23-Religious development and the 'Golden Age' of Elizabethan culture

Religious development
State in 1563 was broadly positive. Achieved the religious settlement. A lot of concern among clergy regarding the apparently unformed nature of the Church. Equally, Catholics, although not subject to persecution, found it difficult to practice their faith in public. Was the settlement ‘complete’ or whether there was a scope for further change. Puritanism emerged amongst those who considered the settlement incomplete.

Puritanism
influence in 1560s and 70s. Believed in the eradication of ‘popish superstition’ and their emergence can be traced back to failure of Convocation of Canterbury in 1563 to go further in its reform of the Church. However, some groups within broader Puritan framework posed a challenge to Elizabethan settlement.

Puritanism arose after the 1536 Convocation of Canterbury failed to go further in its reform of the Church
1566: the vestiarian controversy occurred when archbishop Parker issued his Advertisements making certain vestments compulsory. This angered some Protestants (Puritans), particularly in London, and some Puritan ministers were deprived of their livings
1583: Archbishop of Canterbury, John Whitgift issued 3 Articles. These demanded acceptance from the clergy of:
the royal supremacy
the prayer book
the 39 Articls
Few Puritan clergy were prepared to break with the Church by refusing the Three Articles
1595: The Lambeth Articles, approved by Whitgift, reaffirmed the fundamentally Calvinist beliefs of the Church of England and proved acceptable to both Puritans and their opponents

Vestiarian Controversy
Emergence of tension between queen, who desired conformity and obedience of the settlement, and ‘Puritans’, who believed in eradication of ‘superstitious’ practices, led to Vestiarian Controversy. Several figures within Church decided that they could not obey the rules on clerical dress laid down in Act of Uniformity and royal injunctions as this specified the wearing of Catholic and therefore ‘superstitious’ dress. Queen forced issue by dismissing prominent Oxford academic Thomas Sampson from his post at Christ Church for his refusal to wear required vestments
Archbishop Parker, and 5 bishops, issued ‘advertisements’ in March 1566 which required clergy to follow ‘1 uniformity of rites and manners’ in administration of sacraments and ‘1 decent behaviour in their outward apparel’. 37 London clergyman refused to signify their support- were deprived of their posts
Whole business showed extent of queen’s determination to enforce the settlement, but reforming bishops were caught between conflicting pressures: need to obey royal supremacy and desire to remove the remaining vestiges of Catholic practice within Church

Presbyterian movement
Presbyterian movement was 1 aspect of broader Puritan movement. Presbyterians believed that CofE, which was already Calvinist in its doctrine, should be further reformed in its structure and its forms of worship. Its ideas grew out of Calvin’s views on Church organisation and discipline, and it emerged partly in reaction to the Vestiarian Controversy.
Some Presbyterians began to question the scriptural basis for authority of bishops and other aspects of Church. The criticisms were voiced in 2 pamphlets- 2 Admonitions, main author John Field. 1st attacked Book of Common Prayer and called for abolition of bishops. 2nd provided a description of a Presbyterian system of Church government. This was followed by a pamphlet between Thomas Cartwright, a Cambridge academic, and vice-chancellor of Cambridge Uni, John Whitgift. Cartwright and Presbyterian believed that a Church founded on ‘superstitious’ or ‘popish’ principles must be spiritually flawed and 1559 settlement had to be modified, while Whitgift argued that Presbyterians’ attitude was destructive and would split the Church.
Although a geographically narrow movement, largely confined to London, Essex, uni of Cambridge, Suffolk and parts of East Midlands, Presbyterianism attracted some high-ranking support. Earl of Huntingdon, Earl of Leicester and even Lord Burghley saw advantages of Presbyterianism as a bulwark against influence of Catholicism. All 3 of them defended clergymen who fell foul of the authorities because of their alleged sympathy for the Presbyterian movement
The Presbyterian movement grew in 1580s. Ideas for Church government through local assemblies and provincial and national synods were developed, but attempts to bring change through Parliament failed, despite the efforts of Peter Turner in 1584 and Anthony Cope in 1587.
Presbyterianism was a Puritan sub-set which developed after the Vestiarian controversy. It attracted some important supporters, include the Earl of Huntingdon and the Earl of Leicester, but was generally a fringe movement in London, the SE and parts of the East Midlands.
1572: The Admonition to Parliament by John Field and Thomas Wilcox (London clergymen) demanded greater reliance on authority of the Scriptures and church government by ministers and elders rather than bishops (its authors were imprisoned)
1583: Some Presbyterianism stood out against the Three Articles
1584 and 1587: Peter Turner and Anthony Cope, respectively, introduced bills in Parliament to replace the Book of Common Prayer with a new prayer book stripped of ‘popish’ elements. Neither bill was passed.
Late 1580s: Presbyterianism declined as Parliament’s rejection of Cope’s proposed prayer book suggested further reform was unlikely

