Bill
Messa
Professor Swanson
Dimensions
of History
Rutherfurd
Report
The Church of England
In
Edward Rutherfurd’s novel London, chapter ten deals with
Henry VIII and his break with the Church of Rome.The
Tudor-Stuart dynasty and subsequent religious changes made in this time
period were a chain of events rarely seen in religious history, and certainly
more exciting than the average Sunday sermon.This
paper’s focus is the 16th-17th English Church and
the change it went through.
The
Church of England began in the second century A.D. when the Romans invaded
England and introduced Christianity, though it was not universally accepted.Next,
the Anglo-Saxons invaded England in the 6th century and by 597
A.D. had conquered England, making all natives accept Christianity.St.
Augustine, a Roman monk, lead the conversion cause for all non-Christian
natives.During the 8th
century, several English churchmen working in Europe and were highly regarded.However,
back in England Danish invasions were destroying church property and causing
religious disunity.
The
Norman Conquest in 1066 A.D. united England with Latin European culture.The
Church of England was reformed according to Roman ideals like required
celibacy for clergymen.During the
Middle Ages, the Church remained close to the Roman papacy.However,
English citizens got caught up in the religious reform movement because
they felt that the Roman Church was an aristocracy far removed from its
spiritual roots. This reform foreshadowed Henry VIII’s reign in which numerous
changes were to occur.The thirst
for reform was led by men such as Martin Luther and John Wycliffe who believed
that the Church was an aristocracy of land and wealth, which was not helping
common people as it claimed it did.
Henry VIII
Consequently,
in the 16th century the Church of England broke free from the
Roman Church and became independent.“When
Pope Clement VII refused to approve the annulment of Henry’s marriage to
Catherine of Aragon, the English Parliament passed a series of acts that
separated the English Church and made the English monarch head of the English
Church.”(Britannica.com 1)The
Act of Supremacy officially declared Henry VIII the secular head of the
English Church in 1534, while the Archbishop of Canterbury became the spiritual
head.
Contrary
to popular belief, Henry was a devout Roman Catholic and wanted reform,
not revolt and left the Catholic dogma intact.“Henry
actually received the title “Defender of the Faith” by the pope for an
essay he wrote criticizing Martin Luther and the hereditary title is still
held today by Elizabeth II” (kencollins.com 2) Also, Henry asked the Archbishop
to translate the Latin Bible into English so the common person could better
understand it.Some historians question
his motives for the Spanish Armada invasion was in the near future and
Henry may have wanted many English people on their knees in prayer.
“Bloody Mary”
After
Henry’s death, his son Edward VI took the throne and introduced many Protestant
reforms to the Church of England.
This
Protestantism set the stage for Mary Tudor’s reign of terror.
She
re-established Roman Catholicism in England and married her Catholic first
cousin Philip II of Spain.
Her persecution
and execution of Protestants earned Mary her nickname.
In
fact, Thomas Cranmer who granted Henry his desired divorce and was in the
Rutherfurd novel was killed by Mary.
“When
Mary Tudor died childless in 1558, England rejoiced to be rid of her, if
not to get her twenty-five-year-old half-sister in the bargain.”
(Fort
Raleigh, 3)
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth had been raised
as a Protestant and stayed committed to that faith but did not persecute
Catholics.She believed in religious
toleration because she felt Catholics and Protestants were part of the
same faith.She stated “There is
only one Christ Jesus, one faith, all else is a dispute over trifles.”
(elizabethi.org 1)She established
the independent Church of England with the Book of Common Prayer
and Thirty-nine articles as the standards for liturgy and doctrine.Elizabeth’s
main goal in her reign was to maintain peace and stability while creating
a Church of England that appealed to both Protestants and Catholics.
Elizabeth’s
independent Church is also known as the “Elizabethan Religious Settlement”
(elizabethi.org 2) and was comprised of two Acts.The
First was the Act of Supremacy in which Elizabeth’s title was changed from
“Head of the Church of England” as Henry VIII was known to “Supreme Governor
of the Church in England”.Historians
believe this title change was done to appease Catholics who do not accept
a monarch as “Head of the Church” believing the church to be the pope’s
domain.Another theory is that men
felt uncomfortable with an “inferior” woman in charge.The
Second Act was called the Act of Uniformity, which established a set form
of worship.Included was mandatory
church attendance on Sundays and holy days with fines for absences.Also,
the wording of Communion was vague so that both Protestants and Catholics
could participate.
