1. 1
Key Questions (14)
• How important was the Church in the everyday
lives of the people?
• How far was the English church in need of reform?
• Who opposed the Catholic Church in England
before the Reformation?
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1) Henry & the Henrician
Reformation
Henry:
• Broke with the Pope in Rome
• Established royal (i.e. his) control
over the Catholic Church
• Did not reform out of principle: he
remained very conservative in
religion; his action was pragmatic and
was to do with gaining an heir.
• For the Pope and the rest of Europe,
Henry’s actions were seen as
heretical. Given that England no
longer looked to the Pope as its
spiritual head, England was no longer
seen as part of the universal Catholic
Church.
2. Opportunism
Henry remained very conservative in
religion and the actual doctrine of the
Church remained essentially Catholic.
But some moderate reformers (many held
high office) saw that with Papal power and
some Catholic rites gone, an opportunity
now existed to take the Church further in a
Protestant direction.
3. Reform! John Foxe
A Protestant historian, he later portrayed the
pre-Reformation Church as corrupt. He
insisted that it was unpopular and that anti-
clericalism was intense. He welcomed
Henry’s changes and wanted more.
Universal anti-clericalism?
Foxe argued that popular support demanded further change. This is not true: wills, parish
registers and churchwardens’ accounts show that for most people in England, the Church
played a central role in their lives. The Church played both a social and a spiritual role.
Study Source A. Does Scarisbrick agree with Foxe’s view that the Church was
unpopular? What is your key judgement? Use bullet points and brief quotes (16).
2. 2
Why so important? (16)
Catholicism was the only religion in western Europe. You had to attend church. People
wanted to – Salvation (God saving man from sin) could only be found through following
Church teachings. Religious plays were popular. Spiritually, the people followed the seven
sacraments, the most important for the common man being the Eucharist:
1) The Mass and the Eucharist (16-17; picture, p. 14)
Why was the Mass so important to everyday people?
• Heard every Sunday and Holy Days.
• The Eucharist was at the heart of the mass; people
thought they were seeing the re-enactment of Christ’s
sacrifice. The doctrine of transubstantiation claimed
that the bread and wine were transformed into the
body & blood of Jesus Christ. Thus when the priest
held the consecrated bread (the host) above his head,
the faithful believed that Christ had returned to earth.
However:
• Separation: the people stood away from the priest
at the high altar; the people were also separated from him by the rood screen. He spoke
in a Latin that they could not understand. Only he took the Eucharist; the people took
communion only once a year, at Easter - and then had only the bread.
• Nevertheless, the Mass was about popular participation; about the Christian
community. People shared in Christian worship and were inspired by the mystery of
their Sunday and Holy day services, services that were the focus of popular spirituality.
The religious calendar dictated the ritual of their lives. Christmas and Easter were
obviously the two key religious festivals, in addition to the holy days and saints’ days.
Religious plays in English were popular. They were to instruct as well as to entertain.
2) Penance (insert your answers into the spaces)
What did you have to do before you could take the Eucharist?
Why did people not want to die in a state of sin?
If you had committed just minor sins, what happened to you? How could you cleanse
yourself? How could people on Earth help you?
baptism confirmation marriag
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ordination penance extreme
unction
The
Eucharist
The rood screen at Thompson,
near Thetford in Norfolk
3. 3
3) Saints
How were saints seen and how were they used? Make notes
using p. 17. List 2 relics from source B.
4) Donations
Ordinary people showed their faith and devotion to the Church in a range of ways:
• Bequests in wills to parish churches
• Donations for the upkeep and rebuilding of local churches; according to one historian
c½ of Suffolk’s parish churches were remodelled in the C15th due to the profits of the
wool trade.
• People were happy to form lay confraternities to say prayers for dead relatives to ease
their passage through purgatory. (176 in London alone)
How far did the Church need reform? What caused
anti-clericalism? (18-19)
1. Analyse Sources D-G. What problems do they
suggest existed within the English Church on the eve of
the Reformation? Comment on the reliability of D and E.