Whitgift’s Articles and attack on Presbyterianism
Archbishop of Canterbury, John Whitgift, was determined to destroy Presbyterianism. He issued 3 Articles to which clergy had to subscribe 1) Acknowledgment of royal supremacy 2) Acceptance of prayer book as containing nothing ‘contrary to Word of God’ 3) Acceptance that 39 Articles conformed to the word of God
2nd Articles created a crisis of conscience for many clergy, not just Presbyterians, who thought that some parts of the prayer book lacked scriptural justification. Whitgift was forced to back down under pressure from councillors such as Leicester and Walsingham. He reduced 2nd Article to a simple acceptance of prayer book and most clergy were able to justify accepting this by arguing that their preaching ensured godliness within Church.
Whitgift’s campaign had some success: he forced Burghley’s protege, George Gifford, out of his post, and Cartwright was refused a licence to preach, despite Leicester’s pleas. However- church paid a price. By treating radicals and moderates alike, Whitgift caused much despair among clerygmen. While he had the complete support of the queen, his policies and attitudes were regarded with suspicion by many of her ministers. By the late 1580s Presbyterianism was in decline. Very few Puritan clergy were prepared to break with the Church by refusing to accept the 3 Articles, and failure of Cope’s ‘Bill and Book’ in 1587 showed the futility of Parliamentary approach. Presbyterianism was further weakened by death of John Field, in 1589. No synod was held after 1589 and reputation of Presbytarian movement suffered on account of satirical Marprelate tracts

Radical Puritans (Separatists)
Most extreme form of Puritianism. Most mainstream Puritans regarded Separatists with abhorrence. Its adherents wanted to seperate from CofE altogether. Separatists regarded CofE as incapable of reforming itself sufficiently to root out all ‘popish’ or ‘superstitious’ practices and they wanted to create independent church congregations. They were resolutely opposed to the queen’s statis as Supreme Governor of the CofE. Separatism as a movement emerged in 1580s. Robert Browne became leader of a significant congregation in Norwich, but his challenge soon petered out, and he went into exile in the Netherlands with some of his congregation in 1582. He later returned to England and made his peace with the authorities in 1585, aided by the good offices of his relative, Lord Burghley
Henry Barrow and John Greenwood led Separatist movements in London, although the numbers involved were small. Nevertheless, their activities were sufficient to alarm the authorities and led to the passing of the Act against Seditious Sectaries in 1593. Barrow, Greenwood, and John Penry were tried and executed for ‘devising and circulating seditious books’.