James I
James I followed Elizabeth
to the throne and was a firm Protestant who expelled all Catholic priests
from England in 1604.James believed
in the divine right of kings.He
believed that kings were given divine power in the Bible from God and posses
divine power to rule on earth.James
said that kings are similar to Gods because both can determine life or
death.“During James reign, radical
Protestant groups called Puritans began to gain a sizeable following.Puritans
wanted to “purify” the church by paring down church ritual, educating the
clergy, and limiting the powers of bishops.” (britainexpress.com 2)James
actions foreshadowed the puritan migration to the Americas.In
James reign, he also issued the King James Bible, which was not a perfectly
accurate document but remained the authoritative version for centuries.
Archbishop Laud
Under the next king Charles
I, William Laud was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633.He
opposed many Puritan reforms to the English Church, making sure the reformers
were punished because Laud’s main job was “to maintain order and to punish
offences against the peace of the Church.” (justus.anglican.org 1)Upset
Puritans emigrated from England, around 60,000 between 1630-1643.Also,
Laud upheld various customs in public worship that were only small details
leading the public to believe that Roman Catholicism would return.In
1637, Charles and Laud tried to impose Anglican liturgy on the Presbyterian
Scottish.This action led to the
first English Civil in 1642 and as an end result, Laud was executed by
radical Protestants in 1645 and Charles I was killed in 1649.During
the English Civil Wars, the Church of England was repressed when Oliver
Cromwell ruled England as a dictator with the title “Lord Protector” After
the Cromwell regime ended, the monarchy and Church of England were restored
in 1660.
John Locke
The
fascinating concept about this time period of religious change in English
history is that the brightest minds of the period were focused on religion.By
contrast, today’s thinkers focus on technology and the economy with religion
as an afterthought.Men like John
Locke, John Milton and John Stuart Mill all wrote on religious topics.John
Locke was the man who is credited with devising a government in which church
and state are separate.In his Letter
concerning Toleration, he writes: “The care of souls cannot belong
to the civil magistrate because his power consists only in outward force;
but true and saving religion consists in the inward persuasion of the mind,
without which nothing can be acceptable to God.”(University
of Chicago, 1)He later notes: “The
care of the salvation of men’s souls cannot belong to the magistrate; because,
though the rigour of laws and the force of penalties were capable to convince
and change men’s minds, yet would not that help at all to the salvation
of their souls.” (2) Finally, concerning religious freedom, Locke says:
“no private person has any right in any manner to prejudice another person
in his civil enjoyments because he is of another church or religion.”(3)
John Milton
Another
great author of this period was John Milton, famous for his epic story
Paradise Lost and the sequel Paradise Regained.Milton
was a passionate Protestant whose ideal world contained no Catholics or
pagans.Milton did not believe in
the Holy Trinity, or the soul’s immortality but did believe in Satan and
the existence of Heaven and Hell.When
Cromwell was in power after the English Civil Wars, Milton thought it would
lead to a Protestant Utopia in England.Milton
was demoralized to see the king and bishops restored in 1660 and saw the
English king as an “unholy pretender” (lewrockwell.com , 4)
Contemporary Church of England
The
18th century emphasized the Protestant heritage of the Church
and is known as the Low Church.In
contrast, the 19th century emphasized the Church’s Roman Catholic
heritage, known as the High Church.Today,
the Church of England is “divided into two provinces, Canterbury and York,
each headed by an archbishop, with Canterbury taking precedence over York.Provinces
are divided into dioceses, each headed by a bishop and made up of several
parishes.” (Britannica.com, 2)The
church ordained 32 women priests in 1994 and was one of the first voices
in the world for the abolishment of slavery.The
Church remains more current than the Roman Catholic Church in the Vatican
whom it is still separate from to this day.Chapter
ten of the Rutherfurd novel is based on Susan and Rowland Bull’s refusal
to take an oath of allegiance to Henry VIII.The
Bull’s along with many Catholics still saw the Roman pope as head of the
church and not Henry.The realities
of execution made many Catholics take the oath against their will.The
Bull’s took a doctored oath and the husband Rowland was sentenced to the
Tower of London.Luckily for him,
Susan’s brother who was a parish priest against the oath died in Rowland’s
place.