History 105 Essay In sixteenth-century England, religious reformation was on the rise.

Determined to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon, who failed to provide him with a male heir, Englands monarch Henry VIII sought a break from the Roman Catholic Church on the grounds of anticlericalism and Biblicism.1 This break was supported by some members of the clergy, who believed that the Catholic Church was abusing its power and preaching false doctrine. Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, was one of the movements main supporters, preaching against the abusive practices and counterfeit doctrines of the Catholic Church in his 1536 Convocation sermon. These abuses were also addressed in The Ten Articles, published that same year, which officially sanctioned a number of changes that Englands church and clergymen were to adopt in order to rectify English religion under the supreme rule of Henry. Together, Latimers sermon and The Ten Articles presented a call-to-action for all clergymen in England to reform and unify religious practices and ideals, prescribing a pedagogical formula for how to properly preach and teach the word of God under the only true religionthat of Henry VIII. Henrys reign as Supreme Head of the Church of England (1534 1547) was characterized by a desire for spiritual regeneration as well as an attempt to restore the religious purity that had been compromised by papal corruption and abuse of power.2 Eager to remove any trace of clerical error or religious doubt under his regime, Henry embarked upon a new vision of English religion which set forth plain and sincere doctrine that laity and clergy alike could understand.3 Prior to Henrys reign many lay members were left ignorant of proper religious teaching and ceremony, as they were unable to participate actively in the central rituals

1 2

Lucy Wooding, Henry VIII (New York: Routledge, 2009), 182. Wooding, 183. 3 G.W. Bernard, The Making of Religious Policy, 1533 1546: Henry VIII and the Search for the Middle Way, The Historical Journal 41(2): 321 349, 329.

History 105 Essay of faith, which were all presented to them in Latin.4 Many priests themselves were ill-educated in Latin and on the proper teachings of faith, and were consequently unable to preach accurate Christian doctrine to their congregations.5 Because ecclesiastical ignorance and administrative abuse were rampant throughout England, many believed that the need for religious reform was crucial. One leading proponent of this school of thought was Hugh Latimer, an English priest who rose to the title of Bishop of Worcester in 1536. Latimer (1485 1555) received his religious education from Cambridge University, where he studied the humanist writings of Erasmus alongside those of the old orthodoxy of Catholicism.6 This unique mixture of education led him to believe that the wisdom of the Catholic Church had to be re-examined and that salvation was not attained through any devotion to the mass, but through regeneration of faith, by means of preaching and hearing Gods word.7 In his Convocation sermon, presented on 9 June 1536, Latimer stressed the significance of teaching the word of God and outlined his beliefs about the importance of Scripture in the renewal and revamping of Englands religion. He called his colleagues to hear of great and weighty matters regarding the future of the church and what course of action needed to be taken in order to save it from further corruption and decay.8 In his sermon, he emphasized the notion that God setteth before our eyes [in the words of the Bible]...what we ought most to flee, and what we ought soonest to follow, and that by way of speaking these words to his disciples, he also spake them to us [his fellow bishops,

Robert Bucholz and Newton Key, Early Modern England, 1485 1714: A Narrative History (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2009), 70. Latin was the language of the learned, which few, including the educated elite and clergymen, could understand. 5 Bucholz, 70. 6 Susan Wabuda, Latimer, Hugh (c.1485 1555), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Sept. 2004), http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/16100 (accessed 14 October 2009). 7 Wabuda, Latimer. 8 Hugh Latimer, Hugh Latimer, Convocation sermon, 1536, in David Cressy and Lori Anne Ferrell, eds., Religion and Society in Early Modern England: A Sourcebook (London and New York: Routledge, 1996), pp. 17 - 24, 14.

