English Reformation - Theological Radicalism

Theological Radicalism

The break with Rome was not, by itself, a Reformation. That was to come from the dissemination of ideas. The views of the German reformer Martin Luther and his school were widely known and disputed in England. A major manifestation of theological radicalism in England was Lollardy, a movement deriving from the writings of John Wycliffe, the 14th-century Bible translator, which stressed the primacy of Scripture. But after the execution of Sir John Oldcastle, leader of the Lollard rebellion of 1415, they never again had access to the levers of power and by the 15th century were much reduced in numbers and influence. There were still many Lollards about, especially in London and the Thames Valley, in Essex and Kent, Coventry, Bristol and even in the north, who would be receptive to the new ideas when they came, who looked for a reform in the lifestyle of the clergy. They emphasized the preaching of the word over the sacrament of the altar, holding the latter to be but a memorial, but they were not party to the actions of the government. Other ideas, critical of the papal supremacy were held, not only by Lollards, but by those who wished to assert the supremacy of the secular state over the church but also by conciliarists such as Thomas More and, initially, Cranmer. Other Catholic reformists, including John Colet, Dean of St Paul's, warned that heretics were not nearly so great a danger to the faith as the wicked and indolent lives of the clergy.

The impact of Luther's thinking was of a different order. The main plank of his thinking, justification by faith alone rather than by good works, threatened the whole basis of the Catholic penitential system with its endowed masses and prayers for the dead as well as its doctrine of purgatory. Faith, not pious acts, prayers or masses, in this view, can secure the grace of God. Moreover, printing, which had become widespread at the end of the previous century, meant that vernacular Bibles could be produced in quantity. A further English translation by William Tyndale was banned but it was impossible to prevent copies from being smuggled and widely read. The Church could no longer effectively dictate its interpretation. A group in Cambridge, which met at the White Horse tavern from the mid-1520s and became known as "Little Germany", soon became influential. Its members included Robert Barnes, Hugh Latimer, John Frith and Thomas Bilney, all eventually to be burned as heretics. Cranmer's change of mind, borne partly by his membership of the team negotiating for the annulment, finally came through his stay with Andreas Osiander in Nuremberg in 1532. (Cranmer also secretly married Osiander's niece). Even then the position was complicated by the fact that the Lutherans were not in favour of the annulment. Cranmer (and Henry) felt obliged to seek assistance from Strasbourg and Basel, which brought him into contact with the more radical ideas associated with Zwingli.

Cromwell's programme, assisted by Anne Boleyn's influence over episcopal appointments, was not merely against the clergy and the power of Rome. He persuaded Henry that safety from political alliances that Rome might attempt to bring together lay in negotiations with the German Lutheran princes. There also seemed to be a possibility that Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, might act to avenge his rejected aunt (Queen Catherine) and enforce the Pope's excommunication. It never came to anything but it brought to England Lutheran ideas: three sacraments only – baptism, Eucharist and penance – which Henry was prepared to countenance in order to keep open the possibility of an alliance. More noticeable, and objectionable to many, were the Injunctions, first of 1536 and then 1538. The programme began with the abolition of many feast days, "the occasion of vice and idleness" which, particularly at harvest time, had an immediate effect on village life. The offerings to images were discouraged, as were pilgrimages – these injunctions took place while monasteries were being dissolved. In some places images were burned on the grounds that they were objects of superstitious devotion, candles lit before images were prohibited, Bibles in both English and Latin were to be bought. Thus did the Reformation begin to affect the towns and villages of England and, in many places, people did not like it.