In general words, if it is possible to define Modern Age in Europe, one would say that several countries, if not the continent itself, were marked by the Religious Reforms that ecloded back then. Having received the name of Protestantism, this was a movement that was initiated by a monk named Martin Luther who was later followed by John Calvin and others. It is true that before these men, names as the English John Wycliffe come to our minds whenever it's about the protest and pleadge to the Catholic Church to be less corrupt and kinder to the mankind, following the true words of Jesus Christ.
Still, it was Luther who succeeded, despite being argued that his intentions were not to dissociate from Catholic Church but an attempt to reform the latter by denoucing the corruption and other practices he thought to be quite mundane incompatible to the values of Christianity. As we know, politics and religion were always entwined, so it is not so surprising to see that, following the consequences of his 95 theses, many princes joined his cause against Rome, perhaps following the benefits of breaking relations with Rome, or by genuine matters of faith. Lutheranism would then be followed by Calvinism with both reformers sharing similar views; but whilst Luther's church spread mostly in Germanic regions, Calvinism went further: it went on to receive the name of Huguenote in France, whilst in England and Scotland were to be divided in fractions known as presbyterians and puritans. And whilst the presbyterians were moderate, the puritans were the radical form of the ideas of Calvin, and in the reign of Elizabeth, these latters would cause trouble with the moderate Queen and were to be sent away to form what today is known as United States.
That being said, we return our attention to England on the grounds that its religious reform is much attribuated by King Henry VIII, who broke relations with Rome when he was denied the divorce so he could marry Anne Boleyn, when in fact it is to his son that the Protestant Church was stablished in England's soil.
Edward Tudor was born in October 12th, 1537. He received the title of Duke of Cornwall, but was not officially recognized as Prince of Wales. His parents were the infamous -and previously married twice- King Henry VIII of England and his third wife, the uncrowned Queen, Lady Jane Seymour. It is commonly known the pursuit of the king for an heir, and this, combined with the context in Europe, would provide the break of an old religion to the birth of a new one.
At first, the young boy king was raised as Catholic, especially because his father remained Catholic, despite being the Head of England's church and his mother was more sympathetic to the old religion rather to the new one. His tutors were carefully chosen to guide him that way. But when Henry VIII remarried for the last time to a very rich widow Lady Catherine Parr, his education would change, as his new--and probably most influential--stepmother supervised her stepchildren's education. And at least with Edward and Elizabeth, their models were Luther and Calvin's works.
In 1547, the young prince is crowned King Edward VI and though in his council no leader name was left by his father, we have the Duke of Somerset, his maternal uncle Edward Seymour, taking the reins of the council as being the Lord Protector of the realm. Between Somerset and Northumberland, who would replace the first as chief of the government in 1551, it was Seymour who was more Protestant, though the final word was always the kings, whose Protestant faith was molded by the circle of tutors chosen by the former Queen, Katherine Parr.
Below, we see how one of the most trusted men by the boy king, the Archbishop of Canterbury, started the transition between the reigns of one monarch to another in matters of reform of the English church:
"Cranmer and his allies sought to influence people’s beliefs gradually by focusing on liturgy first, rather than doctrinal statements, trying thus to avoid the violent repercussions of dramatic change that had dominated the continental reformation.230 Doctrinal statements would come later, after the English people had supposedly become accustomed to the new evangelical worship forms and spare church interiors."
Also, the next segment enlightens of the first years of Edward's reigns, following the concern of shaping the new protestant church:
"In July 1547 Edward VI issued his First Royal Injunctions, to be administered in official visitations of every English diocese that fall.231 They sought “the advancement of the true honour of Almighty God, the supression of idolatry and superstition throughout all [Edward’s] realms and dominions, and to plant true religion, to the extirpation of all hypocrisy, enormities and abuses,” to which the English people had (according to evangelical opinion) previously been subjected. The 1547 injunctions included reworkings of many of the same orders from Henry VIII’s 1536 and 1538 sets of injunctions, as well as some new directives. They reaffirmed Henrician principles of lay access to the Bible (and added a requirement to procure Erasmus’ Paraphrases of the Gospels), vernacular instruction in the fundamentals of faith (the Creeds, Lord’s Prayer, and Ten Commandments), and the banning of pilgrimages and abused images, plus the 1547 Injunctions expanded the use of English-language scripture readings in some parts of the Sarum liturgy, which was still the only authorized use in England at the time."
In addition, "marriage was made lawful for the clergy. Readiness and desire for fellowship with the Protestant brotherhood on the Continent were expressed in invitations to distinguished foreign divines to favor England with their presence. Such representatives of the Reformed Church as Peter Martyr and Martin Bucer received much honor, the one being installed at Oxford and the other at Cambridge, in 1549".
