Hello and Welcome to Western SIEV Episode two hundred and ninety two, Bloody Mary.
On November twenty at fifteen fifty four, Reginald Pole, the official Papal
legate, came ashore at Dover. It had been twenty three years since he
fled England Parliament. Just two days later, on November twenty second, officially
reversed the bill of attainder that was still technically hanging over his head. In
October, the Papacy and Queen Mary had resolved the final issue holding back his
return ecclesiastical property. Agreed that Paul would have the authority to grant dispensation to
those who had purchased former monastic lands, while Mary, for her part,
promised to see as much of it returned as possible. Six days later,
orders went out for hymns of praise to be sung in every parish in England.
The Queen was pregnant. Not really, but they thought so at the
time. Shortly thereafter, Pole addressed Parliament. His speech was filled with high
flying rhetoric. England was a chosen nation, the first kingdom freely to accept
the faith of Christ as a gift from the papacy. Paul's emphasis on the
quote manifold benefits that this Rome hath received from the Apostolic sea, and quote
was the antithesis to the antagonistic Anglo Papal history devised by William Tyndale and others
and funneled into the ear of Henry the eighth. Paul rehearsed the disasters,
quote, the tumults, the effusion and blood end quote afflicting Germany since its
departure from Roman obedience, as well as violence against the conscience raging in England
since all good laws gave way to quote the lust and carnal affection of one
man end quotes. And of course we're talking about Henry the eighth. So
now everything's getting pinned on Henry eight. That's sort of the plan. He's
going to be the scapegoat. Still, when all seemed lost and hopeless,
the light of true religion burned in a few hearts, least so thundered Pole
Mary. Quote a virgin, helpless, naked and unarmed end quote, secured
victory over tyrants and now happily joined to a prince of like religion. Paul
had high hopes for Philip. Charles the Fifth was like David, he said,
who began work on the temple, appeasing controversies in religion. His son,
therefore was the Solomon who would bring it to completion. Precisely, for
those keeping track of score at home, what evangelicals said about Henry and Edward,
Catholics and Protestants, I guess habituated and lived within the same world a
biblical metaphor. At the close of his speech, Poll called on Parliament to
remove any remaining impediment standing in the way of reunion with Rome. He finished
his speech with a flourish quote, I come not to destroy, but to
build. I come to reconcile, not to condemn. I come not to
compel, but to call again end quote. On November the twenty ninth,
representatives of the Lords and Commons jointly prepared a petition to the Crown asking that
quote, this realm and dominions might be again reunited with the Church of Rome
by the means of Lord Cardinal Pole end quote. The following day, in
a moving ceremony, Pole absolved the realm from the sin of schism and reconciled
England with Rome. It was November thirtieth, the Feast of Saint Andrew.
In a world of perfect Symbolis. The event might have fallen elsewhere. Saint
Andrew was, of course Scotland, not England's patron, but in Scotland too,
Protestantism was on the defense of in fifteen fifty four, its English support
withered since the death of Edward the sixth A few months later, the Earl
of Aaron was replaced as regent by the Catholic Mary of Geese, French born
widow of James the fifth and mother to the young Mary, Queen of Scots,
as we know now safely in France and betrothed to the Dauphin. There
was cause for Catholic rejoicing across Britain. Yet Valois, France, the dominant
power in Scotland, was the sworn enemy to Habsburg, Spain now the dynastic
partner to England. A bill repealing no fewer than nineteen Acts of Henry the
eighth and nullifying royal supremacy was introduced into Parliament in late December and passed on
the third of January. Unusually, it contained the text of a parliamentary supplication
requesting that all monastic lands might remain in lay hands quote clear from all dangers
and censures of the church end quote, as well as Pole's consequent dispensation,
which thereby gave the status of the statute law. This was a clear indication
that there was ongoing nervousness throughout England around the church land question, and it
was a concession that poll very grudgingly accepted. But with this question settled,
the lords who blocked the revival of medieval heresy legislation earlier in the year now
cheerfully voted it through. They got to keep their lands, That's what they
cared about. Reconciliation with Rome was a return, but also with departure,
as it transpired. The first major Saints Day following the passage the legislation was
the twenty fifth of January, the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul.
