The result was, on the whole, satisfactory. The services were practically the old, translated and rearranged. Gardiner himself was willing to accept the book. But it never had a fair chance of being generally used. The more extreme Reformers only looked on it as a beginning: the "" Conservatives " were irritated by the alterations. Moreover everyone was growing dissatisfied with Somerset's conduct of the government. To foreign failure he added mismanagement at home. Powerful men not only plundered the clergy but also plundered the poor. The new owners of monastic lands often turned them from tillage into pasturage because thus fewer labourers were needed. The ejected tenants went to swell the vagrant class. The practice of enclosures proceeded apace. Sometimes under the pretence of turning the land to better account, but often under no pretence at all, large tracts of Common were " enclosed" by powerful landowners, to swell their great estates. The poor were thus deprived of pasturage for their cattle and runs for their poultry. The practical result of the recent reforms in religion seemed to be that all advantage went to the rich and all disadvantage to the poor. e, General misgovernment. Enclosures. Among the crowd of self-seekers was only one honest man, f. Abp. Crannier. Thomas Cranmer, and even he left a ruined reputation through (wakeman 264-267. the bad company into which his fortunes cast him. At Pollard's Cranmer.) Cambridge he had been honoured and respected. He was clever and broad-minded, and Henry VIII. saw the value of these qualities and made him Archbishop of Canterbury. His powers of translation have an enduring monument in the English Prayer Book, much of which was his work, and which is perhaps the finest example of translation which the world has seen. But he was not only broad-minded: he was also weakminded. He readily became as wax in the hands of such a King as Henry VIII. In 1536 he declared the King's marriage with Anne Boleyn void though he knew the facts three years previously when he declared it valid. He submitted to the setting aside of his own authority in Convocation in favour of Crumwell; and when Somerset, Dudley, Paget, Warwick, and the rest, in the reign of Edward VI. were plundering the Church and degrading the name of Religion, he meekly submitted. The same weakness of purpose and lack of independent thought showed itself in matters of religion. Broad-minded and weak-minded he readily fell under the influence of men of stronger will and clearer views, men like Melancthon, and Ridley, once his Chaplain, and afterwards Bishop of Rochester. But weak and unstable though he was, he was at any rate free from selfishness. He was always sincerely trying to act g, Rebellions in Norfolk and Devon. h, Fall of Somerset. 1549. 1551. III. Government of 1549-53. for what seemed at the time to be best, and was honest enough not to be afraid, as a stronger man might have been, of changing his opinions: he changed them, even on vital points, more than once. In those difficult days a stronger man would have earlier fallen, but a less honest man might easily have left a better reputation. The dissatisfaction at the misgovernment of Somerset increased, and found expression in insurrections in Norfolk and Devon. In Norfolk Ket headed a band against enclosures, and was forcibly put down by foreign mercenaries. In Cornwall and Devon the grievance was chiefly religious. Even his fellow-nobles turned against him. His overbearing conduct had offended them, while his execution of his own brother Seymour, for daring to criticise his policy, alarmed them. He was thrown into the Tower and the Protectorate was ended. Warwick became head of the Council. Three years later an attempt by Somerset to regain his power led to his execution. Warwick was quite indifferent to religion and was purely a self-seeker. Under him the continental reformers obtained (Wakeman 287.) great influence. England had lately thrown off the jurisdica, Foreign Reformers tion of a foreign bishop, yet now the greatest respect was paid to foreign opinion. Peter Martyr, Bucer, John Laski, all exercised great power, and the doctrine of Zwingli, that Sacraments were mere signs, spread widely. The effect of such Persecution. teaching was seen in the general destruction of altars. Bonner and Gardiner were deposed from their bishoprics, and some b, Religious (Pollard's Som. 263-4) persons were burnt for religious opinions. The Reformers' found themselves strong enough in 1552 c, 2nd Prayer Book, to withdraw the Prayer Book and to issue another. The 1552. second Prayer Book of Edward VI. shows the extreme point (Wakeman 292-296, to which the English Church ever went in the direction of Gairdner's Hist. 303-318.) Zwinglianism and Calvinism. Every revision since has restored some of the ancient features. It was never authorised by Convocation, and the death of the King soon after its appearance prevented it from being generally used. A set d, 42 Articles, 1553. of Articles of Religion, 42 in number, very anti-papal in language, was issued about the same time. e, Edward VI.'s character. As the King grew up he proved to be a very precocious youth, flattered by courtiers into an undue opinion of his own abilities. He was led into embracing, with all the exaggeration of youth, the opinions of the most extreme Reformers, and took great interest in all religious matters. But he was weak and sickly and it was evident would not live long. Warwick, anxious only for his own welfare, determined to make the most of the King while he lived. He conspiracy. obtained for himself the dignity of Duke of Northumberland (Gairdner'sHist.312) and married his son, Lord Guildford Dudley, to Lady Jane f, Northumberland's Grey, who was descended from Henry VIII.'s sister Mary, who had married