What can possibly be seen from the segments above? Although it might offer an understanding that the first steps of Edward's reforms came from his father's, it actually began to receive ideas from both Luther and Calvin's reformers. For example, John Knox, a staunch Calvinist, was Edward VI's chapelain. The first years were carefully prepared to the acceptance of the new faith to social segments. In fact, it is observed in the six years of the young monarch's reign the importance women as Katherine Willoughby, the Dowager Duchess of Suffolk, produced by introducing the reading of the Bible in English to the female sex, an idea that would permit all genders to read it in their natural tongue thanks to Luther. As seen below:
"John Calvin, who also was a part of the Swiss Reformation corresponded with Cranmer in regards to the English Reformation: "I long for one holy communion of the members of Christ. As for me, if I can be of service, I would gladly cross ten seas in order to bring about this unity". The result was Edward being the first monarch in England to have a Protestant education."
It was mentioned before that the regents in Edward's reign played a significant role in the building of the English's church, so in the next paragraph, we can have a better of understanding of the part of Lord Protector in this, as we are speaking of the first years of Edward VI as king.
"Somerset tries a bipartisan approach: leads an evangelical clique some of whom adopted the more radical alternatives (has Becon and Turner and Hooper in his household; reprints books by Wyclif, Tyndale, Barnes and Frith--omnibus approach), BUT forced for political reasons to attack sacramentaries to keep the centre on board while advancing Protestantism by stealth. (Problem of Princess Mary and Charles V). (...) Royal supremacy became a trojan horse for Protestantism: the model of Josiah made it imaginatively feasible for the councillors of a 'godly king' to undertake a programme of fast reformation on their own initiative. 'Imperial' status redefined as inclusive of Privy Council and Parliament"
Between the years of 1549 and 1552, the Common Book Prayer was established, a reason which caused popular revolts to break in England. This Common Book Prayer was written by the Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and contained "the structure and words for religious services in the Church of England. Versions were issued in 1549, 1552 and 1559. The services were in English and it became law for all churches to use them. (...)"
"An Act of Uniformity to enforce its use was also passed by Parliament, which suppressed the Latin Mass book of old and ordered that there should be a uniform Church service in English throughout the land."
This was the reason of conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in England, but the royal authority managed to appease them. The Common Book Prayer were to be better stablished in Edward's sister's reign, Queen Elizabeth I.
What we can conclude from these years under the government of Somerset in seen below:
"Edward VI’s government faced three distinct challenges to its program of religious reform between the introduction of the first and second Prayer Books. The sophisticated criticism Bishop Gardiner and other conservatives laid against the 1549 Prayer Book was the first. The other two challenges came from popular uprisings against innovations in worship and doctrine and challenges from radical evangelicals close to the government who wanted more wide-ranging reform at a faster pace than Cranmer would allow"
And also that:“Cranmer and his colleagues had intended their communion service to be the centre-piece of the regular weekly worship of the Church, but this was not happening; people did not want to make their communion on such a frequent basis. One problem may have been the fierce exhortations to self-examination which were already part of the prescribed rite in 1549: conscientious or shy potential communicants may have felt that they were not worthy to receive,”
From 1551 to his death, in 1553, Edward, who by now was older and, according to sources, was taking more actively roles in religious matters, In this period, now under the regency of the ambitious John Dudley, who from being Earl of Warwick rose to Duke of Northumberland, reforms improved. Points as the banishment of masses, which were replaced by the holy communion, the fact the priests were not allowed to dress elaborate vestments aside of the belief of predestination included in the doctrine, formed by then the basis of the Church, which was not known as Anglican yet.
The Common Book Prayer was, in Edward's reign, under constant changes by the reformers with whom the young was surrounded. Perhaps if he had lived more, the religion and its instrument would be promptly be absorbed. However, the further of our readings onto that matter shows us that social absorption was more difficult than seen, and that explains why in Elizabeth's reign these reforms were definitely more succesful: they take time and even in a small island as England was, there were different interpretations and struggles between parishes about them. And if we question ourselves how would this Reformation go beyond the six years of Edward had he lived longer, we have no doubt that if Mary ruled just as longer, the basis and work of Edward would have been gone.
Sociaties might change fast, but the same cannot be said of their mentalities. The reforms we speak here today were used to the Elisabethan Anglican Church, but with the next centuries, the Catholic Stuarts and the Lutheran Hanoverians would also aid in the fortification of the character of the church. In other words, it is more than fair to give credit to the young king Edward VI and his councillors for Protestantism in England and remember his importance, though short indeed, to the british society of until nowadays.