It was a fitting focus for public thanksgiving, with processions and bonfires. No
one could miss the symbolic point of the celebrations where his Lee put it quote
to give God laud and praise for the conversion of the Realm to the Catholic
faith, the conversion of Saint Paul being simply perfect for the occasion. The
Grayfriars would observe similarly quote the joy of the people that were converted, likewise
as Saint Paul was converted in quote. There was a real, almost evangelical
fervor to the re romanizing of English Catholicism in every way that that's ironic conversion
applied though conscious individual commitment rather than just going with the flow. This was
the ideal of the bishop's Bonner, back in London, now in the lead
again, was eager to convert this into reality. So on February nineteen,
fifteen fifty five, he ordered all parishioners in the forthcoming Lent to be individually
absolved in confession of the sins of schism and heresy. He empowered the parochial
clies ergy, once they themselves were reconciled, to act as his deputies for
this. It was more than merely formal exercise. Bonner anticipated that ordinary curates
might not be able to quote satisfy the minds and to appease the consciousness of
some of the parishioners end quote, and so he instructed his archdeacons to produce
lists of the best learned priests in each area. Those with troubled consciences could
choose an expert spiritual guide to have their doubts forever resolved. Instructions printed that
lent for the use of confessors in the Diocese of York directed that before reconciling
penitents, they needed to be examined on their faith in the real presence of
Christ, and on whether or not they believed that the Holy Father of the
Pope was the real head of a universal and Catholic Church, and so across
England in fifty five ordinary men women were required to identify, and for many
of them actually to become something they'd never been before through Roman Catholics. To
affirm spiritual supremacy of the Pope in fifteen fifty five was a different matter from
doing so in fifteen fifteen. It was another of the regular conjunctions in the
English Reformation. Now policy swerves and served not so much to consume use people,
but to educate them, and, within limits, at least in theory,
to empower them. As with Henry the Eighth's mass oath swearing twenty years
before, the effects were equivocal. Many people were confirmed in their acknowledge allegiance
to the religious political objectives of the authorities. Others just simply internalized their doubts
and said and did outwardly as they were told. A smaller group was encouraged
and energized and conscientious opposition. A little later would be told by Ralph Allerton,
Landed Magnate in a suspect he was interrogating that quote, this is I
think very accurate. There are in England three religions. The first was that
which you hold Roman Catholicism, The second is clean contrary to the same,
that is, of course, the evangelical faith, and the third ist inuter
being indifferent, that is to say, observing all things that are commanded outwardly
as though they were your part, his heart being set wholly against the same
end. Quote. My guess is most people in England fell into that third
category. Now the first burn under bloody Mary. Yes, I suppose it's
a bit of a misnomer, was that of John Rodgers on February the fourth,
fifteen fifty five. Rogers was Tyndale's one time collaborator on the English Bible.
He was also a well known London preacher. Gardner hoped that Rogers would
reac can't and to be fair to Rogers, he actually was a Catholic in
a way but Rogers asserted that while he was Catholic, he rejected the authority
of the Pope. He would never accept reunion with Rome. Gardner believed that
Rogers wouldn't burn because he would ultimately recan to the last moment. He was
wrong. Rogers went to the state courageously, amid shows of support from the
crowd. Allegedly, several members of said crowd gathers his ashes afterwards as a
momento. He was the first martyr under Bloody Mary. Advisers immediately told both
Mary and Philip that they needed to refrain from further public executions. It was
bad for morale and all it was doing was encouraging further resistance. They didn't
listen. Another three public executions followed within a week. A London rector was
burned at Coventry on the eighth of February. Another died at Suffolk. A
third, John Hooper, burned at Gloucester. His death was particularly gruesome.
The wood was still green and took an eternity to catch All four men had
been prominent members of Edward's court. The hope in Mary's court had been that
recantation would follow recantation. Parliament had after all appeared perfectly willing to accept reunion
with the papacy. Why shouldn't everyone just follow the law? Well they didn't.
In fact, what happened was the exact opposite of what Mary and her
supporters had hoped. Burning after burning only fueled the fires upon intended of resistance.
