History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution Volume 2
by
Rev. James MacCaffrey
Part 2 out of 8
was not sorry that such works should be spread amongst the people, as
a warning to the Pope of the consequences of a refusal to comply with
the royal wishes. In 1530, however, he took counsel with the bishops
and learned men to see what might be done to procure a good English
translation of the Bible. They agreed that the reading of an English
version of the Bible was not necessary for salvation, that, though the
Scriptures in the vulgar tongue might be useful in certain
circumstances and for certain people, they were more likely to be
harmful at a time when erroneous books and heretical books were being
propagated. Furthermore they advised that a proper correct translation
should be made and placed in the king's hands, so that he might order
its publication whenever he thought that a favourable moment had
arrived for such a work.
Cromwell was, however, determined to push forward the new religious
teachings. He was in close correspondence with an apostate Augustinian
friar named Coverdale, who had been obliged to leave the country on
account of his heretical opinions. At Cromwell's instigation Coverdale
set himself to prepare a new translation of the Bible, and it was
completed and published about 1535. Unlike that of Tyndale, who had
gone to the Greek and Hebrew originals, Coverdale's Bible was made
from the Vulgate with the aid of the German Lutheran translation. It
was if anything even more objectionable than Tyndale's, but Cromwell
intended to force it upon the clergy in the /Injunctions/ drawn up for
their guidance in 1536, though apparently on further consideration he
doubted the prudence of such a step, and the clause regarding the
English Bible was omitted.[39] In 1537 Cranmer presented the English
Bible to Cromwell for approval. It was supposed to contain "the Old
and New Testament, truly and purely translated into English by Thomas
Matthew," but in reality it was only a compilation of the works of
Tyndale and Coverdale made by one John Rogers. Though very
objectionable from the point of view of Catholic doctrine it was
approved by Cromwell as vicar-general, and copies were ordered to be
placed in every church (1538). Nearly two years later Coverdale's
"Great Bible" with a preface by Cranmer was published.[40]
The results of the free use of such translations were soon apparent in
the religious discussions that took place in many parts of England.
Henry began to fear that he had acted unwisely in allowing the people
to make their religion for themselves, and besides, as Cromwell had
fallen, the conservative bishops like Gardiner of Winchester were in
the ascendant. In the Convocation of 1542 grave objections were raised
against these various translations, and with the approval of the king
it was resolved to undertake a revision of them; but while the
committee appointed for this revision was at work, a messenger arrived
from the king forbidding Convocation to proceed further, as His
Majesty had decided to take the matter out of the hands of the bishops
and submit it to the universities. The bishops protested against this
order, but their protests were unheeded, and an English Bible, that
had been condemned by Convocation, was forced on the clergy and people
against the advice of the ecclesiastical authorities. In 1543,
however, an Act was passed in Parliament at the request of the king
forbidding private individuals to take it upon themselves to interpret
the Bible in any public assembly; noblemen, gentlemen householders,
and even merchants might retain the English translation and read it,
but this favour was denied to the lower classes "unless the king
perceiving their lives to be amended by the doctrines he had set forth
thought fit to give them liberty to read it."[41]
Early in 1536 Queen Catharine died. Her heart had been broken by the
conduct of the king and by separation from her daughter the Princess
Mary. Time and again she had been commanded under threat of the
severest punishment to accept the sentence of Cranmer's court, but
both herself and the Princess refused steadfastly to subscribe to such
a dishonourable verdict. After Catharine's death and merely to save
her life Mary signed a document agreeing to the abolition of papal
supremacy and the invalidity of her mother's marriage, though nobody
attached any importance to a submission that was obtained in such
circumstances. The death of Catharine was a great relief to Henry and
Anne, more especially to the latter, who had some reason for believing
that she herself had lost her hold on the affections of the king.
Henry had already grown weary of the woman for whose sake he had put
his lawful wife away and separated his kingdom from the Catholic
Church, and the disappointment of his hopes for the birth of an heir
to the throne confirmed his intention of ridding himself of a partner,
who was regarded by his own subjects and the nations of Europe only as
his concubine. She was arrested on a charge of misconduct with her
brother and other gentlemen of the court, was tried before a body of
the peers, and was put to death at Tyburn (17th May, 1536). Cranmer,
who in his heart was convinced of her innocence, promptly held a court
and pronounced her marriage with Henry null and void. On the very day
of her execution he issued a license for the king to marry Jane
Seymour, one of Anne's maids of honour, and before the end of the
month the marriage was celebrated. In June Parliament confirmed
Cranmer's sentence by declaring the invalidity of Henry's previous
marriages, and the illegitimacy of Mary and Elizabeth, and by fixing
the succession on the heirs of the king and Jane Seymour. Furthermore,
in case there might be no children it empowered the king to determine
by his will who should succeed. The object of this was to enable him
to appoint as his heir his bastard son, the Duke of Richmond, but this
intention was frustrated by the death of the Duke (July 1537).
While Parliament was in session Convocation assembled once more.
Cromwell, as the king's vicar-general in spirituals, claimed the right
to preside either in person or by proxy. Many of the new bishops who
had been appointed since 1533 were distinctly Lutheran in their ideas
and tendencies. Latimer of Worcester, who was well known to favour
German theology, was supported by five others, Shaxton, Goodrich,
Edward Foxe, Hilsey, and Barlow. Though Latimer on a former occasion
had been censured by Convocation he was selected to deliver the
opening sermon, in which he inveighed against Purgatory, images,
altars, relics, pilgrimages, the carelessness of the clergy, and the
abuses of the spiritual courts. Convocation having approved of
Cranmer's verdict regarding Henry's marriage with Anne Boleyn, a
petition was sent up from the lower house to the bishops complaining
of the erroneous views propagated by various preachers in the province
of Canterbury. The vast body of the older bishops were determined to
condemn these heretical views, which were little less than the renewal
of the Lollard teaching with a slight admixture of Lutheran theology,
but Cranmer, Latimer, and Foxe were equally determined to prevent such
a condemnation. The dispute promised to be both warm and protracted.
Cromwell, however, appeared in the assembly with a book of /Ten
Articles/ drawn up by the king for securing religious unanimity, and
insisted that the prelates should accept them. The Articles were
moderate in tone, and generally were not in opposition to the old
theology. They approved of Transubstantiation, emphasised the
importance and necessity of Baptism, Penance, and the Eucharist
without affirming that these were the only three Sacraments, declared
that good works were necessary for justification, that prayers might
be offered for those who were dead, that the use of the word Purgatory
was not to be recommended, that reverence should be shown to images
and pictures, and that the older ceremonies should be retained. The
great objection to these Articles was not the doctrine they set forth,
but the fact that they were issued by the king's authority. That the
King of England could revise the beliefs and ceremonies of the
Catholic Church was in itself a revolution, and should have opened the
eyes of the Catholic-minded bishops to the full meaning of royal
supremacy. Furthermore, Convocation declared that the Bishop of Rome
could not convene a General Council without the permission and
co-operation of the Christian princes. A few weeks later Cromwell
issued a set of /Injunctions/ to be observed by the clergy charged
with the care of souls. They were to set forth the Articles drawn up
by the king, to discourage pilgrimages and the observation of holidays
that had not been abrogated, not to lay too much stress upon images
and relics, and to warn the people to teach their children in English
the Our Father, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments; they were to give
one-fortieth of their incomes to the poor, one-fifth to the repair of
the churches, and those who held the richer benefices were commanded
to spend their surplus revenue in maintaining a student or students at
Oxford and Cambridge.
In the autumn of 1536 three sets of royal commissioners were at work,
one superintending the suppression of the lesser monasteries, a second
charged with communicating Cromwell's instructions to the clergy, and
removing those priests who were unwilling to accept them, and a third
entrusted with the collection of royal taxation on ecclesiastical
benefices. By these commissions the entire face of the country was
changed. The monastic institutions were suppressed and the servants
and labourers in their employment were turned adrift, the relief to
the poor and the wayfarer was discontinued, and the tenants awaited
with nervousness the arrival of the new grandees. The possessions of
the religious houses, instead of being spent on the development of
education and the relief of the taxes, found their way for the most
part into the royal treasury, or into the pockets of the officials
charged with the work of suppression. Oxford and Cambridge were
reduced to sullen submission, and obliged to accept a new set of
statutes, to abolish the study of canon law in favour of civil law, to
confine the divinity courses to lectures on the Scriptures, and to
place in the hands of the students the classical authors together with
the Humanist commentaries thereon, instead of the tomes of Duns Scotus
or St. Thomas. Such changes, as has been shown, led to rebellion in
different parts of the country, but especially in the north, where
loyalty to Rome was still regarded as compatible with loyalty to the
king.
After the suppression of the rebellions in the north and the failure
of Cardinal Pole to bring about an European coalition against Henry,
the war against the greater monasteries was begun (1537). Those
situated in the northern counties were charged with having been
implicated in the rebellion. Many of the abbots were put to death or
imprisoned, and the goods of the communities were confiscated. Several
others in order to escape punishment were induced to surrender their
property to the king's commissioners. In some cases the abbots were
bribed by promises of special favours for themselves, in others they
were forced to yield up their titles to avoid charges of treason on
account of documents supposed to have been discovered in their houses
or evidence that had been extracted from some of their monks or
retainers. During the years 1538 and 1539 the monasteries fell one by
one, while during the same period war was carried on against shrines
and pilgrimages. The images of Our Lady of Ipswich and of Our Lady of
Walsingham were destroyed; the tomb of St. Thomas à Becket was rifled
of its precious treasures, and the bones and relics of the saint were
treated with the greatest dishonour. Everywhere throughout the country
preachers inspired by Cromwell and Cranmer, the latter of whom aimed
at nothing less than a Lutheran revolution in England, were at work
denouncing images, pilgrimages, invocation of saints, and Purgatory.
So long as money poured into the royal treasury from the sale of
surrendered monastical property and of the ecclesiastical goods, or so
long as a blow could be struck at the Papacy by desecrating the tomb
of a saint who had died as a martyr in defence of the Holy See, Henry
looked on with indifference if not with pleasure.
But the news of such outrages could not fail to horrify the Catholic
world, and to prove to Paul III. that there was little hope of any
favourable change in Henry's religious policy. It was determined to
give effect to the Bull of excommunication that had been prepared for
years, and to call upon the Catholic powers of Europe to put it into
execution either by a joint declaration of war, or by an interruption
of commercial relations with England. The time seemed specially
favourable for the publication of such a sentence. After years of
active or smouldering hostility the two great rivals Charles V. and
Francis I. had arranged a ten years truce (June 1538), and Cardinal
Pole was sent as legate to Spain and France to induce the Emperor and
Francis I. to take common action. James V. of Scotland promised his
assistance, and a papal envoy was dispatched to Scotland to bear the
cardinal's hat to Archbishop Beaton, and to encourage the king to
co-operate with the Catholic rulers of the Continent.
When the news of these preparations reached England Henry was
thoroughly alarmed for the safety of his kingdom. The brothers of
Cardinal Pole, Sir Geoffrey Pole and Lord Montague, his mother, the
Countess of Salisbury, Henry Courtenay, Marquis of Exeter, Lord
Delawarr, Sir Edward Neville, Sir Nicholas Carew, and others were
arrested, nominally on the charge of treason, but in reality because
the Poles and the Courtenays were regarded as dangerous claimants to
the English throne. With the exception of Sir Geoffrey Pole, who
turned king's evidence, and the Countess of Salisbury who was kept in
confinement for years, the others were put to death, and commissioners
were sent into Cornwall to suppress all attempts at rebellion. During
the spring of 1539 preparations for repelling an invasion were pushed
forward with feverish activity, and so great was the loyalty of the
vast body of the English people, and so hateful to them was the idea
of a foreign invasion that many, who detested Henry's religious
policy, came forward with their assistance. The fortresses along the
coast and on the Scottish borders were strengthened, and replenished;
the fleet was held in readiness in the Thames; and a volunteer army
trained and equipped was raised to contest the progress of the
invaders or at least to defend the capital. Negotiations with the
Protestant princes of Germany for the conclusion of an offensive and
defensive alliance were opened, and to prevent a commercial boycott a
proclamation was issued that except in case of wool foreigners trading
in England should be obliged to pay only the duties and customs
imposed upon Englishmen. But as events showed there was no necessity
for these warlike preparations. Francis I. could not dare to forward
an ultimatum to England unless aided by the Emperor, and Charles V.,
confronted with a Turkish invasion and a Protestant rebellion in
Germany, found it impossible to undertake an expedition against
England. Nor was the project of a commercial boycott likely to be more
successful. The Flemish merchants in the Netherlands were too deeply
interested in English trade to permit them to look favourably upon a
scheme that was likely to prove as ruinous to their own country as to
England, particularly as the recent proclamation in favour of foreign
merchants offered them a special opportunity for pushing their wares
beyond the Channel.
