Question 8

Were the religious reforms of Henry VIII and Edward VI popular?

Paragraph One

• Protestant view holds that the official reforms of the two kings were widely popular
• They believe that the emerging Protestantism, anti-clericalism, and anti-papalism made favourable conditions, especially in SE England for: royal supremacy; suppression of the monasteries; the reform of official religious doctrine
• Thus when Mary Tudor tried to undo the reforms she was unlikely to succeed

Paragraph Two

• It is now thought by many historians that most people reluctantly acquiesced in the religious reforms of 1532-1553 rather than welcoming them eg Professor JJ Scarisbrick in The Reformation and the English People
• Roman Catholicism was still overwhelmingly popular even in 1553 when Protestantism was the official religion
• This explains why Mary was able to restore the old Catholic services, shrines, and vestments that had been changed or removed in 1552-3

Paragraph Three

• Dr Christopher Haigh says that Henry's break with Rome was unpopular
• At the time it was seen as the result of Henry's lust for Anne Boleyn
• It was feared that there would be Divine retribution against England
• Fear of invasion by Catholic states and loss of trade too
• The Treasons Act of 1534 included treason by words against the king
• Of 330 executed for treason in Henry's reign, 70 of these were for treason by words

Paragraph Four

• It is now believed that anti-clericalism was not as strong as was once thought
• It was a weaker force than in Germany
• Little evidence of strong anti-papal feeling in England at the time of the breach with Rome
• Anti-papalism and Protestantism were more a consequence than a cause of the Reformation
• It used to be thought that the Reformation Parliament readily supported the break with Rome
• However, it is clear that there was manipulation and bullying by Henry and Thomas Cromwell
• The governing classes mostly supported the demands of the king because of loyalty, fear and desire to secure his favour

Paragraph Five

• Some educated people and merchants became Reformers through contact with foreigners
• In both reigns the reformers were seen by most xenophobic English as promoting alien ideas

Paragraph Six

• There is much evidence of strong attachment to the Catholic Church
• Includes wills, confraternities and church-building
• Right up to the 1540s wills poured money into the Church
• Such bequests financed: church-building; requiem masses; high altar candles; candles for side altars dedicated to the Virgin Mary, saints and relics
• The wills reveal a confidence in such traditional catholic methods of securing salvation
• There was a decline in gifts to monasteries in the years prior to their dissolution
• There was much church building in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries up to the 1540s
• There was a proliferation of confraternities (religious guilds of laity) until they were suppressed in 1547
• These provided a good funeral with regular prayers and masses for their souls
• Thus was England committed to the old religion until the time when it was supplanted
• The majority were not persuaded to give up traditional beliefs in the intercession of the saints and the mass as a means to salvation

Paragraph Seven

• Henry didn't want religious strife in his realm
• Foreign Protestants were disappointed that he didn't implement fully Protestant reforms
• The 10 Articles were the furthest he went (1536)
• He then moved to a more Catholic position in the 6 Articles (1539) and the King's Book (1543)
• Cranmer's new Protestant English Prayer issued in Edward's reign was toned down by the House of Commons
• It was to be used in all churches from 1549
• It was hoped that it would be moderate enough to avoid angering Catholics
• The Pilgrimage of Grace (1536-7) and the Western Rising (1549) were conservative protests which aimed to preserve something of the old ways, including religion
• The 'new men' in power were not trusted: Cromwell in Henry's reign; Somerset in Edward's; Cranmer in both
• Many believed that they were using religious reform for their own political and economic ends
• Protestantism's image was certainly damaged by the Duke of Northumberland's spoliation of the Church in the final months of Edward's reign

Paragraph Eight

• The reformers were an important minority
• They included Edward, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and some leading members of the government
• Despite opposition from some of the Lords, the framework for a fully reformed Protestant Church was created in Edward's reign
• Government pressure was applied to enforce it
• Some of the bishops worked hard to make it succeed – Ridley in London, and Hooper in Gloucester – though not always with local lay support
• Changes included: replacing altars with communion tables; Acts of Uniformity imposed new service books; church plate and vestments were abolished
• Elton in Reform and Reformation, 1977 wrote that 'by 1553 England was almost certainly nearer to being a Protestant country than to anything else'
• He does say though that this doesn't mean that the majority were committed Protestants
• In the north of England the Reformation at grass-roots level was minimal by 1553
• In Lancashire its main effect was to provoke resentment
• Evidence elsewhere seemed to suggest that reformed ideas were held by a small minority of the lower classes by 1553
• They were illiterate mostly, and would need time to come to terms with the changes
• Nearly all of the 300 Protestants burned at the stake in Mary's reign were lower class people in South East England – not a large number in a population of 3 million
• It was not until Elizabeth's reign that numbers of trained Protestant preaching clergy emerged from universities to spread the new Word

Paragraph Nine

• The question arises as to why there was not more resistance to the religious changes of Henry and Edward given that they were popular with a minority only
• Possibly the memory of the suppression of the Pilgrims of 1536-7 kept the north quiet
• The concepts of doctrinal changes such as the denial of the Real presence or of the sacramental value of holy orders were beyond the understanding of most people
• They would be largely indifferent to the finer points of theology and would tend to acquiesce in what the government decided
• Many would be left confused and uncommitted to the new practices and rituals
• Also, the suppression of the Prayer Book Rebellion in Devon and Cornwall (1549) showed the determination of the government
• The Act of Uniformity of 1552 enforcing the second Protestant prayer book made prison the penalty for attending any other service
• Another important reason for compliance is the strength of loyalty to the monarch

Paragraph Ten

• Modern historians agree that the English Reformation of 1553 was popular with only a small minority mostly in the South East
• Included some of the leading members of the government and Church-building
• They imposed the Reformation from above, and not always for religious reasons
• The majority were opposed to the spoliation of Church property and the compulsory changes to Church practices and traditional means of securing God's grace
• Even in Suffolk and Kent where there was support for the Edwardian reformation, the conservative reaction in Mary's reign was considerable
• Christopher Haigh writes 'since many of the Reformation changes had been resented in the parishes, and Protestants were a small though militant minority, religion may now be recognised as one of the elements in Mary's appeal' (English Reformations 1993)