There was a domino effect, sure, but the dominoes were falling the
wrong way. The eighteen months at Edward's death had given everyone time to think.
The late sixteenth century was a period of absolutes, and in that context,
Martyr dumm looked downright beneficial. John Hooper wrote in one of his last
life from prison quote, now is the time of trial, to see whether
we fear more God or man end quote. In the weeks precedings execution,
another man, Laurence Saunders, was imprisoned alongside the leading preacher and Saint Paul's
lecturer, John Cartmaker, was arrested in November fifteen fifty four. While attempting
to flee, Cardmaker discovered he feared man more than God and was waiting to
subscribe articles of recantation when Saunders managed to pull him back. Matyrdom was a
solitary vocation, but it was usually anticipated and embraced with the advice and example
of others. It was also a spectacle of performance. The symbolism of judicial
burning was of a terrible yet just punishment for the worst imaginable crimes. The
flames consumed a body that had no claim to rise in glory on the last
day, mimicked the hell fire that was an inexorable fate for the unrepentant heretics
soul. But the authorities could never control entirely how the meaning of the event
would be perceived and understood, and the condemned thought hard about ways to make
the show their own. At his burning outside Coventry, Saunders appeared quote in
an old gown and a shirt barefooted end quote, and as he was led
to the stake, he fell to the ground multiple times, flat, prostrate,
and prayed. All Christians were called to the imitation of Christ, but
execution was an opportunity to invoke comparisons with the passion in particularly intense and memorable
ways. When he reached the stake, Saunders took it in his arms,
kissed it, and said, quote, welcome the Cross of Christ. End
quote. Soon lay victims started going to the pyre for their convictions as well.
The very first might have been Thomas Tompkins, a weaver. According to
legend, as he was trying to elicit a confession, Bishop Bonner held Tompkins's
hand over an open flame, as if to ram home the implications of continuing
down this path didn't matter. Tompkins wouldn't confess now. Interestingly, what side
you were on was now also quickly becoming a matter of personal grooming. To
distance themselves from the clean shaven papists, evangelicals grew long beards. According to
some, this was also a show of masculinity to differentiate evangelical preachers who could
have wives, from the Catholic priests who could not. Around the same time
as Tompkins, another bearded layman went to the stake at Cardiff Roland's White was
an illiterate fisherman about sixty years old. He had memorized scripture from the readings
of his son, and who, on Mary's ascension, placed himself at the
head of an evangelicalized convocal. The background was unusual, but his case exhibited
several features that characterized the executions throughout that first spring of Mary's reign and beyond.
There was a vigorous and prolonged effort to induce him to recant. The
local bishop employed threatening words and promises during a year of imprisonment, which was
a long time for the early modern period, first in Cardiff Castle and then
later at the bishop's house. White's commitment to a cause he first espoused in
late Middle Age was fervent and uncompromising. When the bishop caused a mass to
be said for his conversion, White appeared at the moment of the elevation to
announce quote, I bow not to this idol end quote. The burning was
a contested event. A priest preached in favor of the real present and the
pope, while White shouted for the crowd to give no credence to this quote
unquote false prophet. The crowd itself was divided. White's friends grasped his hand
at the stake for comfort, but others called out set him to fire.
Fourteen heretics died at the stake, half of them in Essex before Easter of
fifteen fifty five. They included another bishop burned in the thirtieth of March.