Sources:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/tudor-england/edward-vi/
http://www.historyonthenet.com/tudors/edward_protestantism.htm
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/schools/ks3/reformation/glossary#Ref:BkComPra
http://www.tudors.org/undergraduate/protestant-reformation-under-edward-vi-an-agenda/
http://history-christian-church.blogspot.com.br/2012/03/reformation-in-england-during-reign-of.html
https://theoluchador.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/king-edward-vi-and-the-protestant-reformation/
http://www.museeprotestant.org/en/notice/the-anglican-reformation/
http://www.mibba.com/Articles/History/6136/King-Edward-VI-and-the-English-Reformation/
http://www.historyextra.com/article/henry-viii/who-was-real-edward-vi
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=synge&book=tudors&story=edward6
http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1802&context=open_access_etds
.
Edward Tudor was born in October 12th, 1537. He received the title of Duke of Cornwall, but was not officially recognized as Prince of Wales. His parents were the infamous -and previously married twice- King Henry VIII of England and his third wife, the uncrowned Queen, Lady Jane Seymour. It is commonly known the pursuit of the king for an heir, and this, combined with the context in Europe, would provide the break of an old religion to the birth of a new one.
At first, the young boy king was raised as Catholic, especially because his father remained Catholic, despite being the Head of England's church and his mother was more sympathetic to the old religion rather to the new one. His tutors were carefully chosen to guide him that way. But when Henry VIII remarried for the last time to a very rich widow Lady Catherine Parr, his education would change, as his new--and probably most influential--stepmother supervised her stepchildren's education. And at least with Edward and Elizabeth, their models were Luther and Calvin's works.
In 1547, the young prince is crowned King Edward VI and though in his council no leader name was left by his father, we have the Duke of Somerset, his maternal uncle Edward Seymour, taking the reins of the council as being the Lord Protector of the realm. Between Somerset and Northumberland, who would replace the first as chief of the government in 1551, it was Seymour who was more Protestant, though the final word was always the kings, whose Protestant faith was molded by the circle of tutors chosen by the former Queen, Katherine Parr.
Below, we see how one of the most trusted men by the boy king, the Archbishop of Canterbury, started the transition between the reigns of one monarch to another in matters of reform of the English church:
"Cranmer and his allies sought to influence people’s beliefs gradually by focusing on liturgy first, rather than doctrinal statements, trying thus to avoid the violent repercussions of dramatic change that had dominated the continental reformation.230 Doctrinal statements would come later, after the English people had supposedly become accustomed to the new evangelical worship forms and spare church interiors."
Also, the next segment enlightens of the first years of Edward's reigns, following the concern of shaping the new protestant church:
"In July 1547 Edward VI issued his First Royal Injunctions, to be administered in official visitations of every English diocese that fall.231 They sought “the advancement of the true honour of Almighty God, the supression of idolatry and superstition throughout all [Edward’s] realms and dominions, and to plant true religion, to the extirpation of all hypocrisy, enormities and abuses,” to which the English people had (according to evangelical opinion) previously been subjected. The 1547 injunctions included reworkings of many of the same orders from Henry VIII’s 1536 and 1538 sets of injunctions, as well as some new directives. They reaffirmed Henrician principles of lay access to the Bible (and added a requirement to procure Erasmus’ Paraphrases of the Gospels), vernacular instruction in the fundamentals of faith (the Creeds, Lord’s Prayer, and Ten Commandments), and the banning of pilgrimages and abused images, plus the 1547 Injunctions expanded the use of English-language scripture readings in some parts of the Sarum liturgy, which was still the only authorized use in England at the time."
In addition, "marriage was made lawful for the clergy. Readiness and desire for fellowship with the Protestant brotherhood on the Continent were expressed in invitations to distinguished foreign divines to favor England with their presence. Such representatives of the Reformed Church as Peter Martyr and Martin Bucer received much honor, the one being installed at Oxford and the other at Cambridge, in 1549".
What can possibly be seen from the segments above? Although it might offer an understanding that the first steps of Edward's reforms came from his father's, it actually began to receive ideas from both Luther and Calvin's reformers. For example, John Knox, a staunch Calvinist, was Edward VI's chapelain. The first years were carefully prepared to the acceptance of the new faith to social segments. In fact, it is observed in the six years of the young monarch's reign the importance women as Katherine Willoughby, the Dowager Duchess of Suffolk, produced by introducing the reading of the Bible in English to the female sex, an idea that would permit all genders to read it in their natural tongue thanks to Luther. As seen below:
"John Calvin, who also was a part of the Swiss Reformation corresponded with Cranmer in regards to the English Reformation: "I long for one holy communion of the members of Christ. As for me, if I can be of service, I would gladly cross ten seas in order to bring about this unity". The result was Edward being the first monarch in England to have a Protestant education."
