How Protestant was England by 1553?

Somersets religious reforms:

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Royal proclamations:
o All churches to have copy of Erasmus Paraphrases on the Gospels
to go alongside English Bible + declaration that parts of Mass to be
performed in English
o Clergy to preach sermons min. four times a year (if unable/unwilling
= read from Book of Homilies containing sermons written by
Cranmer
Destruction of Henrician Settlement:
o Nov 1547 Act of Revilers allowed laity to receive wine and bread at
Mass, but reaffirmed presence of Christ (move to discourage radical
Protestants/appease Conservatives)
o Treason Acts and heresy laws repealed = destroyed Act of Six
Articles
o Gardiner imprisoned
Destruction of chantries:
o Chantries Act destroyed chantries
o 2400 chantries, 90 colleges, 110 hospitals dissolved = rich pickings
o Major attack on the doctrine of Purgatory
Abolition of ceremonies/removal of images:
o Privy Council abolished Candles and Candlemas, Palms on Palm
Sunday, Ashes on Ash Wednesday, and Creeping to the Cross on
Good Friday
o Removal of all images in any church/chapel
First Prayer Book of 1549:
o Introduced by Act of Uniformity
o All priests to use new Prayer Book written by Cranmer
o Sought to introduce English services = one standard English Prayer
Book everywhere
o Wording of Mass changed when receiving bread The Body of our
Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee, preserve thy body and
soul unto everlasting life. = approved by Stephen Gardiner
o Priests mumbled English words to avoid full impact of Book so it
may as well have been in Latin
o Penalties for non-compliance were mild = conservatives could use
w/o abandoning beliefs
o John Hooper declared Book as very absurd and full of popish
errors and supersition
Priests allowed to marry:
o Act in 1549 didnt encourage priests to marry but removed rules
forbidding it

1549 Rebellions
-

Western Rebellion:
o Resistance/rebellion in Devon and Cornwall
o April 1548 mob in Heston killed careerist archdeacon of Cornwall,
William Body

When Prayer Book introduced, rebels led by gentry drew up articles

against religious changes and advanced into Devon
o Rebels around Sampford Courtenay besieged Exteter = gov. lost
control for two months = Somerset sent in Lord Russell = rebels
dispersed
o Causes:
Disliked Bible and English Prayer Book
Demanded Cornish Prayer Book and reinstatement of Act of
Six Articles
Lots of sheep farming in Devon = taxes would be hard hitting
Ketts Rebellion:
o East Anglia same time as Western Rising
o Organised by Robert Kett, spread from villages of Attleborough and
Wymondham to rest of Norfolk
o Regional capital fell to rebels
o 6000 men led by John Dudley destroyed Ketts forces
o Causes:
Robert Kett = gentry
Rebellion directed partly against enclosure of common land
Overthrow of Somerset:
o Rebellions undermined confidence in Somerset + resentment from
Councillors over his assumption of Lord Protector title
o Conservatives led by Earls of Arundel and Southampton persuaded
Earl of Warwick to join them
o Somerset sent to tower in 1549 + office abolished
o Conservatives hoped Mary would become regent she refused
Emergence of Warwick:
o Somerset executed 1552
o Warwick became Duke of Northumberland + Lord President of
Council
o Northumberland ditched conservatives, filled Council w/ reformers
o

Northumberlands religious reforms

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Ordination of priests:
o New Ordinal by Cranmer in 1550 = stressed ordinands preaching
function over carrying out rituals and ceremonies
o Sacraments importance relegated, dead and Purgatory not
mentioned
Clergy reform:
o Several conservative bishops deprived of sees
o Nicholas Heath of Worcester lost his for opposing new Ordinal
o Gardiner deprived of see of Winchester in Feb 1551
o Nicholas Ridley (Bishop of London) ordered that all altars to be
Communion tables, some stone altars replaced with wooden table
o Reforming clergy showed support for Protestant ideas about
spiritual presence/ no presence of Christ (among radicals)
Relations with European Protestants:
o Martin Bucer = Regius Professorship of Divinity at Cambridge
1552 Prayer Book:
o Made moving of altars official policy

o
o

Limitations:
Only came into force Nov 1552 = not clear how many
parishes made use of it in seven months before Edwards
death
Never put before Convocation
Knox and Hooper put pressure on Northumberland/ Council to
abolish kneeling during Lords Supper
Cranmer forced to insert Black Rubric = enforced kneeling,
proclaimed it was for seemly order and not reverence
42 Articles:
o Drawn up by Cranmer, sent to Council Nov 1552
o Articles issued in June (few weeks before Edwards death)
o Three key areas:
Article 5 = proclaimed centrality of Bible to matters of
doctrine, ceremony and salvation
Article 11 = Lutheran definition of justification (attaining
salvation) and Article 12 = good works were no more
Article 17 = doctrine of Predestination (God has chosen the
damned)
Lay control of Church:
o Church to be more firmly under lay/secular control
o Council unwilling to promote new set of canon law which would give
Church more freedom from lay control
Confiscation of Church property:
o Remaining Church plate and jewels confiscated, most proceeds in
commissioners pockets
Relations w/ Emperor:
o Somerset feared losing Emperors friendship (Emperor Marys
cousin = could encourage her to lead coup)
Relations w/ France:
o France declared war in Aug 1549
o Handover of Boulogne in return for 100,000
o Edward betrothed to French Princess
o Somersets garrisons withdrawn from Scotland
Isolationism:
o Northumberlands policy
o Conflict between Emperor and France = Northumberland could
pursue more radical policy
King Edwards death:
o Died in 1552
o Reformation depended on him but:
Not much power due to age
Somerset and Northumberland had limited authority
Divisions within Protestantism
o

Vestments worn by priests replaced with plain surplice

Eucharist changed to take this and eat this in remembrance that
Christ died for thee and feed on him in thy heart with thanksgiving.
= move away from transubstantiation
Ceremony renamed as Lords Supper

Mary destroyed the faltering and cautious Protestant Reformation =

now a Catholic Reformation

How Protestant was England when Edward VI died?

-

Not protestant:
o 1547 = English Church Catholic in doctrine and ceremonies
o By 1547 = about 20% of Londoners Protestant
o Religious changes gradual under Edward
o Foreign Catholic powers hostile to reform
o Second Prayer Book and 42 Articles not in force for long
o Western Rebellion = opposition to religious change
o Conservatives still powerful (Mary heir to throne + they overthrew
Somerset)
o Somerset and Northumberland overthrown + not committed
Protestant
Protestant:
o Edward VI, Cranmer, Somerset, Northumberland all Protestants
o Break w/Rome = England not fully Catholic
o England officially Protestant in terms of doctrine
o English Bibles in every parish church
o After 1540 = less money spent on Church goods
o Chantries abolished