History 105 Essay priests, and countrymen].9 It was through accurate and direct teachings of the words of the Bible, then, that Latimer believed his colleagues were to shepherd their flocks to salvation. Latimer also denounced Catholic clerics, stating that they have for some time either adulterat[ed] the word of God, or else mingl[ed] it, a practice he believed was the cause of much ecclesiastical corruption and ignorance.10 According to historian Richard Rex, Latimers main proposal in this sermon was that the moral corruption of the church was a function of doctrinal error.11 In order to evade allegations of corruption and the potential for distorting doctrine, Latimer insisted to Englands clergy that they preach the word of God directly from Scripture. He also challenged specific Catholic practices, most notably the selling of indulgences. He found this practice particularly offensive because he thought it implied that redemption and forgiveness of sins purchased by money, and devised by men, [were] of efficacy, and not redemption purchased by Christ.12 By selling indulgences, Latimer believed that the Catholic Church put human efforts on a pedestal, resolving that Christ himself, Gods mediator, was not powerful enough to grant humans redemption on his own. Latimer also disapproved of clergymen preaching to the people, that dead images... not only ought to be covered with gold, but should also be clad with silk garments, and... laden with precious gems and jewels, complaining that Catholic clerics regarded mans inventions and fancies as more significant than the actual mercy and praise of God.13 According to biographer Susan Wabuda, Latimer was so insistent that the Church relieve itself from all corruption that he established a programme of dismantling images, beginning with stripping the

Latimer, 15. Latimer, 15. 11 Richard Rex, Henry VIII and the English Reformation (London: MacMillan Press, 1993), 145. 12 Latimer, 16. 13 Latimer, 16.
10

History 105 Essay statue of the Virgin Mary from his own cathedral in Worcester.14 He also criticized this practice because it meant Catholics were teaching that more devotion cometh of the beholding of an image... than [was] gotten by reading and contemplation in scripture, while Latimer maintained that Scripture, as the actual word of God, should reign supreme.15 Latimer took advantage of his new status as bishop to proclaim that the manifestly false and counterfeit doctrine of the Catholic Church had to be disposed of, and that the people of England should be led by faithful dispensers of Gods mysteries, who could avoid corruption only by preaching Gods Word directly.16 Hugh Latimers 1536 Convocation sermon was intended as advice for his audience of English priests and bishops, whom he urged to turn to Scripture in order to repair the wounds inflicted upon the England church by poor Catholic leadership. Observing the effects these abuses had on the Church of England, Henry VIII sought from the beginning of his ecclesiastical reign to reform religious practice and teaching. G.W. Bernard writes that repeated efforts... were made [by Henry] to set out an agreed statement of true doctrine that all clergymen could preach.17 In August 1536, these efforts culminated in the publication of The Ten Articles, which served as an authoritative statement of belief, designed to infuse uniformity, unity, and agreement into the teachings of the national Church.18 Its first article asked bishops to look to the Scriptures, and to take and interpret all the same things [from them] according to the selfsame sentence and interpretation, in order to standardize religious education.19 A copy of The Ten Articles was given to all preachers in England, who

14 15

Wabuda, Latimer. Latimer, 16; Rosemary ODay, Hugh Latimer: Prophet of the Kingdom, Historical Research 65(1992): 258 78, p. 259. 16 Latimer, 16 17. 17 Bernard, 325. 18 Christopher Haigh, English Reformations: Religion, Politics, and Society under the Tudors (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 128 - 29. 19 The Ten Articles, 1536, in David Cressy and Lori Anne Ferrell, eds, Religion and Society in Early Modern England: A Sourcebook (London and New York: Routledge, 1996), pp. 17 24, 18.