A new Parliament was summoned to meet in April 1539. Cromwell, who was
a past master in the art of selecting and managing such assemblies,
took care that men should be returned who were likely to favour the
projects of the king, and in this action he succeeded beyond
expectation. An Act of Attainder was passed against Cardinal Pole and
against the Countess of Salisbury, as well as against those who had
been executed a short time before. As the /Ten Articles/ on religion
published by the king and the improved version of these Articles known
as the /Bishop's Book/ had not proved sufficient to suppress religious
controversy in the kingdom or to prevent England from being regarded
as a heretical nation on the Continent, Henry determined to lay down a
fixed rule of faith, that should be accepted by all his subjects, and
that should prove to the Emperor and to France that England, though
separated from Rome, was still loyal to the Catholic religion. A
commission of bishops was appointed to prepare a report on the
principal points of faith that had been called in question, but the
bishops were divided into two hostile camps. While Cranmer, Latimer,
Shaxton, Goodrich, and Barlow were strongly Lutheran in their
tendencies, Archbishop Lee of York, Gardiner of Winchester, Tunstall
of Durham, and Aldrich of Carlisle were opposed to all dogmatic
innovations. Though Cromwell supported secretly the reforming party it
soon became known that Henry VIII. favoured the conservatives. As no
agreement could be arrived at by the bishops, the Duke of Norfolk, who
was rising rapidly at court as the champion of conservative interests,
took the matter out of the hands of the bishops, by proposing to the
House of Lords Six Articles dealing with the main points of difference
between the Catholics and the Lutherans of the Continent. On these
Articles the laymen did not venture to express any opinion, but
Cranmer, Latimer and their friends held out till at last Henry
appeared himself and "confounded them all with God's learning."
The decision was embodied in an Act of Parliament entitled "An Act
abolishing diversity of Opinions," which having received the royal
assent was placed upon the Statute Book (1539). The Articles agreed
upon by Convocation and Parliament and published by the king's
authority were: (1) that in the Eucharist the substance of the bread
and wine is changed into the Body and Blood of Christ; (2) that
Communion under both kinds is not necessary for salvation; (3) that
clerical celibacy should be observed; (4) that vows of chastity should
be observed; (5) that private Masses ought to be retained; and (6)
that auricular confession is expedient. Denial of the first article,
namely, that regarding Transubstantiation, was to be deemed heresy
punishable by death at the stake, and denial of the others was felony
punishable by forfeiture for the first and by death for the second
offence. Priests who had taken to themselves wives were commanded to
put them away under threat of punishment for felony, and people, who
refused to confess and receive the Eucharist at the usual times, were
to be imprisoned or fined for the first offence, and to be judged
guilty of felony for the second offence. The Act of Six Articles, as
it is commonly known, or "the whip with six strings," as it was
nicknamed contemptuously by the Reformers, marked a distinct triumph
for the conservative party, led by the Duke of Norfolk among the peers
and by Gardiner and Tunstall amongst the bishops. Cranmer made his
submission and concealed his wife, but Latimer and Shaxton with
greater honesty resigned their Sees rather than accept the Act. The
vast body of the clergy and people hailed it with delight as a
crushing blow delivered against heresy, and as proof that Henry was
determined to maintain the old religion in England.[42]
But if Cromwell had received a check on the question of dogma, he
determined to curry favour with the king and at the same time to
advance the cause he had at heart, by securing the suppression of the
remaining monasteries. An Act was passed through all its stages in one
day vesting in the king the property of all monasteries that had been
suppressed or that were to be suppressed. This was done under the
pretence that the monks, being ungodly and slothful, should be
deprived of their wealth, which if handed over to the king could be
devoted to the relief of poverty, the education of youth, the
improvement of roads, and the erection of new bishoprics. Under threat
of penalties nearly all the great monasteries surrendered their titles
and lands except the abbots of Glastonbury, Reading, and Colchester,
all of whom were arrested and put to death (1539). This punishment
struck terror into the hearts of the others, and by the surrender of
Waltham Abbey (March 1540) the last of the great English monasteries
disappeared. Finally, to show the state of complete subserviency to
which the English Parliament was reduced, it passed an Act giving to
the royal proclamation with certain ill-defined limits the force of
law (1539).
It was evident to all that the position of Cromwell at court had
become very insecure. While England was threatened with an European
coalition he had suggested an alliance with the Protestant princes of
Germany, and as Henry's third wife Jane Seymour had died (1537), after
having given birth to a son (later on Edward VI.), he determined to
cement the bond of friendship by a new matrimonial alliance. The Duke
of Cleves was brother-in-law to the Elector of Saxony and one of the
guiding spirits of the Schmalkaldic League, and as he had given mortal
offence to the Emperor by his acceptance of the Duchy of Guelders,
Cromwell decided that a marriage between the Duke's sister, Anne, and
Henry VIII. would secure for England both the alliance of the League
of Schmalkald and at least the neutrality of France. Though Henry
detested the Elector of Saxony and his friends as heretics, and though
the Six Articles aroused considerable resentment in the Lutheran camp,
the close union between Charles V. and Francis I. and the uncertainty
of what steps they might take made it imperative to push forward
Henry's marriage. The marriage treaty was signed in October 1539, and
in December Anne of Cleves landed at Deal. Henry, who had been led to
believe that Anne was both accomplished and moderately beautiful,
could not conceal his disappointment when he met his prospective
bride; but, as his trusted counsellors could devise no plan of escape,
he consented with bad grace to go through the ceremony of marriage
(6th Jan., 1540). Henry was displeased and made no secret of his
displeasure. Cromwell, whom he blamed specially for this matrimonial
misfortune, felt himself in considerable danger, though at the same
time he resolved not to yield without a struggle. The contest between
Cranmer, backed by the Lutheran party in the council, and Gardiner,
the Duke of Norfolk, and the conservatives was sharp though by no
means decisive. The king appeared at one time to favour one side, at
another the other side, unwilling to commit himself definitely to
either, especially as Cromwell was still reaping a rich harvest from
the suppression of the Knights of St. John and from the taxes imposed
on the clergy.
Parliament met again in April 1540. To the surprise of many Cromwell
was created Earl of Essex (17th April), while a little later Bishop
Sampson was arrested as a supporter of the Pope. The hopes of Cromwell
and of the reforming party rose rapidly, and they believed that
victory was within their grasp. The committee of bishops was at work
considering the sacraments, but as both the old and the new clung
tenaciously to their opinions no progress could be made. Suddenly on
the 10th June an officer appeared in the council chamber and placed
Cromwell under arrest. The long struggle was at last ended, and the
men who had followed Gardiner had won the day. The war clouds, that
had driven Henry to negotiate with the heretical princes of Germany,
had blown over, and Cromwell, who had taken a leading part in the
German negotiations, must be sacrificed to satisfy his enemies at home
and Catholic opinion on the Continent. He was committed to the Tower
to await the sentence of death which he knew to be inevitable, but,
before handing him over to the executioner, Henry insisted that he
should perform for him one last service. As Cromwell had involved him
in an undesirable marriage with Anne of Cleves, he should provide
evidence that might set his master free to seek for a more congenial
partner. At the command of the king Cromwell wrote a long letter, in
which he showed that Henry never really consented to the marriage with
Anne, against which marriage the existence of a pre-nuptial contract
was also adduced. On the strength of this, Parliament demanded an
investigation, and a commission was issued empowering the Archbishops
of Canterbury and York and others of the clergy to examine into the
validity of the marriage. Convocation decided that it was null and
void (July 1540), a decision with which Anne expressed her complete
satisfaction. She was assigned a residence and a pension of £4,000 a
year. On the 28th July, 1540, Cromwell was led to execution at Tyburn,
where he expressed publicly his adherence to the ancient faith, for
the destruction of which in England he had contributed more than any
single individual with the exception possibly of the king.[43] A few
days later Henry was married to Catharine Howard, a niece of the Duke
of Norfolk, the recognised lay head of the conservative party in
England.
The penalties prescribed in the Statute of the Six Articles were
enforced with great vigour, and at the same time those who maintained
papal supremacy were treated with equal severity. While the men who
denied Transubstantiation were burned as heretics at Smithfield, their
opponents, who dared to express views derogatory to royal supremacy,
were hanged, drawn, and quartered as traitors. Latimer retired into
private life; Cranmer showed no signs of open opposition to the king's
religious policy, and, practically speaking, all traces of the new
teachings that had disturbed England for years disappeared. The aged
Countess of Salisbury, mother of Cardinal Pole, was put to death in
1541, two years after sentence of attainder had been passed against
her by Parliament, as were, also, a large number of priests and laymen
suspected of having been implicated in an attempt to bring about
another rebellion in the north. In consequence of this plot Henry
determined to undertake a journey to York (1541) with the hope of
strengthening his hold upon the people, and possibly also of securing
the friendship of his nephew, James V. of Scotland, who had remained
loyal to Rome and to France. The Archbishop of York made his
submission on bended knees, presenting the king with a gift of £600 as
a sign of the repentance of the people for their recent disobedience,
an example that was followed in many of the cities and towns; but
James V., unwilling to trust his life and liberty to the king, refused
to cross the English border.
Henry returned to London only to find that serious charges of
immorality were being brought against his wife, Catharine Howard. She
was arrested and put to death with her chief accomplices (1542).
Though the king could not conceal his joy at finding himself free once
more, he hesitated for some time before choosing another wife; but at
last in 1543, his choice fell upon Catharine Parr, a young widow
twenty years his junior, who was believed to favour royal supremacy,
though she had been married previously to one of the leaders of the
Pilgrimage of Grace. It is said that once at least she stood in
serious risk because she ventured to disagree with her husband's
theological views, but, however that may be, it is certain that she
had the good fortune to survive the king.
The struggle between the old principles and the new continued,
notwithstanding all Henry's attempts to secure unanimity. As early as
1540 a set of questions had been circulated amongst the bishops, and
as a result of the replies received and of the discussions that took
place in Convocation a book was issued, entitled /A Necessary Doctrine
and an Erudition for any Christian Man/ (1543). It was issued by order
of the king, and for this reason is known as the /King's Book/ in
contradistinction to the /Bishop's Book/, published with his
permission but not by his authorisation. Just as the /Bishop's Book/
represented a revision of the Ten Articles, so the /King's Book/ was
an extension or completion of the /Bishop's Book/, in many respects
even more Catholic in its tone than the original. The king was now
nearing his end rapidly, and both parties in the royal council strove
hard for mastery. Gardiner and Bonner, Bishop of London, stood firm in
defence of Catholic doctrine, and once or twice it seemed as if they
were about to succeed in displacing Cranmer from the favour of the
king; but the danger of an attack from the united forces of France and
the Emperor, especially after the peace of Crépy had been concluded
(1544), made it necessary for Henry not to close the door against an
alliance with the Protestant princes of Germany by an attack on
Cranmer, who was regarded by them as an active sympathiser. Once
indeed Henry ordered that the archbishop should be arrested, but a
sudden change of mind took place, and the order for the arrest was
cancelled.
A new Parliament met in 1545. The royal exchequer had been emptied by
the war with France and Scotland, and to replenish it an Act was
passed empowering the king to dissolve chantries, hospitals, and free
chapels, and to appropriate their revenues for his own use. Henry
addressed the Parliament on Christmas Eve 1545 in a speech in which he
deplored the religious differences that divided his people,
differences which were due, he said, partly to the obstinacy of the
clergy, some of whom wished to cling to all the old ways, while others
of them would be content with nothing less than a complete renewal;
partly to the fault of the people who spoke scandalously of their
clergy, and abused the Scriptures they had been permitted to read. In
itself this speech was a sad commentary on Henry's religious campaign,
containing as it did a confession that despite all his violence and
persecution, religious formularies imposed by royal authority were not
sufficient to preserve religious unity. During the year 1546, though
many persons were still sent to the stake for denying
Transubstantiation, the power of Cranmer and his party was on the
increase. The Earl of Hertford, uncle of the young Prince Edward and
Cranmer secured the upper hand in the council, and the Duke of
Norfolk, together with his son the Earl of Surrey, was imprisoned in
the Tower (Dec. 1546). Surrey was tried and executed, and a similar
fate was in store for the Duke, were it not that before the death-
sentence could be carried out, Henry himself had been summoned before
the judgment-seat of God (28th Jan. 1547). For some weeks before his
death the condition of the king had been serious, but the Earl of
Hertford and his party kept the sickness and even the death a secret
until all their plans had been matured. On the 31st January Edward VI.
was proclaimed king, and the triumph of the Lutheran party seemed
assured.