Separatism
Separatism was the most extreme form of Puritanism. Its adherents wanted to separate from CofE altogether and create independent church Congregations, without the queen as Supreme Governor. The movement emerged in the 1580s but had only small followings, e.g. Norwich and London
1593: Act against Seditious Sectaries (members of sects which had seperated from CofE) brough arrests of separatists. The leaders of the London movement were tried and executed for circulating ‘seditious books’

The decline of Puritanism
Puritan influence declined in the late 1580s, partly because of the deaths of Leicester, Mildmay and Walsingham, its political supporters at court and partly because the defeat of the Spanish Armada reduced the perceived threat of Catholicism and lessened its attractions. The disappearance of Presbyterianism meant that Puritan attitudes became more acceptable within traditional Church structure, The fundamentally Calvinist beliefs of the CofE were reaffirmed in Lambeth Articles of 1595, which provided acceptable to Puritans and their opponents such as Whitgift alike. The 1559 Book of Common Prayer was accepted by both as the basis for an acceptable form of worship
The Lambeth Articles were a series of 9 points of doctrine, approved by Whitgift and issued under his authority , which largely reasserted the Calvinist doctrine of the Elizabethan Church

Catholicism
Elizabeth not wanted to make ‘windows into men’s souls’. Led to the assumption that she adopted an attitude of toleration towards Catholics in the early years of her reign. However, toleration of Catholics was conditional on obedience, and not all Catholic practices were tolerated.
Although Act of Supremacy in 1559 laid down fines for those who did not attend Church services- the recusants- these were rarely demanded. Much energy was spent on removing Catholic imagery from parish churches and on searching out images that had been hidden away. The old religious ‘mystery plays’ were abolished because of their link to the feast of Corpus Christi and hence to the doctrine of transubstantiation.
Most English Catholics survived as ‘church papists’, outwardly conforming and obeying the law by attending Anglican services. However, an active conform to the Oath of Supremacy in 1559. While some Catholic intellectuals went into exile, most frequently to the Spanish Netherlands, rather than conform, some priests survived as private chaplains to Catholic members of the nobility who protected them or conducted secret Catholic services. Such Catholics were known as recusants
The Northern Rebellion of 1569 (with its Catholic undertones) provoked a punitive attitude towards Catholics. To make matters worse, Pope Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570 and called on all loyal Catholics to depose her. This placed English Catholics in an impossible position, forced to choose between loyalty to their Church and loyalty to their monarch.

Initially, Catholics were tolerated but:
they had to pay recusancy fines if they failed to attend Anglican services (many outwardly conformed, despite their inner beliefs)
all (except 1) Catholic bishops refused to conform to the 1559 Oath of Supremacy
many Catholic intellectuals went into exile; some priests survived as private chaplains to Catholic nobles.
1571: Following Elizabeth’s excommunication (1570), the publication of papal bulls in England become treasonable
1575-85: Catholic priests trained abroad came to England to uphold and spread Catholicism. They operated in secret from the country houses of Catholic gentry and aristocracy. Some were trained at a new college in Douai (Spanish Netherlands), from 1568.
1580: Jesuit priests also arrived, led by Robert Parson and Edmund Campion. (The latter was captured and executed in 1581)
1581: Act to Retain the Queen’s Majesty’s Subjects in their Due Obedience made:
non-allegiance to the queen or CofE treasonable
saying Mass punishable by a heavy fine and imprisonment
the fine for non-attendance at church £20 per month
The missions had limited success. 15 Catholic priests were executed in 1581-82 and a further Act in 1585 made it treasonable for Catholic priests to Enter England. Catholicism became more of a ‘country-house religion’ than the popular faith it had been in the 1560s.