On Easter Sunday itself, the fourteenth of April, a scandalous event took place
then a church nearby Westminster Abbey. During the distribution of communion, a man
came into church and repeatedly stabbed the priest, whose name was John Cheatham,
with a wood knife. Cheatham was badly injured and blood was splashed under the
consecrated hosts. The assailant, a man by the name of William Flower,
was a former monk of Eli, who later admitted his actions had been wrong
and, as he claimed, unpremeditated. Yet coming into church and quote they're
seeing the people falling before a most shameful and detestable idol and quote zeal for
God's honor simply overcame him. It was a somewhat uniquely shocking case, but
the behavior wasn't unique at all. Mary's officers, contrary to public belief,
weren't rushing around to arrest anyone for evangelical beliefs. Those who arrested were people
who were publicly flaunting the laws. Many were arrested for public demonstrations during the
mass itself. Heretics were punished for their belief that much is true, but
rarely were those punished minding their own business. Some of those punished for heresy
weren't heretics at all. They were made so after the fact. John Tully,
a properly convicted felon, was hanged on April the twenty six His crime
had nothing to do with religion. It was robbing a Spaniard. But at
his execution and his death was choreographed as a religious Martyrdom Tulee before his execution
read prepared prayers from the Edwardian Prayer Book three hundred in the crowd responded in
unison quote Amen, amen, amen end quote. Linking the patriotic anti Spanish
clause with the godly anti Popish one was a conscious and very effective strategy for
the evangelicals. Published in fifteen fifty five, a Warning for England reported in
very graphic terms alleged Spanish atrocities in the Kingdom of Naples. These, according
to that tract, would soon be visited on England, and what was almost
worse, extortionate levels of taxation. It pressed hard on a raw nerve quote.
No man is so ignorant, but he knoweth right well. The desire
of the bishops is to have the abbey lands restored end quote. And that,
oh, now, that was the sore spot for England, well and
good to swear allegiance to the Pope, but any mention of having to give
mag the monastic lands that would turn the lords against you pretty quickly. On
the thirteenth of May, about two weeks after false rumors of a birth of
a royal sun prompted premature celebrations, the Venetian ambassador reported the confiscation in London
of a thousand copies of a dialogue quote full of seditious and scandalous things against
their Majesty's persons end quote. Later that month there was a serious outbreak of
violence near the court, a crowd of five hundred armed Englishmen confronting Spaniards,
with five or six killed. Another incident took place on Corpus Christie Day,
the thirteenth of June, with a mob assembling outside the church where the Spanish
quote, including the most noble and illustrious of that nation and quote, were
attending Mass and preparing to go on procession. Only with difficulty were these men
persuaded to disperse. Most likely this refers to the Corpus Christi procession which Philip's
Spanish Dominican chaplain organized that year in an attempt to restart the ancient custom across
the nation. As you can tell, it didn't work. In the meantime,
the anti Spanish cause had gained a surprising new recruit. The death of
Julius the third, the Pope on the twenty third of March was followed by
the brief pontificate of Marcellus the Second, who then followed him to the grave
pretty quickly thereafter on the first of May. His successor, elected on the
twenty third of that same month, was the zealous inquisitor Cardinal gian Pietro Caraffa.
It was a huge blow for Reginald Pohl, whose orthodoxy Karafa was known
to mistrust. Also for Philip and Mary, Kafa was a patriotic Neapolitan who
might well have shared some of the perspectives from that very same tract, the
warning for England about the hatred they should feel towards the Spanish rule over Naples,
his very homeland. Nonetheless, the new pope wrote swiftly to assure Philip
and Mary of paternal goodwill, and Pole's letter of congratulation hailed their shared interest
in the reform of the Church. But as we're going to see in this
episode, and especially in the next episode. This new pope is going to
be anything but a friend to Philip and Mary. Reform and repression tended to
go in tandem during the late sixteenth century. The same day as the revived
Corpus Christie procession, the government published a new list of banned books for the
first time, including many authors outside England, specifically one John Knox of Scotland.
Things took a dark turn in the late summer fifteen fifty five. The
Queen had come to terms with the reality that she was not pregnant. At
the same time, her husband, Philip the Second, departed for the Netherlands.
More on that front. Very soon, evidently, Queen Mary decided to
drown her sorrows with fire. Between the thirtieth of May and the end of
September that year, fifty one English people died at the stake. That is,
more, by the way, than were burned for heresy between Henry the
Eighth's break with Rome in fifteen thirty five than the present year. So Mary
burned more people in three months than Henry or Edward had in twenty years.
What can I say? Sometimes nicknames are deserved. The drive against Heresy was
a real team effort. Some convictions were the direct product of actions by the
Privy Council, others from bishops, and still others from aggressive lay magistrates.
Some of the latter were ardent Catholics, but others were political opportunists. These
were men with scores to settle, who saw opportunities and then they took them.
