The British Church in the 14th Century In the summer of 1381 a large group of peasants led by Wat Tyler stormed London. These peasants, unwilling to pay another poll tax to pay for an unpopular war against France and discontent with unfair labor wages, freed prisoners from London prisons, killed merchants, and razed the home of John of Gaunt, considered the creator of the poll tax. Perhaps more important, however, was the rebels attack on the Temple, a symbol of the British Church’s wealth and power. The rebels burned the charters, legal records of the Church’s vast land-holdings, stored within the Temple. This act - a religious building being targeted of in rebellion against a mismanaged, abusive government - shows an acknowledgement by the peasantry of the British Church’s political power. The Church’s involvement in politics, though making it more central in a person’s life, also left it more vulnerable to corruption and subsequent criticism. The Church in Britain was a medieval “cradle to grave” institution. People were born Christian, received Baptism shortly after, married under a Christian auspices, and were given their Christian last rites shortly before they died. This type of existence is talked of in literature of the time, such as in Langland’s Piers the Ploughman. During a chapter entitled “The Teaching of the Holy Church,” Langland asks for the name of a woman who has quoted “such wise words of Holy Scripture“ (Langland, p. 34): “‘I am the Holy Church,’ She replied, ‘You should recognize me, for I received you when you were a child and first taught you the Faith. You came to me with godparents, who pledged you to love and obey me for all your life.’” (Langland, p. 34) This kind of comment demons... ... middle of paper ... ...rust in your wealth ... not to be bolder before you break the Ten Commandments. And especially you men in authority ... no doubt you are though wise, and possess enough of the world’s wealth to buy yourselves pardon and papal Bulls - but on that dreadful day when the dead shall rise and all men shall come before Christ to render up their accounts, then the sentence shall state openly how you led your lives, how well you kept God’s laws, and everything you have practiced day by day.” (Langland, p. 97) The 14th Century put a great strain on British society, especially the Church. In a time when salvation was needed, the Church failed to provide it, but remained a wealthy landowner and a strong political player. The people’s reaction was heard loudly near the end of that century and would be heard even louder in the coming religious changes that loomed ahead.
The Anglican Church and the English government were closely related to each other; the king not only ruled the country, but was the head of the church as well. Therefore, disobeying the church meant that people also acted against the king[i]. Like governmental organization, the Church of England was based on a hierarchal structure. It favored powerful bishops, ornate services and liturgies, and allowed people to personally observe the religion. During King Charles I’s reign, royal and elite citizens of England largely composed the Church of England[ii]. These close connections between the church and the state allowed for much corruption to take place[iii].
In the 1790s, certain religions were being revived in London. Methodism and the Church of England were reaching out more to the citizens and affecting more lives. Methodism was thought to be an integral part in the social evolution of the country. It had a stabilizing effect for those involved with the church, as well as a model for the political development of the working-class people. The church believed in equal political, economic, and social rights for all people and it also had a strict, structural organization, which encouraged stability amongst its members. (1)
In The Voices of Morebath: Reformation and Rebellion in an English Village, renowned scholar Eamonn Duffy investigates the English Reformation. Duffy pears through the eyes of the priest of a small, remote village in Southwestern England. Using Sir Christopher Trichay’s records of the parish, Duffy illustrates an image of Reformation opposite of what is predominantly assumed. Duffy argues the transformation that took place between 1530 and 1570, through the transition of four monarchs, was much more gradual that many interpret. Even though state mandate religious change affected the community of Morebath, the change did not ensue the violence that is often construed with the Reformation. Sir Christopher Trichay’s leadership and his portrayal of community life, the development and removal of St. Sidwell, and the participation in the church through stores develop Duffy’s argument of appeasement rather than violence during the English Reformation.
With any new monarch’s ascension to the throne, there comes with it changes in the policies of the country. From Elizabeth’s new council, to Henry’s documented polices and even to William the Silent’s inaction in response to threats were all policies that needed to be worked out by the new rulers. This group of rulers all had something in common; they chose to let their people make their religious preference solely on their beliefs but they all differed in their ways of letting this come about. This was monumental for the time period in which they lived, but it was something that needed to be done to progress national unity.