On the death of Henry VIII. all parties looked forward to a complete
change in the religious condition of England. On the one hand, those,
who longed for a return to Roman obedience, believed that royal
supremacy must of necessity prove both unintelligible and
impracticable in the case of a mere child like Edward VI. (1547-53);
while, on the other hand, those, who favoured a closer approximation
to the theology and practices of Wittenberg or of Geneva, saw in the
death of Henry and the succession of a helpless young king an
exceptional opportunity for carrying out designs against which Henry
had erected such formidable barriers. To both parties it was evident
that at best Edward VI. could be but a tool in the hands of his
advisers, and that whichever section could capture the king and the
machinery of government might hope to mould the religious beliefs of
the English people.
For more than a year before the death of Henry VIII., Edward Seymour,
Earl of Hertford and uncle of Edward VI., the Earl of Essex, brother
of Catharine Parr, Viscount Lisle, Lord Admiral and afterwards Earl of
Warwick, all of whom were in favour of religious innovations, had been
advancing steadily in power, to the discomfiture of the conservative
section led by Bishop Gardiner, the Duke of Norfolk, and the Lord
Chancellor Wriothesley. The death of Henry VIII. had been kept a
secret until the Earl of Hertford had all his plans matured for
securing control, and for the proclamation of Edward VI.[44] (31st
Jan. 1547), then a boy of ten years. Henry VIII. had bequeathed the
crown to his son, and on his death without heirs to his daughters in
turn, the Princess Mary daughter of Catharine of Aragon, and Elizabeth
daughter of Anne Boleyn. By his will also he appointed a council the
members of which were to govern the kingdom as a body till the king
should attain his eighteenth year, but he sought to provide against
any serious innovations by authorising the king to repeal all changes
that might have been made by the council during his minority. If one
may judge from the terms of his will Henry's religious views at his
death were evidently what they had been when in 1539 he passed the
Statute of Six Articles, but, at the same time, it is a noteworthy
fact that he excluded Bishop Gardiner from the list of executors of
his will, and appointed two divines well known for their leaning
towards German theology as tutors to the young king.
In nearly every particular the council of executors failed to carry
out the wishes of the late king. The Earl of Hertford, created later
on Duke of Somerset, became Protector with almost royal powers, and
instead of defending the religious settlement the majority of the
council set themselves from the very beginning to initiate a more
advanced policy. Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury could be relied
upon to support such a course of action, while, of the principal men
who might be expected to oppose it, the Duke of Norfolk was a prisoner
in the Tower and the Lord Chancellor Wriothesley was dismissed to make
way for a more pliable successor. The bishops, who were regarded
merely as state officials, were commanded to take out new commissions.
Cranmer obeyed without protest, as did all the others except Gardiner,
who questioned the authority of the council to issue such a command at
least until the supreme head of the Church should have reached his
majority.[45]
Those who had been held in check by the repressive legislation of
Henry VIII. felt themselves free to renew the attacks on the practices
and doctrines of the Church. The royal preachers who had been
appointed for the Lenten sermons, Dr. Barlow, Bishop of St. David's,
Ridley one of Cranmer's chaplains, and others, not content with
abusing the Bishop of Rome, declared war on images, relics, and even
on the Lenten fasts and abstinences. Against such novelties Gardiner
addressed an indignant protest to the Protector and council, warning
them that during the minority of the king there was no power in
England competent to change the religious settlement that had been
accomplished by Henry VIII. But his protest fell on deaf ears. The war
against images was carried on vigorously, though legally only those
images that had been abused were forbidden, and even in Bishop
Gardiner's own diocese he was powerless to resist those who knew they
could count on the support of the Protector.
In July 1547 two important publications were issued, one, /The
Injunctions of Edward VI./, the other, /The Book of Homilies/,
composed by Cranmer, and issued by the authority of the council. The
former of these commanded that sermons should be delivered at fixed
intervals against the Bishop of Rome, that images which had been
abused, shrines, pictures, and other monuments of superstition should
be destroyed, that the Gospels and Epistles should be read in English,
that alms boxes should be set up in all churches, and that the clergy
should inform their people that the money spent on pardons,
pilgrimages, candles, and other blind devotions should now be devoted
to the support of the poor.[46] The /Book of Homilies/[47] was to
serve as a guide for preachers in their public services. A royal
commission was appointed to insist upon the observance of these
Injunctions, but in London Bishop Bonner refused at first to accept
the commands of the visitors, and though later on he weakened in his
resistance, he was committed to prison as a warning to others.
Gardiner boldly denounced the visitation as illegal and unwarrantable,
but the council instead of meeting his arguments and remonstrances
ordered his arrest (September 1547). In many places the proclamation
for the removal of images led to violent disturbances, and free fights
within the churches were not uncommon. To put an end to any
misunderstanding on this subject for the future the council ordered
the removal of all images from the churches (Feb. 1548).
For various reasons the Protector and council delayed assembling
Parliament as long as possible, but at last it was convoked to meet in
November 1547. As happened in the case of all the Parliaments in the
Tudor period, careful steps were taken to ensure that only men who
could be relied upon were returned by the sheriffs. Neither from the
lay members in the House of Lords, many of whom had been enriched by
the plunder of the monasteries, nor from the spiritual peers lately
appointed, could any effective resistance be expected, while the
bishops who were still strongly Catholic in tone were deprived of a
capable leader by the imprisonment of Gardiner. It was significant
that in the Mass celebrated at the opening of Parliament the /Gloria/,
Creed, and /Agnus Dei/ were sung in English. The bishops had been
taught a lesson already by being forced to take out new commissions
like other officers of the crown, by having their jurisdiction
suspended during the progress of the royal visitation, and by being
prohibited from preaching outside their own cathedrals. But, lest they
might have any lingering doubts about the source or extent of their
jurisdiction, Parliament enacted that for the future bishops should be
appointed not by election but by royal letters patent, and that all
their official documents should be issued in the king's name and under
his seal or some other seal authorised by him.[48] All the Acts
against heresy that had been passed since the days of Richard II.,
including the Statute of Six Articles, were repealed; most of the new
treason-felonies created during the previous reign were abolished;
and, though denial of royal supremacy was accounted still as treason,
it was enacted that by merely speaking against it one did not merit
the punishment of death unless for the third offence.
The question of the Blessed Eucharist had come to the front rapidly
owing to the violent and abusive sermons of some of the new preachers,
and the irreverent and sacrilegious conduct of those who accepted
their teaching. The bishops of the old school demanded that measures
should be taken to prevent such attacks on the very centre point of
Christian worship, while Cranmer and his supporters were determined to
insist upon Communion under both kinds. Apparently two different
measures were introduced, which were merged ultimately into one Act,
whereby it was decreed that all who spoke irreverently against the
Blessed Eucharist should be punished by fines and imprisonment, and
that Communion should be administered under both kinds except
necessity otherwise required. The linking together of these two Acts
was a clever move to ensure the support of the bishops who desired to
put down irreverence against the Eucharist, and it is noteworthy that
out of the eleven bishops present five voted against the measure even
in its improved form.[49]
Already an Act had been passed in the previous reign against colleges,
chantries, guilds, etc., but since most of these remained as yet
undisturbed, it was determined to replenish the royal treasury by
decreeing their immediate dissolution, and by vesting their property
in the king. This was done with the avowed object of diverting the
funds from superstitious uses to the erection of grammar schools, the
maintenance of students at the universities, and the relief of the
poor; but in reality the property of the guilds, and of the free
schools and chantry schools, was confiscated, and little if anything
was done for the improvement of education or for the relief of the
poor. Edward VI. is represented generally as the founder of the
English grammar schools and colleges, but it would be much more
correct to say that through his greedy ministers he was their
destroyer. True, indeed, he established a few colleges and hospitals,
but such beneficence was only a poor return for the wholesale
overthrow of more than four hundred flourishing educational
establishments, and for the confiscation of thousands of pounds
bequeathed by generous benefactors for the education of the poor.[50]
Convocation had met on the day after the assembly of Parliament. The
lower house presented four petitions to the bishops, the most
important of which was that the proctors of the clergy should be
admitted to Parliament, or at least that ecclesiastical legislation
should not pass until the clergy had been consulted, but the bishops
were too conscious of their helplessness to support such an appeal. It
is doubtful if the bill regarding Communion under both kinds was ever
submitted regularly to Convocation, though later on a proposal to
abolish the canons enforcing clerical celibacy was carried by a
majority. It is asserted, and apparently on good authority, that the
higher and more learned of the clergy consented to this proposal only
under pressure.
The year 1548 opened ominously for the Catholic party. Preachers,
licensed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and protected openly by the
court, delivered wild harangues against Catholic doctrines and
practices. Pamphlets, for the most part translations of heretical
works published in Germany or Switzerland attacking the Mass,
Transubstantiation, and the Real Presence, were sold publicly in the
market places without any interference from the authorities. In
January a royal proclamation was issued enjoining the observance of
the Lenten fasts, but ten days later an order was made forbidding the
use of candles on Candlemas Day, of ashes on Ash Wednesday, or of
palms on Palm Sunday. This was followed quickly by a command for the
removal of all statues, images, pictures, etc. from the churches. The
use of Communion under both kinds was to come into force at Easter
1548, and to prepare for this a royal proclamation was set forth
making obligatory the English /Order for Communion/. As the new rite
regarded only the Communion of the laity, the Latin Mass was to remain
in use as heretofore "without any varying of any rite or
ceremony."[51] The clergy were commanded to announce the Sunday on
which they proposed to distribute Communion to their flocks. After the
priest had himself communicated, the communicants, who did not wish to
go to confession, should make a general confession, and should receive
Communion under both kinds, the whole service being completed by the
usual blessing. This was a clever trick to prepare the way for still
greater changes. Owing to the retention of the Latin Mass it was
expected that the new Communion service would not lead to serious
trouble, while at the same time it would accustom the people to
portions of the Mass being read in English, and would imply both that
auricular confession was unnecessary and that Mass without Communion
of the laity was of no particular importance. The council anticipated
that the Communion service would prove unacceptable to many of the
clergy, and their anticipations were fulfilled, though, as shall be
seen, they adopted a novel method of allaying the trouble.
Bishop Gardiner, who had been kept in prison while Parliament was in
session lest his presence in the Upper House might lead to trouble,
was released in January 1548, but in May a peremptory summons was
issued commanding him to come to London without delay. He obeyed, and
for some time negotiations were carried on, until at last he was
ordered to preach against the Pope, monasteries, confession, and in
favour of the English Communion service (29th June). He was urged not
to treat of the sacrifice of the Mass, or of Transubstantiation, and
warned of the serious consequences that might ensue in case he
disobeyed; but Gardiner was a man who could not be deterred by such
means from speaking his mind, and as a consequence he was again placed
under arrest, and sent as a prisoner to the Tower. Cranmer, who had
rejected the authority of the Pope because he was a foreigner, finding
that he could get no support from the clergy or the universities--for
in spite of everything that had taken place the theology of Oxford and
Cambridge was still frankly conservative--invited preachers to come
from abroad to assist in weaning the English nation from the Catholic
faith. The men who responded to his call formed a motley crowd. They
were Germans like Martin Bucer and Paul Fagius, Italian apostate
friars like Peter Martyr (Pietro Martire Vermigli) and Ochino,
Frenchmen like Jean Véron, Poles like John à Lasco, Belgians like
Charles Utenhove, à Lasco's disciple, and Jews like Emmanuel
Tremellius.[52] The order for the total removal of images and for the
Communion service in English led to serious disturbances even in the
London churches, where the new opinions should have found the
strongest support, and confusion reigned throughout the country.
