Durham E-Theses The early career op Christopher Goodman and his place in the development of English protestant thought Dawson, Jane E. A. How to cite: Dawson, Jane E. A. (1978) The early career op Christopher Goodman and his place in the development of English protestant thought, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/8005/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 THE EAPiY CAREER OP CHRISTOPHER GOODMAN AND HIS PLACE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH PROTESTANT THOUGHT JANE E. A. DAWSON Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Durham 1978 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. JANE E.A. DAWSON The Early Career of Christopher Goodman and his place In the development of English protestant thought. ABSTRACT The career and thought of Christopher Goodman provides the backbone of this thesis. They are used to demonstrate the interaction between men and ideas in England during the middle years of the sixteenth century and so give a clearer picture of the devlopment of English protestant thought. The study has set out to discover three things about Goodman and his book 'How Superior Powers Oght to be Obeyd'. The first is to explain his intention in writing the book; the second to describe its content] and the third to understand its impact in 1558. As a study of Goodman's book cannot be divorced from the study of its author, the biographical details of Goodman's life to 1558 are investigated. They help to give the fullest possible picture of his intentions in writing the book. Detailed consideration is given to his experiences in Edwardian Oxford at Brasenose College and Christ Church and to his exile in Germany and Switzerland during the reign of Mary. To give an accurate description of the content and impact of Goodman's book it is necessary to establish its ideological context. This involves documenting the personnel, activities and ideas of the Christ Church Circle and of the Marian exiles, particularly those who comprised the English exile community in Geneva. Only if such a picture is pieced together is it possible to dis• tinguish between the unusual and the commonplace in Goodman's thinking, and appreciate the revolutionary nature of his concept of a covenanted society, the people of God. PREFACE I wish to thank my supervisor. Dr. David Loades, for never being too busy to help me. His blend of a sense of purpose and humour has encouraged my work from beginning to end. I would also like to thank all the members of the Department of History at Durham, my colleagues Professor Barrow and Mr. Lenmah at St.Andrews and Professor Burns and Skinner who have given generously of their time and advice. I am indebted to Messrs William Grant and Sons, in conjunction with St. Andrews University, for the provision b^: the Glenfiddich Research Fellowship in Scottish History and their generosity in permitting me to complete.this thesis. I would like to ejipress my gratitude for their assistance to the following libraries and archives: British Library, Public Records Office, Inner Temple Library, Dr. V/illiams Library, Bodleian Library, Brasenose College and Christ Church Archives, Cambridge University Library, fionville and Caius Colleg;e, Glasgow and St. Andrews University Libraries, Archives d'Etat Geneva, Staatsarchiv and Zentralbibliothek Zurich and Durham University Library, particularly the Inter-Library Loans Depart• ment. I would like to include my special thanks to those without whom this thesis would not have been completed. In this thesis I have used the New Style in dating and in the quotations I have expanded abbreviations, retained the original spelling (except for the substitution of 'v' for 'u' where the consonant was obviously intended) and altered the punctuation only where it obstructed the sense of the passage. Unless stated otherwise, the place of publication of all the works which have been cited is London. This thesis is entirely my work and no part of it has been submitted for a degree in any university. CONTENTS PAGE PAGE NO. INTRODUCTION. 1. SECTION'ONE: GOODMAN AND THE CHRIST CHURCH CIRCLE Chapter One. 4. Chapter Two. 63. Chapter Three. 109. SECTION TWO; THE.MARIAN EXILE Chapter Four. 1^8. Chapter Five. 206. SECTION THREE: HOW'SUPERIOR POWERS OGHT'TO BE_0BEYD Chapter Six. 243- Chapter Seven. 287. Chapter Eight. 55^- CONCLUSION. -559, APPENDIX A. The Edwardian Statutes of Christ Church. ^65. APPENDIX B. The Authorship and Composition of the 369. 'Form of Prayers'. APPENDIX C. Knox and Goodman. APPENDIX D. Copies of 'How Superior Powers Oght to ^74. be Obeyd'. , BIBLIOGRAPHY. 376. 1. INTRODUCTION The reign of Henry VIII saw the emergence in England of a cult of authority. One of the pressures which created that cult was the need to justify Henry's break with Rome. A new theory of imperial power was elaborated to explain the absorption of ecclesiastical jurisdiction into the crown. It ensured that those who rejected papal supremacy had a vested interest in supporting royal authority. The theory of Royal Supremacy which emerged, became one -of the corner• stones of English protestant thought. Alongside the theory of Royal.Supremacy and helping to uphold it, was the doctrine of obedience and non-resistance to the secular ruler. It was enthusiastically adopted by the protestants who preached it during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI with un• paralleled fervour. It' fitted with their concept of a godly prince and offered the hope or using royal authority to secure the adoption of protestantism in England. Although many were disillusioned after their contact with political power in Edward VI's reign, the commitment of the protestants to the doctrine of obedience remained firm. The reign of Mary, which brought the end of the Royal Supremacy and the return to papal Catholicism, ensured that the two principles which had until then complimented each other were now in direct opposition: protestant beliefs could not be reconciled with unquestioning obedience to the monarch. The first stage forced upon all protestants was the abandonment of absolute obedience in matters of religion. They turned to the conscience clause which permitted passive disobedience to royal orders when they ran contrary to the commands of 2. God. It was among the protestant exiles who watched the persecution from afar that the pressure to break with the tenets of non-resistance built up. During the exile the propaganda which was produced took on an in• creasingly aggressive attitude towards the queen. However it was only a handful of exiles who actually broke with the doctrine of non-resistance. One of the most important was Christopher Goodman, whose book 'How Superior Powers Oght to be Obeyd' called for the deposition of Mary Tudor and the adoption of a new type of politics. The following study attempts Lo analyse S-oodman's book and to set it within its historical context. This involves the examination of the roots of Goodman's thinking. They can be found in Edwardian Oxford and in particular within the circle centred upon Christ Church. Under the impact of the Marian exile the ideas which Goodman and his- friends had acquired at Oxford were forced to change, and the personal unity of the circle was fractured by the troubles at Frank• fort. Goodman's experience at the heart of the English exile community in Geneva enabled him to turn this dislocation to advantage. He gained sufficient hope to see the ideas he had encountered in Oxford and during the exile in a new light and from them construct a political theory. Only after the ideas and the people who surrounded Goodman from Oxford to Geneva have been traced, can an accurate estimate be made of his place in the development of English protestant thought. SECTION ONE GOODMAN AND THE CHRIST CHURCH CIRCLE 4. CHAPTER ONE Christopher Goodman was born into a wealthy merchant family of Chester probably in 1521."^ His father William had continued and enlarged the family business in wine and expanded his trade interests to cover other forms of merchan• dise and speculation in land.^ This ambitious and successful merchant was also heavily involved in local politics. The Goodman family dominated the offices of Mayor and Sheriff in Chester particularly under Henry VIII and Edward VI. William Goodman had used his wealth and status to marry well.. His.v/ife Margaret was daughter of Sir William Brereton of Brereton, Chief Justice and Lord High Marshall of Ireland. Links with Ireland came through both of Christopher Goodman's parents. As well as the obvious connexion through his fnaternal grandfather the Chief Justice, his father traded in Ireland and was probably related to the Sheriff of the county of Dublin.-^ It was natural for a native of Chester, which was one of the chief English ports for trade with Ireland to be Informed about Irish affairs and to think about its needs and problems.^ This probably helps to explain Christopher Goodman's willingness to go to Ireland with Sir Henry Sidney and his success when he arrived.