Transcript History – task 2 - Teignmouth Community School

Mid Tudor Crisis 1536-69
In 1973, Witney Jones declared that
‘the trouble shadowed reigns of Edward VI and
Mary stand in apparently sharp contrast with
the Tudor ‘high noons’ of Henry VIII and
Elizabeth I.’
However, Historian such as David Loads argue
that there was no general ‘crisis of authority’
as the Royal Supremacy still remained in tact
during the rule of a child (Edward VI), and a
Queen (Mary I).
Henry VIII
King 1509-47
The Reformation
Church
Henry’s VIII’s changes
1529-47
•In 1532 King Henry VIII had not yet secured the Tudor dynasty.
Katherine had not given birth to a boy.
•To get a son, he would have to have a divorce from Katherine and remarry someone who was young enough to have children.
•The Pope would not allow Henry a divorce.
•Henry decided to break away from the Pope and the Catholic church
and create his own Protestant Church of England.
•Cardinal Thomas Wolsey has fallen from the King’s favour since he
failed to settle on a solution to the King’s Great Matter. Wolsey died in
1530.
•Thomas Cromwell became the king’s chief advisor.
•The Pope would still not allow Henry to have a divorce as it is against
the principles of the Catholic Church.
Henry VIII and the Break with Rome
In November 1534 Henry passed The Act of Supremacy
declaring that he was 'the only supreme head on earth of the
Church in England'
The Treasons Act 1534 made it high treason, punishable by
death, to refuse to acknowledge the King as such.
Religious Reform 1529-39
1) Coverdale's Bible in English.
2) Ecclesiastical Injunctions (1536-8)
In 1538 quarterly sermons should be based upon the scriptures.
Images of Saints to be removed from churches.
3) Ten Articles (1536)
Only the sacraments of Baptism, Confession/Penance, and Communion were
allowed.
4) The Great Bible (1539) By 1541 Coverdale had revised the Great Bible five
times.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries
In 1535 the Valor Ecclesiasticus showed the inspection, of all the religious
houses in the Kingdom.
Cromwell built up a picture of the corrupt moral and spiritual laxity of the regular
clergy.
The Act for Suppressing, (closing down) the Smaller Monasteries was
justified.
Religious houses worth less than £200 a year were closed down. Their
buildings, estates and other form of income were now the property of the
Crown. The dispossessed inmates could either transfer to other houses or join
the secular clergy.
This may point to Henry VIII’s reforms being about gaining money
The Dissolution of the Monasteries
In 1539 a second Act of Dissolution was passed.
All monasteries were to be dissolved.
The last surrendered in 1540.
Protest – The Pilgrimage of Grace
In October 1536, people in Lincolnshire rose up in protest at the
changes that were being imposed and they were joined by other
communities.
Motives for these Reforms
It is possible that Henry VIII made these reforms because he felt that the
church needed reforming, and was influenced by the changing ideas in
Europe.
However, there is question about how much these reforms were
religiously motivated…
Religious Policy after 1540 – The Catholic Backlash
With Thomas Cromwell's exit 1540, there ended the driving force behind
religious reform.
By 1540 the Lutheran powers had served their purpose of providing some
political security in the aftermath of the Break with Rome.
1) The reaffirmation of the 7 Sacraments and meritorious works.
2) The Act of Six Articles (1539) reasserted transubstantiation,
communion in one kind, clerical celibacy, and confession.
3) Robert Barnes and Thomas Garret burnt for heresy (1540)
4) The Act for the Advancement of True Religion (1543) denounced
translations of the scriptures, e.g. William Tyndale's 'New Testament' .
The act also limited the reading of licensed Bibles to the nobility and the
gentry.
5) The King's Book (1543) confirmed religious orthodoxy, i.e. Catholic
beliefs and practices.
Henry VIII:
Faction and rivalry at
Court 1540-7
In 1540 the fall of Thomas Cromwell,
Henry VIII’s chief adviser in the 1530s
brought about a period of increased
political instability. There was a growth in
the rivalry between factions at court.
