Quidditas
Volume 2 Article 14
1981
A Reexamination of the Development of Protestantism During the Early English Reformation
John K. Yost University of Nebraska-Lincoln
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Recommended Citation Yost, John K. (1981) "A Reexamination of the Development of Protestantism During the Early English Reformation," Quidditas: Vol. 2 , Article 14. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/rmmra/vol2/iss1/14
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Quidditas by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. A Reexamination of the Development of Protestantism During the Early English Reformation
by
John K. Yost
University of Nebraska -Lincoln
G. R. Elton's recent investigation of the relation between humanist reform and reformi t government during the 1530's I leave us wit h no uncertainty about Cromwell's beliefs regarding Prote tantism. Elton concludes from an anonymous letter of 1538, which he a cribes to the eminent civil and canon lawyer John Olive r, that ·•as early as 1531 or 1532, therefore, Thoma Cromwell was thinking along reformed lines and lines of evangelical theology .... " 2 Moreover, he reports how Cromwell "told the prior of Kingswood: by him ' the Word of God, the gospel of Christ, is not only favoured but also perfected, set forth, maintained, increased and defended· .'' 3 Elton· careful analysis of the evidence leads him to believe that Cromwell 1old the truth when he aid he tended towards Protestanti m and convince him of the accuracy of John Foxe's religious assessment of Cromwell. 4 Furthermore. Elton acknowledges the Protestantism. which he sees as e entially Lutheranism, of Richard Morison and Richard Taverner. 5 These two men were the most prolific of the humanist writers who erved Cromwell. Elton recognized the primary concern of both Cromwell and his humanist scholars with religious and eccle iastical reform, but his own main aim is to deal with Cromwell as the thoughtful minister of state who fully understood how to bring about extensive reform of the commonwealth by his use and management of Parliament.6 It is the significance of Elton 's perception of the importance of Protestantism to Cromwell and the humanist intellectual who erved him that leads me to a re-examination of the problem of how the Prote tant Reformation developed in England. There are five aspects of this problem upon wh ich I shall touch: I) the brand of Protestantism in the early Reformation; 2) the impact of the
129 John K. Yost
Protestant movement upon the development of humanism; 3) the effect of the official campaign of religiou propaganda; 4) the role of the reformi t preachers in the reformation of religion; and 5) the reformers and the changing Christian ideal. First: the evidence of Prote tantism in the political and social treatises of Morison as we ll as in the religious writings of Tavern er refute the position of Jame McConica that the humani t cholars in the service of Cromwell helped to shape a reformi t policy that es entia ll y amounted to an " official Erasmianism." 7 Nevcrtheles , McMonica deserves much credit for coming closer to the truth by characterizin g the early English Reformation as "Era mian" than did tho e historians who used to de cribe it as '"Era tian." ow, though, there is the danger of historians a cribing all of the Protestant tendencies of Morison, Taverner, and even Cromwell to Luther without providing any more detailed documentation and analysis for their Lutheranism than has been done for their Erasmianism. Wh ile the humanist scholars in the service of Cromwell translated work from both Erasmus and Luther, they rarely ci ted either one in their own writings. It seems to me that it wa only because of the common theological ground between these scholar and Erasmus that specific teaching of Luther infiltrated the official Reformation in the 1530·s. No doubt English Protestants accepted Luther's teaching on justification and works, and the same applies lo most younger generation humanist who wrote fo r Cromwell.9 But as some of us, most notably Will iam Clebsch and Leonard Trinterud, have tried to how, the earl y English Protestants ubstantially modified Luther's teaching by adopting a legalistic religiou moralism alien to his doctrinal method. Both Morison and Taverner, I think, reflect the trong emphasis of the early English Protestant reformers on the law of Christ and the moralistic meaning of justification by fa ith alone. Mori on stresses the need to preach and to keep the laws of God in his 1536 Remedy for S editio11. IO and de cribes the forgiveness of God for David in his In vective agai11st Treaso11 of 1539 in term illustrating his belief that justification by faith alone enables a per on to do good works: "He suffereth not God's love to make any end with him, he still increaseth his favour, not so much by any merits, as by praising the unde erved love of god. Love not sold unto him for works, but given him that he thereby might work." 11 Best known for the Taverner Bible of 1539, but recogni zed also for influential translations of Erasmus and-important one from the works of continental Protestant reformers such a Melanchton, Sarcerius, and Capito, Taverner summarized hi own doctrinal position in his Catechism published in 1539, "so-called because it instructeth and bringeth up the youn g Christian in Ch ri t' la\v." 12 Taverner's legalistic approach to Christianity in his Catechism shows how clo ely he stood to the doctrinal position of William Tyndale, Robert Barne , and early Engli sh Protestanti m as a whole.