The Communion service in England was, however, only the prelude to the
total abolition of the Mass. Early in 1548 a series of questions had
been addressed by Cranmer to the bishops regarding the value of the
Mass as a religious service apart from the Communion.[53] The bishops
were asked to say also whether private Masses offered for the living
and the dead should continue to be celebrated, and what language
should be used. In their replies Cranmer and Ridley favoured
innovation, and were supported generally by Holbeach, Barlow, Cox, and
Taylor. One, Bishop Goodrich of Ely, expressed his willingness to
accept whatever might be enjoined, while the rest of the bishops
adopted a conservative attitude. But whatever might be the opinions of
the bishops generally the Protector and Cranmer were determined to
procure the abolition of the Mass. Later in the year an assembly of
the bishops was held to discuss the new English service to be
substituted in its place. It is difficult to determine what precisely
was done at this meeting. From the discussions which took place
afterwards in the House of Lords it is clear that the bishops could
not agree upon the Eucharist, that all with one exception signed their
names to a rough draft drawn up on the understanding that they did not
commit themselves thereby to Cranmer's views, and that the episcopal
report was changed by some authority before it was presented to
Parliament, especially by the omission of the word "oblation" in
regard to the Mass. That the Book of Common Prayer as such was ever
submitted to or approved by a formal convocation of the clergy cannot
be shown.[54]
Parliament met in November 1548. To put an end to the religious
confusion that had arisen an Act of Uniformity enjoining on all clergy
the use of the Book of Common Prayer was introduced.[55] The main
discussion centred around the Eucharist and the Mass. Bishop Tunstall
of Durham objected that by the omission of the Adoration it was
implied that there was nothing in the Sacrament except bread and wine,
a contention that he could not accept, as he believed in the Real
Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ both spiritual and carnal.
Bishop Thirlby of Westminster maintained that the bishops had never
agreed to the doctrine contained in the Book regarding the Eucharist
but had allowed it merely to go forward for discussion. The Protector
reproved him warmly for his tone and statement, but Thirlby stood
firmly by his point of view, adding the interesting item of
information that when the Book left the hands of the bishops it
contained the word "oblation" in reference to the Mass, which word had
since been omitted. Bonner of London pointed out that the Book of
Common Prayer, embodying as it did statements condemned abroad and in
England as heresy, should not be accepted. Cranmer and Ridley defended
strongly the Eucharistic doctrine it contained. When the disputation
between the bishops had been closed (19th Dec., 1548) the Bill for
Uniformity was brought down and read in the Commons. Of the bishops
present in the House of Lords ten voted in favour of the measure and
eight against it. Gardiner was still in prison, the Bishop of
Llandaff, who had spoken against Cranmer, was absent from the
division, and some others are not accounted for.[56]
The first Act of Uniformity (1548), as it is called, displaced the
Mass as it had been celebrated for centuries in the English Church,
and substituted in its place the new liturgy contained in the /Book of
Common Prayer/.[57] This latter while differing completely from any
rite that had been followed in the Catholic Church, had a close
affinity both in regard to the rites themselves and the ceremonies for
the administration of the Sacraments to the liturgy introduced by the
German Lutherans. According to the Act of Parliament it was to come
into force on Whit Sunday the 9th June (1549). That it was expected to
meet with strong opposition is evident from the prohibition against
plays, songs, rhymes, etc., holding it up to ridicule, as well as by
the heavy fines prescribed against those who might endeavour to
prevent clergymen from following it. Forfeiture of a year's revenue
together with imprisonment for six months was the penalty to be
inflicted on any clergyman who refused to follow the new liturgy.
Complete deprivation and imprisonment were prescribed for the second
offence, and the third offence was to be punished by life-long
imprisonment. For preventing any clergyman from adopting the new
liturgy the penalties were for the first offence a fine of £10, for
the second £20, and for the third forfeiture and perpetual
imprisonment. Finally Parliament satisfied Cranmer's scruples by
permitting clergy to contract marriages.
The attempt to abolish the Mass and to force the new liturgy on the
English people led to risings and disturbances throughout the country.
In London, where it might have been expected that the influence of the
court should have secured its ready acceptance, many of the churches
maintained the old service in spite of the frantic efforts of Cranmer
and his subordinates. Bishop Bonner was reproved sharply for
encouraging the disobedience of his clergy, and as he failed to give
satisfaction to the government he was committed to prison. In
Devonshire and Cornwall[58] the peasants and country gentlemen rose in
arms to protest against the new service which they had likened to a
Christmas game, and to demand the restoration of the Mass, Communion
under one kind, holy water, palms, ashes, images, and pictures. They
insisted that the Six Articles of Henry VIII. should be enforced once
more and that Cardinal Pole should be recalled from Rome, and honoured
with a seat at the council. In the Universities of Oxford and
Cambridge, where royal visitors and hired foreigners like Peter
Martyr, Bucer, and Ochino were doing their best to decatholicise these
seats of learning, violent commotions took place, that served to
arouse both students and people, and soon the country around Oxford
was in a blaze. The religious disturbances encouraged those who
preferred small farms and sturdy labourers to grazing inclosures and
sheep to raise the standard of revolt against the new economical
tendencies, and to accept the leadership of the Norfolk tanner,
William Kett.[59] By the strenuous exertions of the Protector and the
council, backed as they were by foreign mercenaries raised in Italy
and Germany to fight against Scotland, these rebellions were put down
by force, and the leaders, both lay and clerical, were punished with
merciless severity. The disturbed condition of the country, however,
the open dissatisfaction of the Catholic party, the compromises that
were offered to those who fought against inclosures, and the
unfortunate war with France into which the country had been plunged,
pointed to Somerset's unfitness for the office of Protector. A
combination was formed against him by the Earl of Warwick, assisted by
the leaders of the Catholic party. He was arrested, found guilty, and
deprived of all his offices (Dec. 1549), and the Earl of Warwick,
created later Duke of Northumberland, secured the principal share in
the new government.
Cranmer and his foreign assistants were filled with alarm for the
future of their cause. They feared that the new administration would
be controlled by Wriothesley, ex-Chancellor, the Arundels, Southwell
and other prominent Catholics, that Gardiner and Bonner might be
released from imprisonment, and that the demands of many of the
insurgents for the abolition of the Book of Common Prayer and the
restoration of the Mass might be conceded. The Catholic party were
filled with new hope; in Oxford and throughout the country the old
missals and vestments that had been hidden away were brought forth
again, and the offices and Mass were sung as they had been for
centuries.[60] But Warwick soon showed that the change of rulers meant
no change in the religious policy of the government. Gardiner and
Bonner were still kept in confinement; Wriothesley was dismissed from
the council; many of the other Catholic noblemen were imprisoned, and
Somerset who was supposed to have fallen a victim to the hatred of the
Catholics was released from his prison and re-admitted to the privy
council (1550). By the inglorious war with France and by the still
more inglorious peace of Boulogne the government felt itself free to
devote its energies to the religious situation at home. Warwick went
over completely to the camp of the reforming party and determined in
consultation with them to push forward the anti-Catholic campaign.
The Parliament that assembled in November 1549 was distinctly radical
in its tendencies. In the House of Lords the bishops complained that
their authority had been destroyed, and that their orders were set at
naught. In reply they were requested to formulate a proposal for
redress, but on such a proposal having been submitted, their demands
were regarded by the laymen as exorbitant. A commission was appointed
against the wishes of a strong minority of the bishops to draw up a
new Ordinal as a complement to the Book of Common Prayer. The
committee was appointed on the 2nd February 1550, and it appears to
have finished its work within a week. In the new /Ordinal/[61] (1550)
the ceremonies for the conferring of tonsure, minor orders, and sub-
deaconship were omitted entirely, while the ordination rites for
deacons, priests, and bishops were considerably modified. Just as the
sacrificial character of the Mass had been dropped out of the Book of
Common Prayer, so too the notion of a real priesthood disappeared from
the forms for ordination. In spite of the opposition of a large body
of the bishops, an Act was passed ordering the destruction of all
missals, antiphonals, processionals, manuals, ordinals, etc., used
formerly in the service of the Church and not approved of by the
king's majesty, as well as for the removal of all images "except any
image or picture set or graven upon any tomb in any church, chapel or
churchyard only for a monument of any king, prince, nobleman or other
dead person who had not been commonly reputed and taken for a
saint."[62] As a result of this measure a wholesale destruction of
valuable books and manuscripts took place in the king's own library at
Westminster and throughout the country. The royal visitors, entrusted
with the difficult work of Protestantising Oxford, acting under the
guidance of Dr. Cox, chancellor of the University or "cancellor" as he
was called, ransacked the college libraries, tore up and burned
priceless manuscripts or sold them as waste paper, and even went so
far as to demand the destruction of the chapel windows, lest these
beautiful specimens of art might encourage loyalty to the old religion
that had inspired their artists and donors.
As it had been determined to abandon completely the religious
conservatism of the former reign it was felt absolutely necessary to
remove the Catholic-minded bishops, to make way for men of the new
school on whom the government could rely with confidence. Gardiner of
Winchester and Bonner of London were already in prison. Heath of
Worcester, who had refused to agree to the new Ordinal, was arrested
in March 1550, as was also Day of Chichester in October. Tunstall of
Durham, whose conservative views were well known to all, was placed
under surveillance in May 1551, and thrown into prison together with
his dean in the following November. In a short time a sentence of
deprivation was issued against Bonner, Heath, Day and Gardiner. Bishop
Thirlby of Westminster, who had given great offence by his
uncompromising attitude regarding the Blessed Eucharist, was removed
from Westminster, where his presence was highly inconvenient, to
Norwich, and the aged Bishop Voysey was forced to resign the See of
Exeter to make way for a more reliable and more active man. At the
same time steps were taken in the universities to drive out the men
whose influence might be used against the government's plans. The Sees
of Westminster and London were combined and handed over to Ridley of
Rochester, one of Cranmer's ablest and most advanced lieutenants.
Hooper, who looked to Zwingli as his religious guide, was appointed to
Gloucester; but as he objected to the episcopal oath, and episcopal
vestments, and as he insisted on his rights of private judgment so far
as to write publicly against those things that had been sanctioned by
the supreme head of the Church, it was necessary to imprison him[63]
before he could be reduced to a proper frame of mind for the
imposition of Cranmer's hands (March 1551). Ponet was appointed to
Rochester, and on the deprivation of Gardiner, to Winchester, where
his scandalous and public connexion with the wife of a Nottingham
burgher[64] was not calculated to influence the longing of his flock
for the new teaching. Scory was appointed to Rochester and afterwards
to Chichester, and Miles Coverdale to Oxford.
The zeal of the new bishops in seeking out the suppression of
papistical practices and their readiness to place the property of the
churches at Northumberland's disposal soon showed that those who
selected them had made no mistake. On Ridley's arrival in London he
held a conference for the purpose of compelling the clergy to adopt
the new liturgy in place of the Mass. He issued an order for the
removal of altars, and for the erection in their places of "honest
tables decently covered," whereon Communion might be celebrated. The
high altar in the Cathedral of St. Paul was pulled down, and a plain
Communion table set up in its stead. As such a sacrilegious innovation
was resented by a great body of both clergy and people, the council
felt it necessary to instruct the sheriff of Middlesex to enforce the
commands of the bishop. The example thus set in the capital was to be
followed throughout the country. In November 1550 letters were sent
out to all the bishops in the name of the youthful head of the Church,
commanding them to pull down the altars in their dioceses, and for
disobedience to this order Bishop Day was arrested. Hooper, once his
scruples regarding the episcopal oath and vestments had been removed,
threw himself with ardour into the work of reforming the clergy of his
dioceses of Worcester and Gloucester, but only to find that nothing
less than a royal decree could serve to detach them from their old
"superstitions" (1552). While the wholesale work of destruction was
being pushed forward care was taken that none of the spoils derived
from the plunder of the churches should go to private individuals.
Warwick insisted on the new bishops handing over large portions of
episcopal estates to be conferred on his favourites, and royal
commissions were issued to take inventories of ecclesiastical
property. During the years 1551 and 1552 the churches were stripped of
their valuables, and the church plate, chalices, copes, vestments, and
altar cloths, were disposed of to provide money for the impecunious
members of the council.
Violent measures such as these were not likely to win popularity for
the new religion, nor to bring about dogmatic unity. Risings took
place in Leicester, Northampton, Rutland, and Berkshire, and free
fights were witnessed even in the churches of London. Rumours of
conspiracy, especially in the north, where the Earls of Shrewsbury and
Derby still clung to the Catholic faith, were circulated, and fears of
a French invasion were not entirely without foundation. A new Act of
Uniformity[65] was decreed (1552) threatening spiritual and temporal
punishments against laymen who neglected to attend common prayer on
Sundays and holidays. Acts were passed for the relief of the poor who
had been rendered destitute by the suppression of the monasteries and
the wholesale inclosures, and to comfort the married clergy, whose
children were still regarded commonly as illegitimate, a second
measure was passed legalising such unions. Fighting in churches and
churchyards was to be put down with a heavy hand. If spiritual
punishments could not suffice for the maintenance of order offenders
were to be deprived of an ear or branded on the cheek with a red hot
iron.