The Factions at Court
The Reformists
Led by Archbishop Cranmer and Edward
Seymour (Duke of Somerset).
They wanted the church to become
more Protestant. They were not satisfied
by the Anglo-Catholicism established by
Henry VIII and Cromwell in 1534.
The Conservatives
Led by Thomas Howard (Duke of Norfolk)
and Stephen Gardiner (Bishop of
Winchester)
They were opposed to a Protestant
Church in England.
Disputes between the factions
In 1540, the disgrace and execution of
Cromwell, the architect of the
Reformation, had been a success for
the conservatives.
This was confirmed by Henry VIII’s
marriage to Catherine Howard, the
Duke of Norfolk’s niece.
Catherine Howard
The conservatives
hoped to influence the
king though his new
wife.
However, Catherine’s
trial and execution for
adultery in 1542
marked a victory for
the reformists.
For the next 5 years the two factions strove for
supremacy at Court.
Katherine Parr
The King’s final
marriage to Katherine
Parr, a committed
Protestant, showed
that the conservatives
were losing ground.
However...
The Reformists
In 1546 the reformists gained an
advantage when the Duke of Norfolk was
arrested and put in the Tower of London
for treason and Stephen Gardiner was
dismissed from the Privy Council.
It was against this background that Edward VI came to the throne in 1547.
Mid Tudor Crisis 1536-69?
Some historians see the disputes as a sign of
increasing dynastic weakness.
Others argue that factions were a normal part
of Tudor politics, and that such rivalry was
necessary for healthy government.
Nevertheless, Henry’s death marked the beginning of 11 years of less stable
government and this has prompted many historians to see it as a period of crisis.
Edward VI 1547-53
Henry VIII was succeeded
by nine year old Prince
Edward, his son by his
third wife, Jane Seymour.
The Somerset years 1547-9
As Edward VI was
too young to rule,
Edward Seymour
(from the
conservative faction
of Henry VIII’s
court) ruled for him
as Lord Protector
Somerset until 1549
During the Somerset year, the political situation deteriorated steadily.
Three major problems were inherited from Henry VII:
1) Religious Policy –Somerset was a moderate reformer but Edward VI
favoured more radical change. The Duke of Norfolk and Bishop Gardiner
were opposed to change.
2 Foreign Policy – Should the war with France and Scotland begun by Henry
VIII in 1542 be continued? Although the government was already bankrupt,
Somerset continued the war and thereby further crippled the country’s
finances.
3) Economic Policy –The economy had been neglected by Henry VIII.
Population levels had been increasing rapidly since the 1530s, causing
prices to rise and making it difficult for young people to find jobs. There
was a fall in demand for English textiles abroad, which caused growing
unemployment among cloth workers.
The Western Rebellion/Prayer
Book Rebellion 1549
By 1549 there was widespread discontent among
the mass of the population, leading to large-scale
popular uprisings in Norfolk and the West
Country due to way Somerset handled the three
issues.
Although the rebellions were eventually
suppressed, Somerset’s enemies on the Council
seized the opportunity to overthrow him and take
power.
The Norfolk Uprisings/Ket’s
Rebellion 1549
The Northumberland years 1549-53
From the ensuing
power struggle,
John Dudley, Earl of
Warwick emerged
as the new leader.
He was made Duke
of Northumberland
and Lord President
of the Council.
He ruled the
country as Lord
President
Northumberland
for the remained of
Edward VI’s reign.
Although the popular discontent had been subdued, Northumberland faced the same
problems as his predecessor.
1) Foreign Policy– Somerset’s fall from power caused a temporary
breakdown in military leadership. This enabled the French to gain the
initiative in the war and they went on the offensive. This, combined with a
lack of money, forced Northumberland to make peaces with both France and
Scotland.
This annoyed many of the ruling elites who thought that this was a
humiliating defeat.
2) Religious Policy – At the same time, Northumberland allowed increasingly
radical reforms to be introduced into the Church of England, eg alters were
ordered to be removed and the church service was modeled on the Lutheran
system of worship.