The penal laws against Catholics
3 progressively more Sever Acts against the Catholics were passed during the 1570s and 1580s
1) A 1571 Act made the publication of papal bulls treasonable
2) The 1581 Act to Retain the Queen’s Majesty’s Subjects in their Due Obedience. This made it treason to withdraw subjects’ allegiance to either the queen of the CofE. Saying Mass became punishable by heavy fine and imprisonment and the fine for non-attendance at church was raised to the prohibitive figure of £20 per month. Although the laity were not too harshly treated, 4 Catholic priests were executed in 1581, and 11 in 1582.
3) The 1585 Act against Jesuits and Seminary Priests. This made it treasonable for priests ordained under the Pope’s authority to enter England. This made it much easier for the courts to secure the convictions for treason; 123 priests were convicted and executed under the terms of this Act from 1586 to 1603
The penal laws were complemented by a savage increase in the financial penalties with the fine for recusancy bring set at £20 per month in 1581. In 1587 the law was tightened and any recusant who defaulted on his payment of fines could have 2/3 of his estate seized by the Exchequer. The persecution of recusants was at it height from 1588-1592
The tightening legislation was partly a response to the international situation and the worsening relations with the Catholic King Philip II of Spain and partly because of fear of Catholic rebellion, made worse by the onset of Catholic missions of priests intent on upholding and spreading the Catholic faith. The pressure against Catholics was reinforced by the drafting of a ‘Bond of Association of the Preservation of the Queen’s Majesty Royal Person’ y Burghley and Walsingham in Oct 1584 in response to the Throckmorton Plot. Anyone who took the oath of association was required to execute summarily (ie murder) anyone who attempted to usurp the Crown or make an attempt on Elizabeth’s life

The Catholic missions
In 1568 a college was founded at Douai, in the Spanish Netherlands, in order to train Catholic priests to be sent to England and to keep Catholicism alive and win new coverts. By 1575, 11 of these ‘seminary priests’ had arrived in England between 1580 and 1585, to incur the death penalty.
The Society of Jesus began sending Jesuit priests to England in 1580. The Jesuits combined high intelligence and organisational skills with a dedication to the cause of the restoration of Catholicism to England. The first Jesuits to become involved in attempting to re-Catholicise England were Robert Parsons and Edmund Campion (Campion was captured and executed in 1581)
However, the success of the missions was limited. While the Catholic gentry were enabled to retain their faith, humbler Catholics were often ignored. The educated priests associated more readily with their protectors than the ‘ordinary people’ and often became more like household chaplains. Catholicism thus became more of a ‘country-house religion’ than the popular faith it had been in the 1560s. Moreover, priests themselves became divided as a result of a bitter dispute over leadership of the missionary movement, thereby weakening the Catholic mission.

1536 10 Articles- Slightly Protestant
1539 6 Articles- away from Protestantism
1552 42 Articles- very Calvinist- very Protestant
1563 39 Articles- Protestant but not Calvinist

How successful was Elizabeth in maintaining a unified CofE?
In the 1st decade of her reign, she clearly hoped to win over the English Catholics to her compromise Church. Public celebration of the mass was forbidden, but little was done to limit private worship. Recusancy laws were used to force attendance at Church, but Elizabeth, hoped that, by keeping many traditional ceremonies, she could make the new CofE an acceptable alternative for all but the most dedicated Papists.

The culmination of the English Renaissance and the ‘Golden Age’ of art, literature and music

The ‘high’ culture of the well off was transformed and a vigorous popular culture developed. However, popular and elite culture were not necessarily mutually exclusive. 1 aspect of Shakespeare’s distinctive appeal was his ability to appeal both to an educated elite and to the ‘groundlings’ who attended performance in large numbers

Art
English painting, heavily influenced by Flemish models, flourished during Liz’s reign, with artists benefiting from a range of patrons. Formal portraiture remained important, with the queen a frequent sitter, as were courtiers, especially Earl of Leicester, along with sitters from the gentry and mercantile classes. Formal portraiture, however, lacked an artist as skilful as Holbein had been during the reign of Henry VIII. Instead, what became culturally the most important aspect of Elizabethan painting was the portrait miniature, whose most technically gifted exponents were Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver.
It was also a golden age in architecture. The queen was very reluctant to commission new buildings, but her courtiers and other wealthy individuals made up for this lack, often being able to afford extravagant building projects because of the family acquisition of former monastic land at knock-down prices. This period saw the emergence of the first named English architect (as opposed to formerly anonymous master masons). This was Robert Smythson, who worked on Longleat in Wiltshire and Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire as well as on a series of other country houses