Though according to some the Book of Common Prayer had been compiled
under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, soon it came to be regarded by
many as unsatisfactory. The men, who had rejected the authority of the
Pope because he was a foreigner to follow the teaching of apostate
friars from Switzerland, Italy, Poland, and Germany, clamoured for its
revision on the ground that it seemed to uphold the Real and Corporeal
Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Cranmer, who had accepted
Transubstantiation in the days of Henry VIII., and had defended a kind
of Real Presence in 1549, veered gradually towards Calvin's teaching
on the Eucharist. In order to remove the ambiguities and difficulties
of the old Prayer Book, it was determined to subject it to a complete
revision by which everything that implied a real objective presence of
Christ in the Eucharist should be omitted. The second Book of Common
Prayer was submitted and approved by Parliament (1552), and its use
was authorised by royal proclamation. It was to come into force in
November 1552, but late in September, when some copies of the Book
were already printed, the council issued a command that the work
should be stopped until further corrections had been made. It seems
that by a new rubric inserted by Cranmer communicants were enjoined to
receive the communion on bended knees, and John Knox, who had arrived
lately in England and was high in the favour of the council, objected
strongly to such an injunction as flavouring of papistry.
Notwithstanding the spirited remonstrances of Cranmer, the council
without authority from Parliament or Convocation obliged him to insert
on a fly leaf the famous "Black Rubric" which remains in the Book of
Common Prayer till the present day, except that in the time of Charles
II. a change was made, by which "corporeal presence" was inserted in
place of the "real and essential presence" repudiated in the first
form of the rubric.[66]
One other matter was considered by Cranmer as necessary for the
success of the new religious settlement, namely, the publication of an
authoritative creed for the English Church. The great diversity of
opinion in the country, the frantic appeals of men like Hooper who had
tried in vain to make an unwilling clergy accept their own dogmatic
standard, and the striking success of the Council of Trent in
vindicating Catholic doctrine, made it necessary to show the English
people what could be done by the supreme head of the Church at home
even though he was only a helpless boy. In 1549 Cranmer drew up a
series of Articles to be accepted by all preachers in his diocese.
These he submitted to the body of the bishops in 1551, and later at
the request of the privy council to a commission of six amongst whom
was John Knox. They were returned with annotations to Cranmer, who
having revised them besought the council to authorise their
publication. Finally in June 1553 Edward VI., four weeks before his
death, approved them, and commanded that they should be accepted by
all his subjects. The /Forty-two Articles/ represented the first
attempt to provide the English Church with a distinct dogmatic creed.
In the title page it was stated that the Articles had been agreed upon
"by the bishops and other learned and godly men in the last
Convocation held in London in the year of Our Lord 1552"; but
notwithstanding this very explicit statement, it is now practically
certain that the Articles were never submitted to or approved by
Convocation. In other words, as Gairdner puts it,[67] the title page
is "nothing but a shameful piece of official mendacity" resorted to in
order to deceive the people, and to prevent them from being influenced
by the successful work accomplished by the Fathers of Trent.
The Duke of Northumberland, who had scrambled into power on the
shoulders of the Catholic party, deserted his former allies, and went
over completely to the party of Cranmer, Ridley, and Hooper. Taking
advantage of England's peaceful relations with France and Scotland and
of the difficulties of the Emperor in Germany, he had risked
everything to make England a Protestant nation. He had removed the
bishops whose influence he feared, and had packed the episcopal bench
with his own nominees. He had destroyed the altars and burned the
missals to show his contempt for the Mass, and his firm resolve to
uproot the religious beliefs of the English people. So determined were
he and his friends to enforce the new religious service that even the
Princess Mary was forbidden to have Mass celebrated in her presence,
and her chaplains were prosecuted for disobeying the king's law. Once
indeed the Emperor felt it necessary to intervene in defence of his
kinswoman, and to warn the council that if any attempt were made to
prevent her from worshipping as she pleased, he would feel it
necessary to recall his ambassador and to declare war (1551). The
situation was decidedly embarrassing, and the council resolved to seek
the advice of Cranmer, Ridley, and Hooper. The bishops replied that
though to give licence to sin was sinful Mary's disobedience might be
winked at for the time.[68] The suggestion was followed by the
council, but later on when the Emperor's hands were tied by the
troubles in Germany, the attempt to overawe the princess was renewed.
Mary, however, showed the true Tudor spirit of independence, and, as
it would have been dangerous to imprison her or to behead her, she was
not pushed to extremes.
In 1553 it was clear to Northumberland that Edward VI. could not long
survive, and that with his death and the succession of Mary, his own
future and the future of the religious settlement for which he had
striven would be gravely imperilled. In defiance therefore of the late
king's will, and of what he knew to be the wishes of the English
people, for all through Edward's reign the Princess Mary was a great
favourite with the nation, he determined to secure the succession for
Lady Jane Grey, the grand-daughter of Henry VIII.'s sister Mary. Such
a succession, he imagined, would guarantee his own safety and the
triumph of Protestantism, more especially as he took care to bring
about a marriage between the prospective queen and his son, Lord
Guildford Dudley. When everything had been arranged the Chief Justice
and the two leading law officers of the crown were summoned to the
bedside of the dying king, and instructed to draw up a deed altering
the succession. They implored the king to abandon such a project, and
pointed out that it was illegal and would involve everyone concerned
in it in the guilt of treason, but Northumberland's violence overcame
their scruples, particularly as their own safety was assured by a
commission under the great seal and a promise of pardon. When the
document was drawn up it was signed by the king, the judges, and the
members of the council. Cranmer hesitated on the ground that he had
sworn to uphold the will of Henry VIII., but as the situation was a
desperate one, he agreed finally to follow the example that had been
set (June 1553). The preachers were instructed to prepare the people
for the change by denouncing both Mary and Elizabeth as bastards. On
the 6th July Edward VI. died at Greenwich, but his death was kept a
secret until Northumberland's plans could be matured. Four days later
Lady Jane Grey arrived in London, and the proclamation of her
accession to the throne was received with ominous silence in the
streets of the capital.
----------
[1] /The Life and Death of Thomas Wolsey, written by one of his
Servants/; ed. by Simpson, 1901. Cavendish, /The Life of Cardinal
Wolsey/, 1885. Creighton, /Cardinal Wolsey/, 1888. Taunton,
/Thomas Wolsey, Legate and Reformer/, 1902.
[2] O'Donovan, /Assertio Septem Sacramentorum/, etc., 1908.
[3] Id., 118-26.
[4] On the Divorce proceedings, cf. Harpsfield, /A Treatise on the
Pretended Divorce between Henry VIII. and Catharine of Aragon/,
(written 1556, ed. 1878). Hope, /The First Divorce of Henry VIII.
as told in the State Papers/, 1894. Ehses, /Römische Dokumente zur
Geschichte der Ehescheidung/, 1893. Thurston, /Clement VII.,
Campeggio and the Divorce/ (American Cath. Quart. Rev., 1904).
Id., /The Canon Law of the Divorce/ (Eng. Hist. Review, 1904).
Gairdner, /New Lights on the Divorce/ (Eng. Hist. Rev., 1897, also
1892). Friedman, /Anne Boleyn/, 2 vols., 1884.
[5] Ehses, op. cit., 21-7.
[6] Ehses, op. cit., p. xxxiii.
[7] Id., 14-16.
[8] Ehses, op. cit., pp. 28-31.
[9] /Political History of England/, vol. v., 280-1.
[10] Ehses, op. cit., p. xxxi., sqq.
[11] Brewer, /Reign of Hen. VIII./, ii., 346-51.
[12] Ehses, 120-5.
[13] Brewer, op. cit., 466-7.
[14] /Pol. Hist. of England/, v., 301.
[15] /Letters and Papers, Henry VIII./, iv., 64-78.
[16] Rymer, /Foedera/, xiv., 405.
[17] Ehses, op. cit., 163-4.
[18] Ehses, 167 sqq.
[19] Gairdner, /Lollardy and the Reformation/, i., 300.
[20] Gairdner, /Hist. of Eng. Ch. in XVIth Century/, 114.
[21] /Letters and Papers/, v., 886.
[22] Ehses, op. cit., 200-1.
[23] Haile, /The Life of Reginald Pole/, 1910, p. 88.
[24] For his dying statement against Royal Supremacy, vid. /Dublin
Review/ (April, 1894).
[25] /Pol. Hist. of England/, v., 318.
[26] /Pol. Hist. of England/, v., 318-19.
[27] Ehses, op. cit., 212-13.
[28] Gairdner, /Lollardy and the Reformation/, i., 48-52.
[29] /Pol. Hist. of England/, v., 344.
[30] /Lollardy and the Reformation/, i., 424-35.
[31] Cf. Bridgett, /Life of Blessed John Fisher/, 1888. Stewart, /Life
of John Fisher/, 1879. Baily (Hall), /Life and Death of John
Fisher/, 1655.
[32] Cf. Roper, /The Life, Arraignment, and Death of ... Sir Thomas
More/, 1629 (reprinted 1903). Bridgett, /Life and Writings of Sir
Thomas More/, 1891. Gairdner, /Lollardy and the Reformation/,
(chap. iv., v.).
[33] /Pol. Hist. of England/, v., 361.
[34] Cf. Gasquet, /Henry VIII. and the English Monasteries/. Gairdner,
/Lollardy and the Reformation, II./ (chap. ii., iii.).
[35] Turnbull, /Account of Monastic Treasures confiscated at the
Dissolution/, etc., 1836.
[36] Gairdner, /Letters and Papers Hen. VIII./, xi., xii.
[37] Haile, /Life of Reginald Pole/ (chap. ix.-xi.).
[38] Gairdner, /Lollardy and the Reformation/, vol. ii., 304 sqq.
[39] Gairdner, /Hist. of the Eng. Church in the XVIIth Cent./, 177-8.
[40] Gairdner, /The Story of the English Bible/ (/Loll. and the Ref./,
ii. 221 sqq.).
[41] /English Statutes/, 34 and 35 Hen. VIII., c. 50.
[42] Gairdner, /German Protestants and the Act of Six Articles/ (op.
cit., ii., 170-220.)
[43] Merriman, /Life and Letters of Thomas Cromwell/, 2 vols., 1902.
[44] Tytler, /England under Edward VI. and Mary/, 2 vols., 1839.
[45] Gasquet-Bishop, /Edw. VI. and the Book of Common Prayer/, 43-4.
[46] Cf. Dodd-Tierney, /Church Hist. of England/, ii., app. iii.
[47] Id., app. iv.
[48] Lee, /Edw. VI., Supreme Head/, 39.
[49] Gasquet-Bishop, op. cit., 69-77.
[50] Leach, /Eng. Schools at the Reformation/, 1-7.
[51] Gasquet-Bishop, op. cit., 92-96.
[52] /Cambridge Mod. History/, ii., 477.
[53] Gasquet-Bishop, op. cit., 83 sqq. Dixon, /History of the Church/,
ii., 476.
[54] Gasquet-Bishop, op. cit., chap. ix.
[55] Dodd-Tierney, ii., app. ix.
[56] Gasquet-Bishop, op. cit., chap. x.
[57] /The First Prayer Book of King Edw. VI./, 1549 (Westminster
Library). Proctor-Frere, /New History of the Book of Common
Prayer/, 1901.
[58] Rose-Troup, /The Western Rebellion of 1549/, 1913.
[59] Russell, /Kett's Rebellion/, 1859.
[60] Gairdner, /Lollardy and the Reformation/, iii., 125-7.
[61] /The Forme and Maner of makyng and consecratyng of
Archebishoppes, Bishoppes, Priestes, and Deacons/.
[62] /Stat. 3rd and 4th, Edw. VI./, c. 10.
[63] Gairdner, op. cit., iii., 273.
[64] Lee, op. cit., 214.
[65] /Stat. 5th and 6th, Edw. III./, c. 50.
[66] Gairdner, op. cit., iii., 349-50.
[67] Gairdner, op. cit., iii., 376-77.
[68] Gairdner, op. cit., iii., 201.
CHAPTER III
CATHOLIC REACTION IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY (1553-1558)
See bibliography, chap. i., ii., /State Papers/ (Home, Foreign,
Venetian). /The Diary of Henry Machyn, etc., from 1550 to 1563/
(ed. by J. G. Nichols, 1854). Lingard, /History of England/ (vol.
v.). Gairdner, /Lollardy and the Reformation/, vol. iv. 1913.
Innes, /England under the Tudors/, 1905. Zimmermann, /Maria die
Katholische/, 1896. Stone, /Mary I., Queen of England/, 1901.
Haile, /Life of Reginald Pole/, 1910. Zimmermann, /Kardinal Pole,
sein Leben, und seine Schriften/, 1893. Lee, /Reginald Pole,
Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury/. /Cambridge Modern History/,
vol. ii., chap. xv.