Few of these victims went to their deaths quietly. Many started wearing long
white robes. True, these did catch fire more quickly, but they also
brought to the mind innocence and martyrdom. The burnings were the final stage of
illegal preceding. That's true, but they were also brutal in somewhat unruly affairs,
with the mob often jeering in or shouting encouragement toward the victim in equal
measure. The most important burning of fifteen fifty five took place on the sixteenth
of October, when two former bishops, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, went
together to the stake. They were finally put on trial at the end of
September before a trio of Catholic bishops. The accused maintained a defiant stand,
though not without moments of unintentional comedy. Ridley who removed his hat upon entering
the court, insisted on replacing it when the pope's name was mentioned, so
literally whenever he would put his hat back on. When the commissioners demanded respectful
treatment as representatives of the Cardinal Legate, Ridley knelt to show his reverence for
Pole, for his royal blood, but then sprang up again to demonstrate his
lack of esteem for Poul as the agent of usurping power. I don't know
whether or not he was putting on his hat over and over again as he
did that. Latimer went on to interrupt the opening oration to challenge the definition
of the Catholic Church, saying, quote, Christ gave knowledge that the disciples
should have persecution and trouble. How think you, then, my lords?
It is most like that the See of Rome, which hath been a continual
persecutor, is rather the Church or a small flock which has been continually persecuted
of it, even unto death. End quote. Once more, it's easy
to see the evangelical sense of rediscovered purpose, almost perhaps a sense of relief
at knowing that they were again going through the validation process supplied by suffering and
oppression. Later on, Latimer would say, be of good comfort, Master
Ridley can play the man. We shall this day light such a candle,
by God's grace in England, I trust shall never be put out. He
said that, accordingly as the pire was lit beneath the two of them.
These words have come to us down the centuries. The question is, of
course, did he actually say them. They're an echo of a heavenly voice
heard in the Roman Arena by a second century martyrs, Saint Polycarp, as
recorded by the early Church historian Eucubus. The words appear in the second edition
of Fox's Acts and Monuments, but not in the first, which came out
seven years earlier, and without any evidence of new eyewitnesses being consulted. Whether
he said them or not. Of course, Latimer undoubtedly saw himself in Ridley
as links in a chain of true disciples of Christ persecuted by the ungodly down
the Ages. From his prison, Thomas Cranmer watched his friends go to their
fate, appointing an echo of Thomas Moore's witnessing the last journey of his friends
just twenty years before Cranmer's own trial opened on the twelfth of September, and
because Unlike Ridley and Latimer, he was a bishop and properly consecrated and installed
into Roman rits. It was a much more elaborate and formal affair. Earlier
disputations covered Cranmer's favorite ground, eucharistic doctrine. But now the questioning, which
was relentlessly pursued by the Catholic bishops, focused on the actions of Cranmer's own
career, and of course, on the concept of royal supremacy to which he
had faithfully hitched his wagon. At one point, Cranmer just walked straight into
a trap. Quote Was it ever so? In Christ's Church? One of
the Catholic bishops demanded, in response to Cranmer's own assertion that every king was
rightfully supreme head in his own domains. It was so, Cranmer responded,
But then what pressed the Catholic bishop of wicked kings? What about Nero?
The Roman Emperor? He was, assuredly the world's mightiest ruler in the years
following Christ's resurrection, was also a byword for tyranny and persecution. Reluctantly,
Cranmer had to concede the point that he had walked into that Nero no less
than Henry the eighth had been the supreme head of christ Church on Earth,
which is ridiculous conviction. Though it didn't matter. That was a foregone conclusion.
A succession of enemies from Cranmer's past, like the ghost of Christmas Past,
just popped up and came in to give evidence that the archbishop was a
promoter of heretics and an author of heretical works. Cranmer himself insisted that he
only acted quote to improve the corrupt ways of the Church, perhaps an echo
of his fifteen thirty three consecration oath to bring about changes for the Church and
to reform it. Yeah, it didn't really matter because Pope Paul four had
a mandate for Cranmer's trial, including a formal and impractical required for him to
appear personally in Rome within eighty days to answer charges against him. At the
moment, all this ridiculous order did was served as a stay of execution.