Literature
The increased educational opportunities of the 16th century led to the emergence of a highly literate and often quite sophisticated viewing and reading public. The viewing public was treated to plays, not just by Shakespeare, but also by significant dramatists e.g Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe. There was an increasingly sophisticated infrastructure for the production of plays in London. Companies of actors operated under the patronage of courtiers, most importantly the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, of which Shakespeare was a member. However, the companies operated within a competitive market environment at theatres such as the Globe and the Swan. These placed an emphasis on the ability of dramatists such as Shakespeare to produce new plays on a regular basis to appeal to audiences drawn from across the social classes. Occassionally, Shakespeare’s plays had direct political connotations. The most notorious was the sponsoring at the Globe Theatre by supporters of the Earl of Essex of a performance of Richard II, a medieval king who had been the victim of usurpation in 1399. Elizabeth was alleged to have remarked: ‘I am Richard. Knowe ye not that?’

Much prose literature tended to have narrow readership. An exception was Foxe’s ‘Book of Martyrs’, which had a wide readership amongst ‘godly’ Puritans. The 2 most influential writers were Sir Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser. Sidney saw himself as a conscious moderniser of the English language through the adaptation of classical forms. He was largely responsible for the revival of the sonnet and was therefore an essential precursor of Shakespeare in that context. Despite their courtly connections, both Sidney and Spenser were political outsiders; some of their work can be seen as being highly critical of the Elizabethan court

Music
Music flourished in a variety of forms in Elizabethan England. Elizabeth, herself a skilful musician, was responsible at the time of the settlement for saving the musical culture of English cathedrals and Oxbridge colleges which were threatened by Protestant reformers who emphasised the importance of the word of God rather than the ‘beauty of holiness’. The 2 greatest composers of the reign, Thomas Tallis and William Byrd, wrote extensively for the CofE. Each of them, however, was Catholic and Byrd, in particular, demonstrated the strength of his Catholicism in works composed in secrecy for his Catholic patrons.

Secular music making also flourished, especially at court. Renaissance convention laid down that courtiers should be skilled musically. This encouraged the development of the madrigal, a musical form which originated in Italy, as a complex part-song that could be song by a small mixed-voice choir and whose most important composers were Thomas Morley and Thomas Weelkes. Madrigals were usually non political. However, in 1601, Morley put together a collection of 25 madrigals by 23 different composers entitled ‘The triumph of Oriana’ which explicitly honoured the queen. Music was therefore a means of reinforcing the ‘Gloriana’ myth which sustained support for the queen at a time when her reputation was slipping. More intimate music was provided by John Dowland.

At a more popular level both instrumental music and song flourished. Many towns had official bands (‘waits’) who performed on formal occasions and who presumably performed informally on other occasions. Broadside ballads, songs printed cheaply on a single sheet of paper, became popular. Often these were extremely bawdy; the innuendo in a popular song such as ‘Watkins Ale’ is unmistakable.

Developments in the Arts and culture in Elizabethan England
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth had received a strong humanist education, had a great intellect and an interest in learning
Elizabeth spent over £1,500 a year on music
Elizabeth herself was a skilled musician. She could play several instruments, including the virginal and the lute
Elizabeth’s court was often the scene of revels, full of music and dance, which provided a stage for musicians and other performers
The Gloriana cult that grew up around Elizabeth encouraged artistic activity, especially in poetry and art

The nobility and gentry
The nobility and gentry were keen patron of the Arts, especially literature and the theatre. They were encouraged to do so partly because Elizabeth was a keen patron of the Arts herself

Intellectual ideas
The Renaissance, which began in Europe in the second half of the 15th century, promoted an interest in learning and the Arts
Humanist thought had become popular in England, with the writings of scholars such as Erasmus and More. Humanism promoted education and the Arts
The Reformation had provided an incentive for people to learn to read (e.g. production of English Bible)
The invention of the printing press at end of 15th Cen. provided a means to spread learning, and was an important catalysts for improved literacy