Lady Jane Grey might be proclaimed queen, but until Mary had been
lodged safely in the Tower the triumph of the conspiracy was not
assured. Efforts had been made to induce her to come to London, but
warned by secret messages dispatched by her London friends, she fled
from her residence in Hundon to a castle in Suffolk, from which she
addressed letters to the council and to the prominent noblemen of
England asserting her rights to the throne. From all parts of the
country thousands flocked to join her standard, while the frantic
appeals of Northumberland and his colleagues failed to awaken any
genuine response even in London itself. Northumberland, much against
his will, consented to lead the army against Mary, who was advancing
towards the capital, but after his departure, the members of the
council, convinced that their cause was hopeless, deserted their
leader, and permitted Mary to be proclaimed (19th July).
Northumberland surrendered himself to the mercy of the new queen, and
was committed to the Tower together with his principal adherents. On
the 3rd August Mary made her formal entrance into London where she
received an enthusiastic welcome from the citizens. Her first care was
to liberate some of those who had been arrested during the previous
reign, Bishops Gardiner, Bonner, Heath, and Day, the Duke of Norfolk,
and Lord Courtenay, the latter of whom had been in confinement for
fifteen years. As a fervent Catholic, who had upheld the Mass in the
days of Edward VI. even at the risk of her life, there could be no
doubt about the new queen's religious views, and in many of the
churches in London and throughout the country the English service gave
place immediately to the Mass. In an interview with the lord mayor of
London, and afterwards in the public proclamation addressed to all her
subjects, she announced that, though it was her intention to follow
the Catholic religion, she had no desire of resorting to compulsion to
force it on her people against their will, and she exhorted them to
live together in Christian harmony, avoiding the "new found devilish
terms of papist and heretic." As a sign that vengeance and cruelty
were no part of her programme she exercised great mercy towards those
who had conspired to deprive her of the throne, only a few of whom,
including the Earl of Northumberland, were put to death. Possibly in
the hope of playing upon the feelings of the queen and of securing a
pardon Northumberland announced publicly his return to the old faith
and his acceptance of the Catholic doctrine on the Eucharist.
Charles V., on whose counsel Mary relied, advised her to proceed
cautiously with the restoration of religion in England. Many of the
younger generation had been taught to regard papal supremacy as an
unwarrantable interference with English independence, while those who
had been enriched by the plunder of the Church had every reason for
upholding the Edwardine settlement. For their part in promoting the
conspiracy against the queen as well as for various other offences
laid to their charge Cranmer, Ridley, Hooper, Latimer, and Coverdale
were committed to prison; Bishop Ponet went into hiding, and Barlow
made his escape from the country. Later on all these were deprived of
their Sees. Gardiner was restored to his See of Winchester, and
appointed Lord Chancellor, Tunstall to Durham, Heath to Worcester, Day
to Chichester, and Voysey to Exeter. Foreign scholars like Peter
Martyr, John à Lasco and their friends, whom Cranmer had brought over
to teach the English people the new religion, were granted passports
and permitted to leave the kingdom. Their example was followed by John
Knox, and by many others of the married clergy.
In her heart Mary detested the title supreme head of the Church, and
was most anxious to bring about a reconciliation with Rome. When the
news of her accession reached Rome it brought joy to the heart of
Julius III. He determined at once to send a legate to England, and he
selected for this office the great English Cardinal, whose devotion to
his country was equalled only by his loyalty to the Church. Cardinal
Pole was appointed legate with full powers, and was entrusted also
with the work of effecting a reconciliation between the Emperor and
Henry II. of France. Charles V. had no desire to see Pole in England
installed as Queen Mary's chief adviser. He had planned a marriage
between Mary and his eldest son, afterwards Philip II. of Spain, and
fully conscious that Pole might oppose such an alliance as dangerous
both for England and for religion, he was determined to delay the
arrival of the legate until the negotiations for the marriage had been
completed.
In October 1553 Mary was crowned solemnly by Bishop Gardiner at
Westminster Abbey. She bound herself by oath to preserve the liberties
of her kingdom, and to maintain the rights of the Holy See. Four days
later she attended the Mass of the Holy Ghost at the opening of
Parliament, and listened to the address in which her Lord Chancellor
exhorted the members to show their repentance for and detestation of
the heresy and schism of which he and they had been guilty, by
returning to the unity of the Catholic Church. All the new treasons,
felonies, and praemunire penalties of the previous reigns were
abolished on the ground, it was declared, that Mary hoped to win the
obedience of her subjects through love rather than through fear. The
marriage of Henry VIII. with Catharine of Aragon was declared valid,
and consequently Mary was acknowledged as the lawful successor to the
throne. The Edwardine religious settlement, including the Acts of
Uniformity, the Book of Common Prayer, the Ordinal, the Forty-two
Articles and the permission for clergymen to marry, was swept away,
and an Act was passed against disturbing religious services or
exhibiting irreverence towards the Eucharist. All this legislation was
in perfect conformity with the wishes of Convocation, which had met
shortly after the meeting of Parliament, and which with only a few
dissentients condemned the Book of Common Prayer, and re-affirmed the
belief of the English clergy in the doctrine of Transubstantiation.
Though the queen announced her dissatisfaction with the title of
supreme head, and granted full freedom of discussion regarding it,
Parliament showed itself decidedly unwilling to restore the
jurisdiction of the Pope. It was not that the members had any real
objection to the change from the doctrinal point of view, but, fearing
that a return to Roman obedience might involve a restoration of the
ecclesiastical property seized or alienated during the previous reign,
they wished to secure their property before they made their submission
to the Pope.
For so far Mary had acted with considerable mildness and prudence in
carrying out her religious programme, against which as yet no serious
opposition had been manifested. The question of her marriage, however,
was destined to create dissension between herself and her subjects.
The Emperor and the imperial ambassador urged her to accept the hand
of Philip, on the ground that by such a marriage internal jealousies
and dissensions might be avoided, and the triumph of Catholicism might
be assured. Many of the members of the council and the vast majority
of the English people were opposed to such a union. They feared that
were a foreign ruler to become the husband of their queen he must have
of necessity the chief voice in English affairs. They believed,
therefore, that England would be involved in all the wars of Spain,
and that were an heir to be born of such a union, England, instead of
being an independent nation, might become a mere Spanish province. The
enemies of Mary's religious programme thought they saw in the Spanish
marriage an opportunity of overturning her government, and of
re-establishing Protestantism in the country. Taking advantage of the
unpopularity of this proposal they appealed to the patriotism and love
of independence of the English people, and succeeded in winning to
their side many who were at least neutral in regard to her religious
proposals. It was planned by some to bring about a marriage between
the Princess Elizabeth and Edward Courtenay, both of whom had claims
to the throne, and to set them up as rivals to Queen Mary. The French
ambassador, alarmed at the prospect of Mary's marriage with the
hereditary enemy of France, encouraged the conspirators with promises
of assistance, not, indeed, because France desired the accession of
Elizabeth, but in the hope that during the confusion that would ensue
it might be possible to assert the claims of Mary Queen of Scotland,
the prospective wife of the Dauphin of France.
Notwithstanding the petition presented against the Spanish marriage by
Parliament, Mary persisted in the policy suggested to her by the
Emperor. Flemish envoys arrived on New Year's Day 1554 to arrange the
preliminaries. The marriage treaty was signed and two days later it
was announced to the mayor and the chief citizens of London. This was
the signal for the conspirators, who had been working secretly for
months, to bring their designs to a head. News soon arrived in London
that Sir Peter Carew had risen in Devon and had captured Exeter, that
Sir Thomas Wyatt was rousing the men of Kent, and that Sir James
Crofts had gone to Wales and the Duke of Suffolk to the midlands to
rally the forces of disloyalty. But the great body of the English
people were too deeply attached to their sovereign to respond to the
appeal of the rebel leaders. Wyatt's movement alone threatened to be
dangerous. As his forces advanced to the gates of London, Mary, who
had shown the greatest courage throughout the crisis, went in person
to the Guildhall to call upon the citizens of London to defend their
sovereign. Her invitation was responded to with enthusiasm, and when
Wyatt had succeeded in forcing his way as far as Ludgate Circus, he
was obliged to retire and to surrender himself a prisoner to the
queen's forces. Mary, who for so far had followed a policy of extreme
mildness, felt that she could do so no longer, and that she must make
it clear to her subjects that to declare war on the throne was a
serious crime. Wyatt, the Duke of Suffolk, father of Lady Jane Grey,
and several of the leaders were tried and put to death. Already in
November Lady Jane Grey, her husband and Cranmer had been condemned to
death as traitors. The sentence was not, however, carried out, nor was
it likely to have been, had not the rebellion shown that Mary's
enemies might utilise such dangerous claimants to the throne for
stirring up new disaffection. Lady Jane Grey[1] and her husband were
put to death on Tower Hill (Feb. 1554); several of the other
conspirators were punished only by imprisonment, and a general pardon
was published for the great body of the insurgents. Mary's treatment
of the offenders, however the execution of Lady Jane Grey may be
regarded, was in striking contrast to what might have been expected to
have taken place in similar circumstances had the throne been occupied
by her father or even by her sister Elizabeth. From the confessions of
some of the rebels as well as from the correspondence of the French
ambassador serious evidence was furnished to show that Elizabeth was
implicated in the rebellion. She was summoned to London to answer the
charges brought against her, and though she protested her innocence
she was committed to the Tower. Many members of the council were
convinced of her guilt, but Mary, refusing to believe that her sister
was privy to the designs of the conspirators, ordered her release.
The terms of the marriage treaty having been confirmed by Parliament
(April 1554) Philip arrived in England, and on the 25th July the
marriage was celebrated in Westminster Abbey. Philip and Mary were
proclaimed "by the grace of God King and Queen of England, France,
Naples, Jerusalem, and Ireland, Defenders of the Faith, Princes of
Spain and Sicily, Arch-Dukes of Austria, Dukes of Milan, Burgundy and
Brabant, Counts of Habsburg, Flanders, and Tyrol." The Emperor had at
last carried his point, and, as the presence of Cardinal Pole in
England could no longer prove a danger to his designs, the latter was
now free to come to England. During the early portions of the year
steps had been taken to prepare England for the worthy reception of
the papal legate. In March four of the reforming bishops were deprived
of their Sees on the ground that they were married, and three others
who held their appointments only by letters patent of Edward VI. were
removed. On the 1st April six new bishops were consecrated by Gardiner
to fill the vacant Sees. Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley were sent down
to Oxford to defend their views in a public discussion, arranged
undoubtedly with the object of forwarding the national reconciliation
with Rome. There were still, however, difficulties that must be
removed before Cardinal Pole could be allowed to land on English soil.
The real objection to the return of England to the Roman obedience was
the ownership of the Church lands, and from what had happened in the
two previous sessions it was perfectly clear that those who had
benefited by the plunder of the Church lands were determined to refuse
to make restoration. After prolonged negotiations Pole agreed that,
while the Pope could not approve of what had been done, he would not
insist on the restoration of ecclesiastical property.
When everything had been arranged Parliament was summoned to meet in
November 1554. The sheriffs were instructed to see that men "of the
wise, grave and Catholic sort" should be returned. An Act was passed
immediately reversing the sentence of Attainder against Cardinal Pole.
The legate hastened on his way to London where he was welcomed by the
King and Queen and Parliament. A supplication was adopted unanimously
in the House of Lords, and with but one dissentient in the House of
Commons, requesting the King and Queen to procure from the legate
absolution from heresy and schism for the English people and a
reconciliation of the nation with the Pope. Cardinal Pole attended
Parliament on the 30th to pronounce the sentence of absolution, which
was received by the King, Queen, Lords, and Commons on bended knees.
This happy event was celebrated by a procession through the streets of
London in which the clergymen, aldermen, and citizens took part.