2. Study the portrait of Wolsey and use the mini-case
study on p. 20; how far do they endorse Fish’s views in
Source D?
What were the causes of dissatisfaction with the Catholic Church? (29-30)
Questions on the text (29)
(1) In what ways were priests inadequate?
(2) The humanist Sir Thomas More pointed out what clerical abuses?
Monks and nuns
Bishops and priests are called the secular clergy, while monks and nuns are called regular
regular clergy. Monks and nuns lived in their own spiritual communities (devoting
themselves to God through prayer and contemplation) and did not interact with
ordinary folk as much as the secular clergy.
http://www.getty.e
du/art/exhibitions/
cult_saints/
Pick two patron saints who might
have been admired before 1500
http://www.catholic.org/sain
ts/patron.php?letter=O
4. 4
In 1509, England had 800 religious houses. They were especially important
in the North, providing education and care for the poor in the local community.
Their spiritual role was also valued – saying prayers for the souls of the dead.
Yet some houses were rather less useful and indeed in decline, with numbers
fallings, buildings in disrepair, and moral standards falling as swiftly as the
buildings. Abbots had grown fat on the riches that came with land rents and
had become in some ways no more than country gentlemen.
Benefit of the Clergy
A Church privilege that allowed clergymen to escape trial in
secular courts for serious crimes. Such a privilege could be
abused and lead to miscarriages of justice. Not surprisingly
it was a major cause of anti-clericalism.
For two important cases related to this, see Wolsey Notes,
8-9
• The Hunne Case, 1514
• The Standish Case, 1515
Novel idea?
C.J. Sansom
‘Dissolution’
1) The State of the Pre-Reformation Church: some conclusions (21)
Using sources H and I, analyse how far they overlap.
Study source J. How might it help reconcile the differences
in the accounts given by sources H and I?
2) State of the Pre-Reformation Church: conclusions (22)
Poor: Anti-
clericalism
Not poor: a
sound Church
Educated clergy: the majority of priests were properly
trained. Increasing number of university graduates
entering the clergy.
Regional: anticlericalism greater in the south east ,not
widespread
Individual examples who were pro-reform:
Archbishop of Canterbury, John Morton (d. 1500)
pursued internal reform. Bishop Longland of Lincoln
attacked non-residence and absenteeism in his diocese.
Timing: yes, periodic heightening of anti-clericalism with
such events as the Hunne case
Poor examples: and high profile ones, such as Wolsey.
Many of the abuses had been around for centuries,
and the Church had not collapsed.
Henry’s opportunism: he did not object to the
standards of the clergy. He used anti-clericalism and
radical bishops to destroy the English Church and put
himself in place of the Pope. But Henry never
questioned the fundamental doctrines & practices of the
Catholic Church.
Read the text below. Was the Church in a poor state or a
sound one? Draw an arrow to the columns & comment.
5. 5
Groups 4 should:
• Gather as much support as they can for the argument
that the pre-Reformation Church was in need of reform
(18-21)
• Gather as much support as they can for the argument
that the pre-Reformation Church did satisfy people’s
needs (15-18)
Martin Luther, the Reformation in Europe and Lutheranism (22-23)
Read about Martin Luther and his attack on indulgences. Why did
he disagree with indulgences (see Definition box)?
The Impact of Lutheranism in England (23)
Answer the following questions on
1. What was Henry’s attitude to Lutheranism and why?
2. What was the significance of William Tyndale both to Henry
and to those radical figures seeking influence (read the mini-
study on p. 24. Keep to the question.)?
Define as briefly as you can the meaning of Lutheran doctrine:
1. Justification by faith alone
2. Sola Scriptua
3. Priesthood of all believers
Summary Question: Who was at the heart of Luther’s reformation and who/what
was undermined? It’s just one word – and it was modern, liberating and
potentially revolutionary!