Such a move not only angered the Catholic elites at home, but also
upset Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, England’s major
continental ally.
3) Economic Policy – Northumberland had learned form Somerset’s mistakes
and introduced measures to try to restore stability. The Privy Council and the
government were reorganized, finances were reformed, and debts created
by the war began to be paid off.
Although the economic situation continued to worsen, new poor laws
were introduced to help the poorest sections of society.
Lady Jane Grey
Edward died in 1553.
In an effort to prevent the Catholic Mary I from becoming Queen,
Northumberland crowned the Protestant Lady Jane Grey.
The ruling elites, both Catholic and Protestant, rallied to the support
of Mary. Northumberland was arrested and quickly executed. Early in
1554 Lady Jane Grey was also executed.
Mary I 1553-58
Mary I was the daughter of
Henry VIII and his first wife
Katherine of Aragon.
She was Catholic, like her
mother.
Mary I was very popular upon her accession to the throne.
She had two main aim:
1) to return England to
Roman Catholicism
2) to create closer links with the
Habsburgs, her mother’s family
headed by the Holy Roman
Emperor Charles V.
To create closer links with the
Habsburgs, Mary married
Charles V’s son Philip II of Spain
Although the Council and
Parliament somewhat
reluctantly agreed to the
marriage, there was
increasing opposition to
the proposal.
Many of the ruling elites feared that England would be dominated by Spain and
drawn into the Habsburg was against France.
To return England to Roman Catholicism in the first year of Mary’s reign, Parliament
agreed to repeal and thereby ignore all the Protestant legislation passed under Edward.
Yet, some ruling elites
disliked the idea of the
royal supremacy over
the church being ended,
while others feared that
they might have to
return the Church lands
which had been sold off
to the ruling elites
during the reigns of
Henry VIII and Edward
VI.
In the end Mary had to
compromise and
although papal
authority was restored,
no attempt was made
to reclaim any church
lands that had been
sold.
At the same time, the Marian government began
another round of financial reform to reduce costs and
increase revenues, and initiated a thorough review of
the navy.
However, Mary also persecuted and executed Protestants which made her increasingly
unpopular with all levels of society.
Popular discontent was made worse by the
steadily worsening economic situation and rising
unemployment
Anti-Spanish feelings rose when Philip II involved England in his war with France.
As a result, Calais, England’s last
continental possession was lost
to the French.
Mary I death in 1558 was greeted with just as much enthusiasm as had been her
accession five years earlier.
Elizabeth I 1558-1603
After the short reigns of
Elizabeth's brother and sister,
her 45 years on the throne is
often viewed as having
provided valuable stability for
the kingdom and helped forge
a sense of national identity.
As the daughter of Henry
VIII and Anne Boleyn,
Elizabeth remained
Protestant.
One of her first moves as
queen was to support the
establishment of an
English Protestant church,
of which she became the
Supreme Governor. This
Elizabethan Religious
Settlement held firm
throughout her reign.
It was expected that
Elizabeth would marry, but
despite several petitions
from parliament, she never
did.
As she grew older,
Elizabeth became famous
for her virginity, and a cult
grew up around her which
was celebrated in the
portraits, pageants and
literature of the day.
In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and siblings. One
of her mottoes was video et taceo: "I see, and say nothing".
This strategy, viewed with
impatience by her
counsellors, often saved
her from political and
marital misalliances.
Though Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs and only half-heartedly supported a
number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France
and Ireland, the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 associated her name forever
with what is popularly viewed as one of the greatest victories in English history.
Within 20 years of her death, she was being celebrated as the ruler of a golden
age, an image that retains its hold on the English people.
This strategy, viewed with
impatience by her
counsellors, often saved
her from political and
marital misalliances.
Mid Tudor Crisis 1536-69?
The extent to which Elizabeth’s reign signified the end of the Mid Tudor Crisis
is contested as by the end of her reign, a series of economic and military
problems had weakened her popularity, while dying childless left the Tudor
dynasty vulnerable once again.