For now Cranmer was returned a condemned man to his cell. Now, while
all this was going on, Bishop Bonner formalized the treatment that he thought would
cure England of his heresy, like a teacher assigning reading to reluctant students.
He forced all London clergy to read a new book he had written on the
subject of doctrine, and preach chapter one of the same to their parishioners.
Each and every Sunday was to be religion a MacDonald's style. The book was
issued along with thirteen homilies compiled by Bonner's Chaplains and first published in July.
The idea of an officially approved set of sermons for ordinary clergy to work systematically
through was a blatant stealing of the evangelicals mo and indeed actually two of the
homilies, one on Charity and one of the Misery of all mankind, were
actually just recycled with very light revisions from Cranmer's own fifteen forty seven collection.
The main text had also a familiar feel. It was modeled closely on an
earlier necessary doctrine, the King's Book of fifteen forty three. In both title
and contents, the book was a marker of stability and continuity, a nod
of acknowledgment to conservatives who Lake Bonner himself had wrote out at Wardian years in
loyalty to the religious settlement of Henry the Eighth, Once more, it seemed
like people were willing to turn back the clock. But just to fifteen forty
seven, even Bonner acknowledged how hard doing this was going to be. He
wrote how the Catholic religion had been quote accounted and taken for superstition end quote.
So for the moment, he was really focusing on the key role of
the church in helping people achieve salvation. He focused on a couple of key
points, the nice and Creed, the Ten Commandments, seven Deadly sins,
sacraments, Lord's prayer, and the Hail Mary. These he believed were the
hallmarks of a proper Catholic faith. He tried to shy away from words he
felt might provoke disquiet. Words like purgatory and certainly the word pope were decidedly
absent from this book. He knew both were non starters, at least at
the moment. When he talked about authority, Bonner was always careful to use
the term church, not pope. How he was going to get around the
idea that the pope, of course was the undisputed head of the Roman Catholic
Church. In the long run, I have no idea, because he's never
going to get there. Now, for his part, he wanted to be
more aggressive. He called a clerical Assembly at Westminster in November fifteen fifty five.
His notion was for a centralized, top down approach to church reformation.
The first hurdle was clerical income. There wasn't Eddie Mary declared that the traditional
tithe the tenth, would be returned to the church. Pull argued that this
money would come essentially from the church taxing itself, but Parliament was less convinced.
Many in the body balked at the notion of reinstating secular payments to the
church. In the end, when a bill was presented, it passed,
but not without some obvious discomfort. Not every bill in Parliament went Mary's way
either. In December, a bill to confiscate the property of exiles who refused
to turn to England was beaten back. Some who voted it down definitely sympathize
with the exiles, but most were simply just nervous about the precedent it would
set in terms of private property rights. On November the twelfth, fifteen fifty
five, Stephen Gardiner passed away at his home. More than anything, he
had been a symbol of the early English Reformation, and would be tied to
Henry the Eighth until his end and beyond. Many rejoiced at his passing,
seeing it as divine sign that the conservative cause of which he was a part
was doomed. In reality, of course, he was just an old man
who had died of natural causes. By the tenth of February fifteen fifty six,
the Synod which had been called for the reformation of the Church had completed
its business and produced a set of decrees for the Reformation of England, a
reminder that in the sixteenth century, of course, the word was not the
exclusive property of Rome's enemies. The tone was set by its first decree.
Henceforth, throughout the realm, the feast of Saint Andrew was to be kept
as a day of solemn commemoration, with a procession and a sermon to give
thanks for quote the return of this kingdom and the unity of the Church end
quote. The relationship with Rome was now a thread that needed to be interwoven
into the fabric of English parish life. We're going to just literally put it
into the calendar. Other decrees held up a mirror to the leaders of the
church. Prelates were to lived soberly, chastely, and piously. They weren't
to go for pomp or pride. They were to dress simply. They were
to keep no retinue. Their diet was to be basic. The great abuse
of bishops and head of colleges failing to reside in their places of duty,
that was over absenteeism among lower clergy to was condemned, along with the pluralism
that gave rise to it. By pluralism, what I mean is a priest
owning more than one benefice that he never visits, just to draw the income
from it. That, as you may recall, was one of the major
criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church throughout the early Reformation, and now the Roman
Catholic Church, you know, only about fifty years later, was going to
do something about it. All clergy with cure of souls, including bishops,
were required to provide sermons to the people. Pastoral office. It was noted,
quote chiefly consists in preaching of the divine word end quote. This is
an assessment of which evangelicals could scarcely have disputed. The reform of the clergy
was crucial to the reconciliation plan. Everyone knew what a mess the clergy had
been in before the Reformation. Better clergy had been one of the key benefits.