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ymotion.com/vi
deo/x32w0o_lu
thertrailer2003
_events
6. 6
Who opposed the Catholic Church in England before the Reformation? (25)
Humanists were intellectuals who wanted reform not of
doctrine or ways of worship, but by improving the
intellectual and moral standards of the clergy.
Sir Thomas More (see below, e.g. 109-112) met the great European
humanist Erasmus as did John Colet, Dean of St Paul’s.
Colet attacked church abuses and insisted, like Luther,
that only an understanding of the scriptures could lead
to holiness. His fiery attacks on the Church caused
clashes with the Bishop of London. But if the Bishop of
London was cross, Colet’s impact on the people was
limited. The common man was not bothered with high
level corruption within the Church as long their
everyday worship was all right.
Historiography: Historians and the Pre-reformation Church and the
Henrician Reformation – the views of the Whigs (26-27) [Optional]
In 1964, A.G. Dickens looked to connect early English Lutheranism
with the Lollard movement, finding it mainly in East Anglia and the
south east (Source K). Dickens’s way of interpreting the reformation was
too ‘Whiggish’; this is where there is a one-sided account of change,
when the outcome is explained with a logic that is simplistic. It
assumes that the men and principles involved are always on the side of
progress, in this case, the victory of progressive Protestantism in the
reformation, and its defeat of superstitious Catholicism (For example,
see Source L).
discussion
There are 3 key arguments debated by historians to be clear about
before going ahead. Answer the following questions on pages 26-27:
1. What was the state of the Church of England on the eve of the
Reformation?
2. What were the motives for religious change?
3. What was the pace of religious change?
And
How are the separate points potentially connected?
In pairs, collaborate in each drawing a summary spider diagram on
the knowledge focus – the body of the spider should be ‘The Pre-
Reformation Church’. Each leg of the spider must begin with the
concept or key issue/factor. So the first leg of the spider might
have the sub-heading: ‘Need for Reform’ (28)
diagram
The Humanists
Sir Thomas
More
John Colet
7. 6
Who opposed the Catholic Church in England before the Reformation? (25)
Humanists were intellectuals who wanted reform not of
doctrine or ways of worship, but by improving the
intellectual and moral standards of the clergy.
Sir Thomas More (see below, e.g. 109-112) met the great European
humanist Erasmus as did John Colet, Dean of St Paul’s.
Colet attacked church abuses and insisted, like Luther,
that only an understanding of the scriptures could lead
to holiness. His fiery attacks on the Church caused
clashes with the Bishop of London. But if the Bishop of
London was cross, Colet’s impact on the people was
limited. The common man was not bothered with high
level corruption within the Church as long their
everyday worship was all right.
Historiography: Historians and the Pre-reformation Church and the
Henrician Reformation – the views of the Whigs (26-27) [Optional]
In 1964, A.G. Dickens looked to connect early English Lutheranism
with the Lollard movement, finding it mainly in East Anglia and the
south east (Source K). Dickens’s way of interpreting the reformation was
too ‘Whiggish’; this is where there is a one-sided account of change,
when the outcome is explained with a logic that is simplistic. It
assumes that the men and principles involved are always on the side of
progress, in this case, the victory of progressive Protestantism in the
reformation, and its defeat of superstitious Catholicism (For example,
see Source L).
discussion
There are 3 key arguments debated by historians to be clear about
before going ahead. Answer the following questions on pages 26-27:
1. What was the state of the Church of England on the eve of the
Reformation?
2. What were the motives for religious change?
3. What was the pace of religious change?
And
How are the separate points potentially connected?
In pairs, collaborate in each drawing a summary spider diagram on
the knowledge focus – the body of the spider should be ‘The Pre-
Reformation Church’. Each leg of the spider must begin with the
concept or key issue/factor. So the first leg of the spider might
have the sub-heading: ‘Need for Reform’ (28)
diagram
The Humanists
Sir Thomas
More
John Colet