Suffolk on the death of Louis XII. (p. 155). He conceived the impudent idea of persuading the foolish young King to appoint Lady Jane Grey as his successor. She being on the side of the Reformers, and the rightful heiress, Mary, daughter of Henry VIII. and Katharine of Aragon, being an ardent adherent of the Papacy, this proved no difficult task. Edward's last act was to do his sister this great wrong. But its evident injustice, joined to Northumberland's unpopularity, ruined its chance of success. On Edward's death even Northumberland's own men threw up their caps and shouted for Queen Mary. 1553. MARY 1553-1558. i. Reaction against Reformers: due to a. Mary's opinions b. Influence of Crown c. late excesses of Reformers ii. Mary's unpopularity a. Her character b. The Spanish Marriage (Philip ii.) c. Submission to the Pope d. The question of restoring Church lands iii. Wyatt's Insurrection 1554 Execution of Lady Jane Grey iv. Reactionary Measures a. Persecuting Acts b. Reconciliation with Rome c. Persecution begins I. Its causes and excuse 2. Its results v. War with France (Wakeman 300-306) Reformers due to Loss of Calais Mary was the daughter of Henry VIII. and Katharine of 1. Reaction against Aragon. By circumstances as well as conviction she was an a, Mary's opinions. ardent supporter of the Papacy, and could never forget that her mother's shame had been bound up with the progress of the Reformers. Hence her coming to power inevitably brought a return to the old state of things in religion. Such a return proved to be easy, and even welcome. The influence of the Crown was now thrown into the anti-Reformation scale. c, late excesses of The excesses of the Reformers in the last reign had caused a b, Influence of Crown. Reformers. reaction against them; people hoped for a return to the state of affairs as Henry VIII. had left them. But Mary went further. The Reformers had shown clearly enough in their day of power that they meant to break away from the Catholic Church altogether, therefore Conservatives" like Gardiner were disposed to welcome even submission to the Pope, in order to secure Catholic doctrine. For a similar reason Mary desired marriage with Philip of 11. Mary's unpopu. Spain, Spain being the chief papal state in Europe. larity: a, her character She consequently quickly destroyed her early popularity. Austere and devout she had few outward graces, and her papal and Spanish policy were extremely distasteful to the nation at b, Spanish marriage large. Both meant submission to foreign power, and England had lately come to feel, as it had never felt before, a strong c,submission to Pope national sentiment. Men were not merely members of this or that party, but were Englishmen. The secret of Henry VIII.'s great popularity was that he was a thoroughly representative Englishman, and Elizabeth enjoyed the same advantage. Mary failed in this respect. The child of a foreign mother, her sympathies were broader; sincerely devoted to the old forms of worship, her religion was less national. restoring Church lands The deprived bishops were restored. Gardiner was made Chancellor. But Mary's difficulties began when Parliament met. It refused to restore the property which had been taken d, The question of from the Church and it presented a petition against a foreign marriage. She therefore dissolved it and the result was an III. Wyatt's Insurinsurrection to place her sister Elizabeth on the throne. Suffolk, Lady Jane's father, was to rise in the Midlands, and Sir Thomas Wyatt in Kent. The latter almost reached London rection, 1554 (Green 363.) but the whole rising was a failure, and Suffolk and Wyatt dragged Lady Jane Grey and her husband with them to the Exec. of Lady Jane block. The Queen married Philip in 1554 and found him an (Gairdner's Hist.340) indifferent and neglectful husband. Grey Measures. A succeeding Parliament proved to be more subservient. iv. Reactionary (1) Laws were re-enacted for the burning of heretics; (2) a Reconciliation with Rome was agreed upon and marked by a dignified ceremony conducted by Cardinal Pole. The new law did not remain long unused. A bitter persecution of Reformers began in which they suffered far more hardship than they had inflicted on their opponents in the last reign. Among the prominent men who were burnt at the stake were Hooper, Ridley, Latimer, and Rogers. Cranmer, too, after a series of pitiful attempts to save his life, made a brave end. Nothing in his life Became him like the leaving it. Besides these there was a host of insignificant men and even women. For three years England was given up to religious persecution. a, Persecuting Acts b, Reconciliation with Rome (Froude's England, iv. 454-459) c, Persecution begins (Green 364–369) (Green 367, Froude excuse It must be remembered that religious persecution was not 2. Its causes and an unusual procedure in those times and was used by all parties in turn. But the chief cause of it was unquestionably (Curteis 43, etc.) Mary's own religious zeal. She hoped a few severe examples would suffice to persuade her people to adopt what she sincerely thought was right. Failure only stimulated her to further efforts, and these increased her unpopularity. "By the end of the reign the smoke of the fires had obscured in the minds of the nation all memory of the misery and rapacity of the previous reign." 2. Its effects 1557. Loss of Calais. The Spanish marriage dragged her into war with France. V. War with France Here also disappointment awaited her. England gained nothing from the victory at S. Quentin, and she lost Calais, the last of the French possessions. Political disgrace was thus added to the odium of religious persecution. Mary sank into her grave bitterly feeling that her miseries had been endured in vain and that her work had failed. 1558. L |