It was mentioned before that the regents in Edward's reign played a significant role in the building of the English's church, so in the next paragraph, we can have a better of understanding of the part of Lord Protector in this, as we are speaking of the first years of Edward VI as king.
"Somerset tries a bipartisan approach: leads an evangelical clique some of whom adopted the more radical alternatives (has Becon and Turner and Hooper in his household; reprints books by Wyclif, Tyndale, Barnes and Frith--omnibus approach), BUT forced for political reasons to attack sacramentaries to keep the centre on board while advancing Protestantism by stealth. (Problem of Princess Mary and Charles V). (...) Royal supremacy became a trojan horse for Protestantism: the model of Josiah made it imaginatively feasible for the councillors of a 'godly king' to undertake a programme of fast reformation on their own initiative. 'Imperial' status redefined as inclusive of Privy Council and Parliament"
Between the years of 1549 and 1552, the Common Book Prayer was established, a reason which caused popular revolts to break in England. This Common Book Prayer was written by the Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and contained "the structure and words for religious services in the Church of England. Versions were issued in 1549, 1552 and 1559. The services were in English and it became law for all churches to use them. (...)"
"An Act of Uniformity to enforce its use was also passed by Parliament, which suppressed the Latin Mass book of old and ordered that there should be a uniform Church service in English throughout the land."
This was the reason of conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in England, but the royal authority managed to appease them. The Common Book Prayer were to be better stablished in Edward's sister's reign, Queen Elizabeth I.
What we can conclude from these years under the government of Somerset in seen below:
"Edward VI’s government faced three distinct challenges to its program of religious reform between the introduction of the first and second Prayer Books. The sophisticated criticism Bishop Gardiner and other conservatives laid against the 1549 Prayer Book was the first. The other two challenges came from popular uprisings against innovations in worship and doctrine and challenges from radical evangelicals close to the government who wanted more wide-ranging reform at a faster pace than Cranmer would allow"
And also that:“Cranmer and his colleagues had intended their communion service to be the centre-piece of the regular weekly worship of the Church, but this was not happening; people did not want to make their communion on such a frequent basis. One problem may have been the fierce exhortations to self-examination which were already part of the prescribed rite in 1549: conscientious or shy potential communicants may have felt that they were not worthy to receive,”
From 1551 to his death, in 1553, Edward, who by now was older and, according to sources, was taking more actively roles in religious matters, In this period, now under the regency of the ambitious John Dudley, who from being Earl of Warwick rose to Duke of Northumberland, reforms improved. Points as the banishment of masses, which were replaced by the holy communion, the fact the priests were not allowed to dress elaborate vestments aside of the belief of predestination included in the doctrine, formed by then the basis of the Church, which was not known as Anglican yet.
The Common Book Prayer was, in Edward's reign, under constant changes by the reformers with whom the young was surrounded. Perhaps if he had lived more, the religion and its instrument would be promptly be absorbed. However, the further of our readings onto that matter shows us that social absorption was more difficult than seen, and that explains why in Elizabeth's reign these reforms were definitely more succesful: they take time and even in a small island as England was, there were different interpretations and struggles between parishes about them. And if we question ourselves how would this Reformation go beyond the six years of Edward had he lived longer, we have no doubt that if Mary ruled just as longer, the basis and work of Edward would have been gone.
Sociaties might change fast, but the same cannot be said of their mentalities. The reforms we speak here today were used to the Elisabethan Anglican Church, but with the next centuries, the Catholic Stuarts and the Lutheran Hanoverians would also aid in the fortification of the character of the church. In other words, it is more than fair to give credit to the young king Edward VI and his councillors for Protestantism in England and remember his importance, though short indeed, to the british society of until nowadays.
Sources:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/tudor-england/edward-vi/
http://www.historyonthenet.com/tudors/edward_protestantism.htm
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/schools/ks3/reformation/glossary#Ref:BkComPra
http://www.tudors.org/undergraduate/protestant-reformation-under-edward-vi-an-agenda/
http://history-christian-church.blogspot.com.br/2012/03/reformation-in-england-during-reign-of.html
https://theoluchador.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/king-edward-vi-and-the-protestant-reformation/
http://www.museeprotestant.org/en/notice/the-anglican-reformation/
http://www.mibba.com/Articles/History/6136/King-Edward-VI-and-the-English-Reformation/
http://www.historyextra.com/article/henry-viii/who-was-real-edward-vi
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=synge&book=tudors&story=edward6
http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1802&context=open_access_etds
.
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