Parliament petitioned that the old jurisdiction of the clergy should
be restored, that the liberty granted to the Church by the Magna
Charta should be confirmed, and that the English religious service-
books of the previous reign should be delivered to the flames. Once it
was made clear that the owners of ecclesiastical property should not
be disturbed there was no difficulty in procuring a complete reversal
of all the laws that had been passed against the apostolic See of Rome
since the twentieth year of Henry VIII. (3rd January 1555).[2]
The close connexion of the leaders of the Reformers with the late
rebellion, the ugly pamphlets that made their way into England from
Frankfurt and Geneva, the fact that prayers were offered in secret for
the speedy death of the queen, that a shot had been fired at one of
the royal preachers while he was in the pulpit, and that a violent
commotion was being stirred up, that led later on to a priest being
struck down at the altar by one who is designated by Foxe as "a
faithful servant of God,"[3] made it necessary for the safety of the
crown and the advancement of religion to deal harshly with those who
themselves had relied on persecution for the promotion of their
designs. Mary herself, Philip, and Cardinal Pole did not favour a
recourse to violent measures, but they were overruled by the judgment
of those who should have known best the character of the opponents
with whom they had to deal. An Act was passed renewing the legislation
that had been made in the reigns of Richard II., Henry IV., and Henry
V. for the suppression of the Lollard heresy.
Parliament was dissolved in January 1555, and several of the political
prisoners were released from the Tower. The heretical leaders, who
though under arrest had been treated with great mildness and allowed
such liberty that they were able to meet together and to publish
writings and challenges against Mary's religious policy,[4] were
brought to trial before a commission presided over by Gardiner. A few
consented to sign a formula of recantation, but the majority,
persisting in their opposition, were degraded and handed over for
punishment to the civil authorities. On the 4th February the long
series of burnings began. John Rogers was committed to the flames in
Smithfield, Bishop Hooper in Gloucester, Taylor in Suffolk, Saunders
in Coventry, and before the year had elapsed about seventy prisoners
had met a similar fate. In September 1555 a commission was sent down
to Oxford to examine Latimer and Ridley. Both refused to admit
Transubstantiation, the sacrificial character of the Mass, or Roman
supremacy. They were condemned, and it must be said of them that they
met their fate like men. Judges were appointed by the Pope to take
evidence against Cranmer. He was charged with perjury because he had
broken his oath to the Pope, with heresy on account of his teaching
against the Eucharist, and with adultery. The minutes of the trial
were forwarded to Rome for the final decision, and after careful
consideration the Pope deposed him from the Archbishopric of
Canterbury, and excommunicated him. Meanwhile Cranmer's theological
views had been undergoing another revision. On the question of prayers
for the dead, Purgatory, and the Mass, he was willing to admit that he
might have been mistaken, and even on the question of papal supremacy
he professed himself ready to listen to argument. In his eagerness to
escape punishment he signed recantation after recantation, each of
them more comprehensive and more submissive than its predecessor,
acknowledging his guilt as a persecutor of the Church and a disturber
of the faith of the English nation, and praying for pardon from the
sovereigns, the Pope, and God. But in the end, when he realised that
his recantations could not save him and that he was face to face with
death, he deceived his chaplains at the last moment as he had deceived
many others, by withdrawing his previous admissions and announcing
that he still clung to his heretical views[5] (21st March 1556).
An embassy had been sent to Rome to inform the Pope that England had
returned to the Holy See. The envoys reported, too, that though Mary
had failed to secure a restoration of the ecclesiastical lands, she
had at least set a good example to the lay usurpers by returning the
possessions of the Church still held by the crown. The synod summoned
by Cardinal Pole to restore the discipline of the Church in England,
met in November 1555. It was agreed in the synod that the 30th
November should be kept as a national holiday in memory of the
reconciliation of England to the Church, that the decrees binding in
England before the troubles began under Henry VIII. should be
enforced, that the clergy should be mindful of their duties of
residence and preaching, that seminaries should be set up in each
diocese for the education of the clergy, that bishops should hold
frequent visitations, that a set of homilies should be compiled for
the guidance of preachers, and that an English version of the
Scriptures should be published without delay.[6] This new code of
constitutions issued under the title /Reformatio Angliae ex decretis
Reginaldi Pole/ is in itself a testimony to the ability, moderation,
and prudence of the papal legate. Some months later he was
consecrated bishop and took possession of the See of Canterbury to
which he had been appointed on the deposition of Cranmer. In pursuance
of her plans for the complete re-establishment of the Catholic
religion the queen took steps to ensure that the monastic
institutions, which had been suppressed during the previous reigns,
should begin to make their appearance once more in England. The
Carthusians returned to London, the Grey Friars occupied a house at
Greenwich, the Dominicans took possession of St. Bartholomew's, and
the Benedictines were installed in Westminster (1556).
The queen, who two years before had been full of courage and hope,
began to lose confidence in the success of her work. The Spanish
marriage was the beginning of her misfortunes, and the apparent
dependence of Catholicism on Spanish help proved to be the undoing of
the Catholic religion in England. Disappointed in the birth of an
heir, deserted by her husband who found enough to engage his attention
in Spain and the Netherlands, confronted with conspiracies promoted by
heretics and encouraged for its own selfish purpose by France,
doubtful of the real sentiments of Elizabeth, and with hardly any
friends upon whose advice she could rely with confidence, it is not to
be wondered at that Mary felt inclined to despair. She was determined,
however, to continue the work she had begun, and to see that at least
during her life heresy should be put down with a heavy hand.
Unfortunately for the success of her projects she was involved in
difficulties with Rome. Paul IV. (1555-59) was a man of stern,
unbending character, firmly resolved to maintain the rights and
liberties of the Holy See. Annoyed at the domineering policy of
Charles V., and of his son Philip II., he was anxious to put an end to
Spanish rule in Naples. The relations became so embittered that a
Spanish force under the command of the Duke of Alva crossed the
frontiers of the Papal States, and Paul IV. recalled his agents from
Philip's territories (1557). France decided to support the Pope, and
soon active hostilities began. Philip, for whose return to England
Mary had so often appealed in vain, came back early in 1557, but only
to request that England should join with him in a war with France.
Mary's position was a particularly cruel one. She could not well
resist the demands of her husband, particularly as France had lent its
patronage and assistance to the conspiracies plotted for her
overthrow. The position of Cardinal Pole was even more cruel. He had
done all that man could do to prevent the outbreak of war, and when
all his efforts proved unavailing, he retired from court lest he, a
legate of the Holy See, should be obliged to meet Philip who was at
war with the Pope. By the papal order (1557) recalling all his agents
from the Spanish territories the Cardinal found himself deprived of
the office of legate, to the astonishment of his friends and the grief
of the queen. Agents were dispatched to Rome to induce Paul IV. to
cancel the legate's recall. The Pope, however, having taken some time
for consideration refused to accede to the request, but agreed to send
a new legate in the person of the Observant, Friar William Peto (14
June 1557), who had preached so manfully against Henry's divorce, and
who was now created cardinal to prepare him for his new position. The
messenger dispatched to announce these tidings was refused admission
into England, although Pole who had learned of what had taken place in
Rome refused to act any longer as legate, and addressed a strong but
respectful letter of remonstrance to the Pope. Both from the point of
view of religion and of politics the French war, in which Mary's
husband had succeeded in involving England, proved disastrous. It led
to the loss of Calais and Guisnes (1558) the last of the English
possessions in France, to increased taxation, and to a strong feeling
against Mary and all her counsellors. Distrust of the Spanish alliance
led to distrust of the religion of which Philip had constituted
himself the champion, and helped to forward the schemes of those who
sought to identify patriotism with Protestantism. Though the great
body of the people had accepted the Catholic religion, and though to
all appearances its restoration was complete, Mary's last days were
embittered by the thought that under the reign of her successor the
religious settlement that had been effected might be overturned.
Already courtiers and diplomatists were abandoning her presence to win
favour with Elizabeth, who professed to be a sincere Catholic, but on
whose professions too much reliance could not be placed. On November
17th 1558 Mary passed away, and a few hours later her great counsellor
and friend Cardinal Pole was called to his reward.
----------
[1] Taylor, /Life of Lady Jane Grey/, 1908.
[2] Dodd-Tierney, ii., App. xxv.
[3] Gairdner, /Heretics Painted mostly by Themselves/, op. cit., iv.,
305 sqq.
[4] Gairdner, /Hist. of Eng. Church in Sixteenth Century/, 348.
[5] Gairdner, op. cit., 370-7. Strype's /Life of Cranmer/ (Oxford
edition of Strype's Works, 1812-24).
[6] Haile, /Life of Cardinal Pole/, 476-83.
CHAPTER IV
THE REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH (1558-1603)
See bibliography, chap. ii., iii. /Publications of the English
Catholic Record Society/, 1904-14. Strype, /Annals of the
Reformation/, 1708-9 (a complete edition of Strype's Works
published, Oxford, 1812-24, 25 vols.; Index Vol., 1828). Birt,
O.S.B., /The Elizabethan Religious Settlement/, 1907. Meyer,
/England und Die Katholische Kirche unter Elisabeth und Den
Stuarts/. Gee, /The Elizabethan Clergy and the Settlement of
Religion/, 1898. Lee, /The Church under Queen Elizabeth/, 2 vols.,
2nd edition, 1893. Bridgett, /The True Story of the Catholic
Hierarchy/, 1889. Phillips, /The Extinction of the Catholic
Hierarchy/, 1905. Gillow, /Literary and Biographical History of
English Catholics/. Foley, /Records of the English Province of the
Society of Jesus/, 7 vols., 1880. Challoner, /Memoirs of
Missionary Priests/, etc. (1577-1684), 2 vols., 1803. Camm, /Lives
of the English Martyrs/ (1583-88), 1914. Guilday, /The English
Catholic Refugees on the Continent/ (1558-1795), 1914. Husenbeth,
/Notices of the English Colleges and Convents on the Continent
after the Dissolution of the Religious Houses in England/, 1849.
Knox, /Records of the English Catholics under the Penal Laws/.
/The Month/ (1900-2).
A few hours after Mary's death Elizabeth was proclaimed queen
according to the terms of her father's will, and messengers were
dispatched to Hatfield to announce her accession and to escort her to
the capital. During the reign of her brother her relations with Thomas
Seymour nearly led to a secret marriage and the loss of her rights to
the throne, while during the lifetime of her sister the disclosures of
Wyatt and his followers and the correspondence of the French
ambassador brought her to the Tower on suspicion of treason. Mary was,
however, averse to severe measures, more especially as Elizabeth
expressed her devotion to the Catholic religion and her willingness to
accept the new religious settlement. But in secret she treasured other
views, not because she was hostile to the Catholic religion, but
because opposition to Catholicism seemed to be the best means of
maintaining her claim to the crown and of resisting Mary Queen of
Scots, who from the Catholic point of view was the nearest legitimate
heir to the throne. Already, before the death of Mary, Elizabeth was
in close correspondence with those who were unfriendly to Catholicism
and to the Spanish connexion, and she had selected William Cecil,
whose religious views and practices during Mary's reign coincided with
her own, to be her secretary. Her accession was hailed with joy
throughout England, for Englishmen were glad to have a ruler of their
own so as to be rid of the Spanish domination, that had led to
taxation at home and disaster abroad. The official announcement of
Elizabeth's accession was as welcome to Philip II., who was still
England's ally, as it was distasteful to France, which regarded Mary
Queen of Scots as the lawful claimant to England's throne. It is
noteworthy, as affording a clue to Elizabeth's future policy, that no
official notice of her accession was forwarded to the Pope, nor were
the credentials of the English ambassador at Rome either confirmed or
revoked. Paul IV., notwithstanding the efforts of the French, was
unwilling to create any difficulties for England's new ruler by
declaring her illegitimate or by treating her otherwise than as a
rightful sovereign.[1]
Though many of Mary's old councillors were retained it is remarked by
many interested observers that the new members selected by the queen
belonged to the party likely to favour religious innovations, and that
her real advisers were not the privy council but a select coterie, the
principal of which were William Cecil, Secretary of State, and his
brother-in-law, Nicholas Bacon, appointed Lord Keeper of the Seal,
both of whom, while outwardly professing their devotion to the old
religion under Queen Mary, were well known to sympathise with the
Edwardian régime. The men who had fled to Frankfurt or Geneva began to
return and to preach their doctrines to the crowd, and the Italian
church in London was attacked by a mob. Outwardly no change took place
in the religious ceremonial. A royal proclamation was issued (27th
Dec., 1558) forbidding preaching or the use of other public prayers,
rites, or ceremonies save those approved by law until Parliament
should have determined otherwise, except in regard to the recitation
in English, of the Litany, the Commandments, the Creed, together with
the Epistles and Gospels.[2] Still the anti-Catholic party boasted
that the new ruler was on their side. The queen's own inclinations
were soon made clear by her prohibition addressed to Bishop Oglethorp
of Carlisle against the elevation of the Host in the Mass celebrated
in her presence on Christmas Day (1558), and by her withdrawal from
the church when he refused to obey her instructions. Bishop
Christopherson of Chichester was arrested for his sermon preached on
the occasion of the late queen's funeral, and Archbishop Heath of York
resigned the Chancellorship.
