - dramas? (3)

• remained medieval in style.

• Mystery plays often in the big cities.

• church-ale festivals in local parish - continued to pass out moral & religious messages.

evidence of limited change - music? (2)

• remained medieval in style.

• instruments such as shawms and sackbuts were common and local villages had simple instruments (e.g. bagpipes) and sang bawdy tunes.

evidence of limited change - architecture?

• gothic architecture remained prevalent - characterised by pointed arches & large windows - had been the dominant style since the 1100s.

evidence of limited change - literature?

• printing began in 1476.

• remained mostly medieval texts e.g. Canterbury tales, chivalric romances & adaptations of Saint’s lives + homilies and Bibles in Latin.

evidence of significant change - education? (4)

Humanist education arose:

• HVIII taught Latin, Greek and other languages + theology = enabled him to compare different languages and translations of scripture - able to translate into English.

• Humanist scholars e.g. William Grocyn began teaching at Oxford.

• very influential characters, including John Colet, were supported by Humanist Dutch scholar Erasmus (visited England in 1499).

• Growth in education opportunities - 53 new grammar schools founded by 1509 + university education grew as new colleges were founded e.g. Christ’s college, Cambridge.

evidence of significant change - music? (2)

• in larger cathedrals, polyphonic choral music was emerging + independent melodic lines e.g. The Eton Choirbook (1505) had 93 separate musical compositions.

• secular music began to develop.

evidence of significant change - architecture? (1/3)

• church rebuilding saw development of the Gothic perpendicular with an emphasis on vertical lines.

  • e.g. Chapel of King’s College in Cambridge + Lady Chapel in Westminster abbey.

  • Richmond Palace rebuilt in Renaissance style - Long Gallery to display sculptures & portraiture, a library, & large windows for light.

evidence of significant change - literature?

• humanist texts were beginning to be printed e.g. Erasmus’ The Handbook of a Christian Soldier (1503)

• John Skelton was commissioned to write poetry for the King.