... The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha Revised Standard Version.(1977). New York: Oxford University Press, 1977. Nyberg, Nancy.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with Pastor of 1st Congregational Church of Dundee. Poole, W. Michael, D.Min., Th.D.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with pastor of Calvary Church of God. Strong, James.(1996). The New STRONG'S Complete Dictionary of Bible Words. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. Tierney, Michael J.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with Priest from Saint Margaret Mary Catholic Parish. Unger, Merrill F.(1967). Unger's Bible handbook. Chicago: Moody Press. Weizsacker, H.I(1958). The Apostolic Age. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications. White, R.E.O.(1960). The Biblical Doctrine of Initiation: A Theology of Baptism and Evangelism. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
In the early 16th century, Thomas More wrote a novel about a fictional society in which humanist ideas were dominant. During this time, European noble power was anything but a Humanist utopia. Europe was not only a mess, but a genocidal mess. Between the reigns of the Tudor Dynasty, and eventually under power of Queen Mary I, English citizens lived in constant fear of their religious rights and their lives. On top of the religious civil wars, the Catholic Church and other clergymen were progressively straying from ‘purity ideas’.
The English Civil war was partially a religious conflict, which brought Church and State against Parliament. Under the reign of James I, England saw the rise in Protestants dissenters. Groups like Barrowists, Puritans, Fifth Monarchists, Quakers, and many more demanded for more religious reform. They felt that the Church of England’s liturgy was too Catholic for a Protestant church. James VI and I accepted the more moderated Puritans and other dissenters, and he was able to keep his kingdom in peace. However, his son Charles I did not believe that kings were answerable to Parliament, but to God. In fact, he ruled without Parliament for many years. He trusted the running of the Church of England to William Laud, who believed that the Church had already gone through too many reforms. Laud went wrong when he tried to make church services more about doctrine and sacraments, and sought to make freewill the official doctrine of the Church. He did not stop there. He ordered that alters should be re-sited from the central places in churches to the east end of churches across the country. This essay will discuss Laud’s Arminian doctrines and his misjudgement of England’s religious mood, which led to his downfall and to the civil war.
Schüssler-Fiorenza, Elizabeth. In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins. New York: Crossroad, 1983.
Ford, J., John Mirk's Festial: Orthodoxy, Lollardy, and the Common People in Fourteenth-Century England (DS Brewer, 2006).
In this essay I will identify the issues which brought about this papal encyclical in 1891, specifically the social conditions of people, resulting from industrialisation and the church’s Christological role in declaring human dignity in terms of God’s plan for mankind. I will set out the historical position in Britain in this late Victorian era within the context of European radical political upheaval, as part of the need for reform and a response from the Church. These issues will be compared with the encyclical one hundred years later, to analyse the development of policy in1891 and 1991 in terms of the church’s teaching, within the context of the wider social and political movements of the late twentieth century. I will determine that whilst John Paul II used the centenary in 1991 to publish Centesimus Annus and see it as a ‘re-wording’ of the original, it ultimately failed to take forward the radical change envisaged in Rerum Novarum, with limited exceptions.
Though there was no driving force like Luther, Zwingli or Calvin during the English Reformation, it succeeded because certain people strived for political power and not exactly for religious freedom. People like Queen Elizabeth I and Henry VIII brought the Reformation in England much success, however their reasons were based on self-gain and desire for political power.
The Roman Catholic Church had complete influence over the lives of everyone in medieval society, including their beliefs and values. The Church’s fame in power and wealth had provided them with the ability to make their own laws and follow their own social hierarchy. With strong political strength in hand, the Church could even determine holidays and festivals. It gained significant force in the arts, education, religion, politics as well as their capability to alter the feudal structure through their wealth and power. The Church was organised into a hierarchical system that sustained the Church’s stability and control over the people and lower clergy, by organising them into different groups.
A Century of Theological and Religious Studies in Britain, 1902–2007 by Ernest Nicholson 2004 pages 125–126
“Today I appeal to the whole Church community to be willing to foster feminine participation in every way in its internal life. This is certainly not a new commitment, since it is inspired by the example of Christ himself….nevertheless, he also involved women in the cause of his kingdom; indeed he wanted them to be the first witnesses and heralds of his resurrection. In fact, there are many women who have distinguished themselves in the Church’s history by their holiness and hardworking ingenuity.”
Burns, Julia. "Notes MLA 6318". Church and State in Early Modern England. Fall 2013. Dr. D. David.