The coronation of the queen was fixed for the 25th January (1559), and
as her title to the throne might be questioned on so many points, it
was obviously of the greatest importance that the ceremony should be
carried out in the orthodox fashion so as to elude all the objections
of her rivals. The Archbishop of York and the bishops generally, well
aware of the religious changes that were in contemplation, refused to
take part in the coronation, though in the end Bishop Oglethorp of
Carlisle was induced to undertake the task, probably in the hope of
averting still greater evil. The bishops attended at Westminster to
welcome the queen on her arrival and to take the oath of allegiance,
but declined to be present at the Mass, as did also the Spanish
ambassador. The rite was carried out with punctilious attention to the
old rubrics, and the sermon was preached by Dr. Cox, a Frankfurt
exile, who regaled his hearers with a wild tirade against the monks,
clergy, and the existing idolatry.[3]
Parliament was summoned to meet in January 1559. In the House of Lords
the government was confronted with the fact that the bishops to a man
would oppose the religious changes that were to be introduced, but it
was hoped that by careful directions to the sheriffs a House of
Commons might be returned that could be trusted.[4] There was no
difficulty in procuring acts confirming Elizabeth's title to the
throne, more especially as the legitimacy of her mother's marriage
though implied was not directly affirmed, but the bill for the
restoration of First Fruits to the crown met with considerable
opposition and delay, especially at the hands of the spiritual peers,
and another for the restoration of those clergymen who had been
deprived in the previous reign on account of their non-observance of
celibacy was abandoned. The two great measures however on which
Elizabeth's ministers had set their hearts were royal supremacy and
the re-introduction of the Book of Common Prayer in place of the Latin
Mass, but from the first the bishops offered to these measures the
most determined opposition, and though the bishops were not supported
by a very large number of the lay peers, the idea of forcing such
momentous changes on the country against the wishes of the united
episcopate was so repugnant to the religious instincts of the nation
that the ministers found themselves again and again compelled to
withdraw or modify their proposals.
To add to their confusion Convocation met in February (1559) and
forwarded to the bishops for presentation to the queen a strong
document, in which the clergy without a dissentient voice affirmed
their belief in the Real Presence, Transubstantiation, the sacrificial
character of the Mass, Roman supremacy and the inability of laymen to
legislate regarding the doctrines, discipline, or sacraments of the
Church.[5] This judgment of Convocation though hardly unexpected was a
deadly blow struck against the government measures, showing as it did
that if Parliament undertook a new religious settlement it must do so
on its own responsibility and against the wishes of the ecclesiastical
authorities. The difficulties against the two bills were so great that
when Easter arrived the work upon which the queen and her advisers had
set their hearts was still incomplete. The Bill of Uniformity of
belief had been rejected, and though the Royal Supremacy Bill had
passed the two Houses in modified form it had not yet reached the
statute book. The inconvenience of according the title of supreme head
of the Church to a woman was disliked by many, and was distasteful
even to Elizabeth herself.
Parliament was prorogued for a few weeks at Easter, and recourse was
had to a clever expedient to win popular sympathy for the measures. A
disputation was arranged to take place between the bishops and the
Protestant exiles. Cecil took care that both in regard to the subjects
to be discussed and the manner of procedure the latter party should
have every advantage. The questions were the use of English or Latin
in the religious services, the authority of particular churches to
change their rites and ceremonies, and the propitiatory character of
the Mass. The Catholic representatives were to open the discussion
each day, but the last word was always reserved for the Reformers.
From the very beginning it was clear that the dice had been loaded
against the defenders of the old faith, and on the second day the
Catholic party refused to continue the discussion.[6] Their refusal,
however justified it may have been in the circumstances, could not
fail to make a bad impression. It was seized upon by their opponents
to show that the supporters of Rome had disobeyed the queen, had
quailed before the apostles of the new religion, and that, therefore,
even though they were bishops, they could not be regarded as
trustworthy guides in matters of religion. The Bishops of Winchester
and Lincoln were arrested because they refused to continue the
disputation, and by their arrest the Catholic peers were deprived of
two votes in the House of Lords at a time when the fate of the old
religion was trembling in the balance.
When Parliament re-assembled the queen announced her intention of
refusing the title of supreme head of the Church, and requested the
House "would devise some other form with regard to the primacy or
supremacy." A new bill conceding to the sovereign the title "supreme
governor" was introduced, but met with as strong opposition from the
bishops as its predecessors, and was passed against their unanimous
wishes. The Act of Uniformity, commanding the use of the Second Book
of Common Prayer with a few alterations, met with even a worse
reception, as several of the laymen joined the bishops in their
resistance, and in the end it was carried only by a majority of three.
Had the imprisoned bishops been free to cast their votes against the
measure, or had the lay peers who disliked it had the courage to be
present in their places at the division the whole course of English
history might have been altered.[7] As it was a religious revolution
had been effected. The Mass, Transubstantiation, the Real Presence and
Roman supremacy, all of which had been accepted without contradiction
from the days of St. Augustine till the reign of Henry VIII., were
abolished and a new church established that bore but a faint
resemblance to the old. And what was more extraordinary still, all
this was done solely by an assembly of laymen, against the wishes and
appeals of the united episcopate and against the practically unanimous
judgment of Convocation. "The Church of England as by law established"
is a parliamentary institution set up and shaped by Parliament in the
beginning, and dependent upon Parliament ever since for guidance and
protection.
By the Act of Supremacy the queen was declared to be supreme governor
of the Church in England; all foreign jurisdiction was abolished; a
body of commissioners was to be appointed to administer the oath of
supremacy and to carry on ecclesiastical functions in the name of the
queen; officials who refused to take the oath were to be deprived, and
penalties varying from fines to death were to be imposed on those who
were unwilling to accept the law. By the Act of Uniformity the English
service, as contained in the Second Book of Common Prayer with some
slight alterations, was made obligatory on all clergymen, as was
attendance at this service on all laymen. The Act was to be enforced
by the spiritual authorities under threat of excommunication against
offenders, and by the civil authorities by the infliction of fines or
imprisonment.
A royal commission was appointed (1559) to administer the oath of
supremacy to the clergy, and to enforce the provisions of the Act of
Uniformity. As was to be expected, the attention of the commissioners
was directed immediately to the bishops. If some of them could be
induced to submit--and the government was not without hope in this
direction--their submission would produce a good impression on the
country; but if on the contrary they persisted in their attachment to
the Mass and their obedience to the Pope, they must be removed to make
way for more trustworthy men. To their credit be it said, when the
oath of supremacy was tendered to the bishops they refused with one
exception to abandon the views they had defended with such skill and
bravery in the House of Lords, and preferred to suffer imprisonment
and deprivation rather than lead their people into error by
submission. Bishop Kitchin of Llandaff had opposed royal supremacy for
a time. The Spanish ambassador reported to his master that he was
about to follow the example of his brethren, but in the end he
submitted and consented to administer the oath to his clergy.[8] The
religious communities, the Observants, the Carthusians, the
Dominicans, the Benedictines, and the few communities of nuns that had
re-established houses in England during the reign of Queen Mary, were
suppressed; their property was seized according to an Act passed in
the late Parliament, and many of the monks and nuns were obliged to
depart from the kingdom. The commissioners proceeded through England
administering the oath to the clergy, a large percentage of whom seems
to have submitted. From the returns preserved it is difficult to
estimate accurately what number of the clergy consented to acknowledge
the supremacy of the queen or to abandon the Mass, but it is certainly
not true to say that out of 9,000 beneficed clergymen in England at
the time only about 200 refused the oath. On the one hand, the
disturbances during the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. had
reduced considerably the number of priests in England, while on the
other, the fact that several clergymen did not put in an appearance
before the commission, that others were allowed time to reconsider
their views, and that not even all those who obstinately refused the
oath were deprived, shows clearly that the lists of deprivations
afford no sure clue to the number of those who were unwilling to
accept the change. It is noteworthy that the greatest number of
refusals were met with amongst the higher officials or dignitaries of
the Church, the deans, archdeacons, and canons, who might be expected
to represent the best educated and most exemplary of the clergy of
their time in England. In the universities, too, the commissioners met
with the strongest resistance. Several of the heads of the colleges,
both in Cambridge and Oxford, the fellows and the office-bearers,
either were deprived or fled, and men of the new school were appointed
to take their places. But notwithstanding all the government could do,
the universities, and particularly Oxford, continued during the
greater part of the reign of Elizabeth to be centres of
disaffection.[9]
The complete extinction of the old hierarchy by death, deprivation and
imprisonment, left the way open for the appointment of bishops
favourable to the religion. Matthew Parker, who had been chaplain to
Anne Boleyn and who had lived privately since he was removed from the
deanship of Lincoln on account of his marriage, was selected to fill
the Archbishopric of Canterbury, left vacant since the death of
Cardinal Pole. The royal letters of approval were issued in September,
and the mandate for his consecration was addressed to Tunstall of
Durham, Bourne of Bath and Wells, Poole of Peterborough, Kitchin of
Llandaff, together with Barlow and Scory. The three former, however,
refused to act, and apparently even Kitchin was unwilling to take any
part in the ceremony. New men were then sought, and found in the
persons of Barlow, Coverdale, Scory, and Hodgkin. But even still grave
legal difficulties barred the way. The conditions for the consecration
of an archbishop laid down by the 25th of Henry VIII., which had not
been repealed, could not be complied with owing to the refusal of the
old bishops, and besides the use of the new Ordinal of Edward VI.
without a special Act of Parliament for its revival was distinctly
illegal; but the situation was so serious that Elizabeth's advisers
urged her to make good the illegalities by an exercise of her royal
authority. In the end the consecration of Parker was carried out in
the chapel of Lambeth Palace on the morning of the 17th December,
1559. The story of the Nag's Head is a pure legend used by
controversialists for impugning the validity of Anglican Orders. As a
matter of fact the main argument against these Orders is drawn neither
from the fable of the Nag's Head nor from the want of episcopal orders
in the case of Barlow, the consecrator of Parker, though his
consecration has not been proved, but from the use of a corrupt form,
which was then as it is now rejected as insufficient by the Catholic
Church, and from the want of the proper intention implied both by the
corruption of the form and by the teaching of those who corrupted
it.[10] Once the difficulty about Parker's consecration had been
settled other bishops were appointed by the queen, and consecrated by
the new archbishop, so that before March 1560 good progress had been
made in the establishment of the new hierarchy in England.
With the establishment of the ecclesiastical commission (1559) to
search out and punish heresy and generally to carry out the provisions
of the Supremacy Act, and with the appointment of new bishops (1559-
60) the work of reforming the faith of England was well under way.
Still the new bishops were confronted with grave difficulties. From
the reports of the Spanish ambassador, who had exceptional
opportunities of knowing the facts but whose opinions for obvious
reasons cannot always be accepted, the great majority of the people
outside London were still Catholic, and even in London itself the
adherents of the old faith could not be despised. Quite apart,
however, from his reports, sufficient evidence can be adduced from the
episcopal and official letters and documents to show that the change
was not welcomed by a great body in the country. As the best means of
enforcing the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity a visitation
of both provinces was arranged. In London Masses were still
celebrated, and attended by great multitudes; in Canterbury itself
within sight of the archiepiscopal palace public religious processions
were carried out. In Winchester, where the memory of Gardiner was
still cherished, many of the clergy refused to attend the visitation;
the laymen were discreetly absent when their assent was required; the
churches were deserted and even the people attending the cathedral
"were corrupted by the clergy." In Hereford Bishop Scory described his
cathedral, "as a very nest of blasphemy, whoredom, pride,
superstition, and ignorance;" the justices threw every obstacle in the
way of his reforms; fasts and feasts were observed as of old; and even
the very butchers seemed leagued against him, for they refused to sell
meat on Thursdays. In Bath and Wells many of the justices were openly
disobedient, and even the people who conformed outwardly could not be
relied upon. In Norwich, Ely, Salisbury and Chichester "Popery" was
still strong amongst the clergy, people, and officials. At Eton it was
necessary to expel the provost and all the teachers except three
before the college could be reduced to subjection, and at Oxford the
visitors were driven to admit, that if they expelled the fellows who
refused to subscribe, and the students who would have no religious
service except the Mass, the houses would be deserted. In the northern
provinces where the visitation did not begin till some time later it
was discovered that matters were still worse. The principal noblemen
were openly Catholic, and many of the magistrates denied that they had
ever heard of the Act of Supremacy, while others of them "winked and
looked through their fingers." In York the diocese was in a state of
anarchy; in Carlisle the bishop confessed that he could not prevent
the public celebration of the Mass; in Durham the bishop wrote that he
found himself engaged in a conflict with wild beasts even more savage
than those which had confronted St. Paul at Ephesus. To make matters
worse it was reported that public sympathy was on the side of the
recusants, and that hopes were being expressed by many that the
present advisers of her Majesty might soon be displaced, even though
it were necessary to have recourse to France or Spain.[11]
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