History 105 Essay were to read each article out to their congregation in full without comment.20 It was hoped that by having an official document which outlined the teachings of the new faith that corruption and the preaching of doctrinal error could be avoided. With The Ten Articles, all Britons were to be united under one Church of England, led by clergy who preached the proper and true religion. According to the Articles, religious reform could be achieved if Englands bishops and preachers instructed laity to believe all those things to be true, which be comprehended in the whole body and carion of the Bible.21 Scriptural accuracy was of the utmost importance, as was the teaching of the word of God. The Articles stated that penance should be taught as a necessary sacrament, for it was the express precept and commandment of God.22 They simultaneously denounced the selling of indulgences because, according to Scripture, only mercy and grace of the Father could procure ones salvation.23 Bishops and preachers were instructed to teach their congregations that loving and praising God was the only way to save oneself. The Ten Articles also encouraged clergymen to instruct their laity that images be representers of virtue and good example, and that they should stand in the churches, and none otherwise be esteemed.24 Without proper education, it was feared that the idolatry of the Catholic Church might resurfacea practice which God forbid in his Scriptures.25 By command of The Ten Articles, all bishops and preachers [were to] instruct and teach [English] people a reformed and refined version of Christianity, which emphasized the centrality and importance of God and Christ.26 They were also to teach that remission of sin

20 21

Haigh, 129. Ten Articles, 18. 22 Ten Articles, 20. 23 Ten Articles, 20; D.G. Newcombe, Henry VIII and the English Reformation (New York and London: Routledge, 1995), 17. 24 Ten Articles, 21. 25 Ten Articles, 21. 26 Ten Articles, 18; Haigh, 129.

History 105 Essay and salvation cannot be obtained but of God only by the mediation of Our Saviour Christ.27 The Catholic practice of praising the saints was condemned and, in keeping with Latimers views, Christ was to be reinstated through Church teachings as the only true mediator between humanity and God. The Articles also denounced purgatory as the invention of the pope, stating that the name thereof, and kind of pains there, also be to us uncertain by scripture.28 The teaching of purgatory and other like abuses threatened the legitimacy of the new Church of England, and would have to be eradicated in order for true religion to reign.29 The Ten Articles outlined, in detail, a number of steps English clergymen were to take in order to cement the religious supremacy of Henry by advancing ecclesiastical reinvention and education. 1536 was an important year for the advancement of religious reformation in England, as Hugh Latimers Convocation sermon and The Ten Articles both sought to restructure, rectify, and legitimatize the Church of England under the rule of Henry VIII. In his sermon, Latimer denounced the abuses of the Catholic Church, calling for clergymen to take a stand against corruption and the teaching of false doctrine by teaching the word of God directly from Scripture. The Ten Articles furthered this call-to-action, officially sanctioning doctrine for the new Church regime. They emphasized the importance of the word of God and the pedagogical role of priests and bishops in teaching their congregations the new ways of the Church. If Henry and his religion were to appear legitimate, ecclesiastical unification and reform were necessary. The publication of The Ten Articles and Hugh Latimers sermon provided a basis for Henry to legitimize his reign as Supreme Head of the Church of England, and to solidify the teachings of the true religion of the new English Church.

27 28

Ten Articles, 22. Wooding, 189; Ten Articles, 23. 29 Ten Articles, 24.

History 105 Essay Bibliography Bernard, G.W. The Making of Religious Policy, 1533 1546: Henry VIII and the Search for the Middle Way. The Historical Journal 41(2): 321 349. Bucholz, Robert and Newton Key. Early Modern England, 1485 1714: A Narrative History. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2009. Haigh, Christopher. English Reformations: Religion, Politics, and Society under the Tudors. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Latimer, Hugh. Hugh Latimer, Convocation sermon, 1536. In David Cressy and Lori Anne Ferrell, eds. Religion and Society in Early Modern England: A Sourcebook. London and New York: Routledge, 1996. pp. 17 - 24 Newcombe, D.G. Henry VIII and the English Reformation. New York and London: Routledge, 1995. ODay, Rosemary. Hugh Latimer: Prophet of the Kingdom. Historical Research 65(1992): 258 78. Rex, Richard. Henry VIII and the English Reformation. London: MacMillan Press, 1993. The Ten Articles, 1536. In David Cressy and Lori Anne Ferrell, eds. Religion and Society in Early Modern England: A Sourcebook. London and New York: Routledge, 1996. pp. 17 24. Wabuda, Susan. Latimer, Hugh (c.1485 1555). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Sept. 2004). http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/16100 (accessed 14 October 2009). Wooding, Lucy. Henry VIII. New York: Routledge, 2009.