Education and literacy
In the century before Elizabeth a large number of grammar schools had been founded. Edward VI’s reign saw the creation of a large number of schools which bear his name
By 1558, it was generally accepted that ‘gentlemen’ were literate. By 1603, most yeomen could also read
From the early 16th century there was an increase in the number of places at Oxford and Cambridge. Cardinal Wolsey had founded Cardinal college in Oxford in the 1520s
Young men could study for a law degree at the Inns of Court in London
Increased literacy and an interest in learning led to a greater number of books being printed and kept in private libraries

Art
There were no great developments in painting, and most art was in the form of portraiture- nobles, gentry and the Queen herself sat for a multitude of commemorative portraits
The artist George Gower was created Serjeant Painter in 1581. He was responsible for approving all portraits of the Queen until his death in 1596
Marcus Gheerhaerts the Younger painted portraits of Elizabeth and a number of other courtiers, including Sir Francis Drake, Lord Burghley and the Earl of Essex
Nicholas Hilliard was a master of portrait miniatures. He painted the Queen and many courtiers, and even re-designed the royal seal. His most famous portrait, Young Man among Roses, might have been of the Earl of Essex.

Literature
Edmund Spencer’s The Faerie Queen is an example of the quality of Elizabethan poetry. It is also an example of how literature was used to support the Gloriana cult.
Sir Philip Sydney was the nephew of Robert Dudley; he married Frances; daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham. He was a courtier, soldier and poet, who was largely responsible for the revival of the sonnet in English poetry
Around 5,000 books survive from the late 15th Century to 1557, from 1580-1603 alone there are around 4,300 books still in existence.
Many of the books published reflected the humanist background of the Renaissance. English writers referred to Greek and Roman authors and to publications from Italy. Many works by Classical scholars were translated (e.g. Plato, Aristotle and Tacitus)

Music
Because of Elizabeth’s personal preferences, the CofE after the Act of Settlement included elements that were more Catholic, e.g. music
Thomas Tallis received royal patronage. He wrote music in English and Latin for the Chapel Royal
William Byrd was a musician for the Chapel Royal. He was a Catholic, but that was overlooked because of his skill, courtly patronage, and his willingness to write music for CofE
John Dowland was a musician whose speciality was writing sons for solo voice accompanied by a lute. Many of his songs were on the theme of melancholia- a fashionable theme because of the link, made in the Renaissance, between melancholia and artistic pretentions
Court revels included plays and masques. The masques were often staged using themes that enhanced the queen’s image
1601- composer Thomas Morley put together a collection of 25 madrigals by 23 different composers. It was called The Triumph of Oriana and explicitly honoured the Queen-a means of reinforcing the Gloriana cult.

Architecture and Building
Elizabeth was not a great builder as her father and grandfather had been. She was careful with her spending and tended only to make alterations and improvements to existing palaces
The rise of the gentry saw a glut of building, as people used the wealth they had gained (especially through acquiring cheap land from Dissolution of Monasteries) to build fine country houses in a distinctive style
Courtier buildings including William Cecil, Lord Burghley (Burghley House and Hatfield House), Sir Christopher Hatton (Holdenby House and Kirby Hall) and Earl of Pembroke (Wilton House). Robert Dudley built extensive new apartments at Kenilworth Castle to be ready for the Queen’s visit.
Elizabeth’s reign saw the emergence of the first named English architect, Robert Smythson. He worked on the great houses of Longleat in Wiltshire and Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire, as well as many other country houses

Theatre
Theatre became popular form of entertainment, particularly from the 1570s. Many theatres were built, e.g. Globe in 1599 and Fortune in 1600.
Elizabeth had her own company of actors, The Queen’s Players
Robert Dudley has his own company of actors, and he would pay them to perform before the Queen.
A number of great playwrights became famous, e.g. William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe
Shakespeare was a member of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men. They performed Twelfth Night at court, and Shakespeare might have written The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Queen’s request
In the 1590s the Puritans waged a propaganda war against the evils of the London theatres. Elizabeth’s support of the theatre was therefore important

Dudley’s brother Ambrose staunch puritan- influence queen?