Actually, with the schism from Rome, Paul wanted to be sure it
didn't become an ext use for it to happen again. From now on,
all bishops were required to vet their clergy, who had to swear an oath
that they did not acquire their benefices via simony. Most significantly, for the
first time, the church would establish a seminary to educate the sons of poor
families and train future priests. It was the beginning of a solution to a
centrallies old problem. Later on, the Council of Trent would likewise follow in
England's footsteps. There were other forms that were discussed but were never completed.
One was the topic of a vernacular Bible. That issue was simply too divisive.
This was all a serious effort at reform, not merely a reaction to
Protestant complaints. One of the critiques of Poll throughout the centuries has been his
rejection of an offer by Ignatious Loyola to send some newly trained Jesuits to help
with the reform process. But Poll had plans for his own seminary, and
so he rejected the offer. Pull a leading light of early sessions of the
Council of Trent, was scarcely insulated from the current of trends of reform which
were wafting through the wider Catholic Church in the fifteen fifties. He was,
actually, unlike numerous other Catholics, in no way an opponent of the Jesuits.
In fact, he wrote a supportive lever of Condolas on Ignatius's death in
July of fifteen fifty six, and he was in fact an active supporter of
other reformed religious movements. By the summer of fifteen fifty five, the Dominican
Order was back in England, established at Smithfield. There were a few English
brothers, but most of these Dominicans were for the moment Spanish. The appearance
of monks and friars clad once more in their distinctive habits, was one of
them the most dramatic symbols of the repudiation of Henry's, as well as of
course Edward's works of reformation. It was one of the most visible pointers to
the limit of restoration. There was little to no prospect of hundreds of dissolved
religious houses simply springing back to life, and a line under the past was
drawn by Rome itself. In Rome, in the June of fifteen fifty five,
Pope Paul the fourth formally dissolved all the houses suppressed by Henry the eighth.
Any restorations going forward would technically be new foundations. There was some further
reassurance to anxious lay owners of x monastic estates, but it didn't inspire in
them any impulse to just simply give back the land. Some lay people gave
piously in their wills to refounded monasteries, but endowments for refoundation in the end
came almost exclusively from the crown. Only seven religious houses were re established nationwide
between fifteen fifty five and fifteen fifty eight, with plans in the works for
half a dozen or so more. The most significant refoundation was that of a
monastery which was never really dissolved, the royal showcase Church of Westminster Abbey.
Only around one hundred of perhaps fifteen hundred surviving former monks again took up the
habit. Though what monastic life lacked in quantity, it made up foreign quality.
Prestigious refoundations, including the return of the resilient core of the Carthusians returned
to Sheen in November fifteen fifty five and the Brigittine Nutts returned in August of
fifteen fifty seven. Others might have returned if given the chance. In Yorkshire,
former Cistercians were in apparent expectation of restoration, but by fifteen fifty eight
things would be just about over in Mary's reign. Many of these monastic orders
set about reassembling their monastic libraries, buying back hundreds of volumes in what was
to be ultimately a vain hope of return to full communal life. Ultimately,
the non return of major monastic life in England was a major indication of the
triumph of the reform started under Henry and finished under Edward. But it was
also a sign of changing ecclesiastical priorities. Rather than monasteries, the Church sought
to build new hospitals and seminaries. The Church needed to be more responsive to
the changing times. It seems that was really one lesson the Catholic movement had
learned throughout the turbulent early sixteenth century. The question, as we will see
next time, is would it be enough now? As always, if you've
enjoyed the episode, you can check out the links in the show notes,
going a link to the website there, and also have a link to the
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