130 The Eng li h Reformation
.Ju,tificati n. for Taverner a we ll as for Tyndale and Barne . enabled man to fulfill th law. hri t. writes Taverner. "promi eth both to pardon our wickedne . and al o to write hi law in our heart . Therefore the keeping of the la" i no work of ur abilit . but of a piritual power whereby our heart be purged from their c rrupti n and made soft in the obedie nce of righteou nc s... F llowing the new birth a Taverner conceived it . man " rked thr ughout life 10 obc the law of hri t. Taverner empha izcd that the " orks f regen rate man arc righteou and merit rewards: " So Ion as the e our p t whi h blemish and tain our works bef re God. be thus hid and kept clo c. th Lord con idere th in them nothing but high purenes and holinc whereupon he ouchsafeth to give them e en righteou ne yea and pr mi eth unt them large reward . · · tJ Thu Taverner and Mori on shared the 111 rali tic con ept of ju tification held by the earlie t Engli h Protestant . They ungcr humani t a well a the first Protestant ref rmc r in England u,cd Luther' ju tificati n by faith alone to combat super titiou religion in the need to keep the ommandment and to do work of charity. It distort realit to ategori ze the reli giou belief of the humanist who erved in the r 111, ell admini tration as either trictly Lutheran or ra mian. Th ere wa certain! no unified movement of Erasmian reform in the Reformation a a whole. The "Era mian " in England alone were a diver c group ranging from More and Fi her to Tyndale and Cranmer. or did there el ev lop in England an trictly Lutheran· movement. The doctrine of the acrament of the Lord' Supper became the chief ob tacle to the advancement of Lutherani min England. After Fi sher wrote a re pl y, in 1527. to the 1525 treatise of Oecolampadiu on the Sacrament. there, a no longer an excu e in England for confusing the Lutheran and German S, is reformer .'4 Fi her harply drove the wedge between Occolampadius and the Lutheran . He clearly de mon trated that Luther· doctrine f the acrament "a far more " atholic" than that of hi German Swi s oppone nts. Fi her theref re played a i nificant and an early role in the divis ion between Lutheran and Zwinglian . ot onl did most earl y Eng li h Protestant modify Luther' teaching on ju tifica ti n b , faith alone to tre s the importance of doing good work and bcyin the law f hrist. but they rejected hi doctrine of the Sacrament for one clo c t that of Zwingli and other , iss-Rhenish humani t reformer . Fr 111 Frith and T ndale f rward. it is difficult to find any Prote tant reformer in England wh consi tently maintained throughout hi career the Lutheran doctri ne of the Lord' upper. In hi di s u ion of the sacrame ntal on tro er y. T ·ndale rejected the argument for the Real Pre e nce by the Luth eran a well a by the atholic . He accepted the po ition of the Zwinglian . wh 111 he labelled the " third party" becau c of their . pirituali tic
I I J ohn K. Yo t
and morali tic understanding of th Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 1~ Ta erner. romwell' leading religiou writer, publi hed in 1539 "cum privilego. ad i111pri 111 e11d11111 olu 111 " a Iran lation from ra mu entitled Proverb or Adages. Tave rner concluded that book with the P thagorcan ,ymb lum Pa11 e11111 efra11 g i1 0. and add d three and a half printed page ofhi own t th brief commentary of Era mu in order to tre that Chri l i piritually present in the acrament of th e rd' Supper only f r th e 11ho fulfi ll it demand fo r unity and charity. 16 Lik e Tyndale, Tave rner ought to promote a z, inglian doctrine of the Sacrament. It i ignificant to underline. moreov r. that the here y alleged against r mwell and hi s Protestant allie. Barne and J erome. in 1• 40 was not that of Luth ran ism but of acramenlariani 111 . The attainder it elf a u es Cromwell , among other thin . of havi ng cau ed the tran lation into Engli h f bo k again I the acrament f the Altar.1 The Prote tanti 111 of the early Engli h Reformation had alread moved doctrinally beyond Lutherani 111 toward Zwingliani m. In br ader term . though . the relig iou belie f of Cr mwell and the humanists in his servi e , e pecially Morison and Taverner, brought them clo er to the pan-European movement of Pr te tant humani 111 that wa led in the early Reformation by the German humani t reformer Melanchthon, Zwin Ii . Oecolampadiu , Bucer. Capito. and Vadian. A Wilhelm Dilthey recogni zed . the Protestant humani t represented ·•an inter ection of coherent tende n ies ... 1 The label f Protestant humani m doe greater ju tice to the moral and spiritual cro scurrent of the early Reformation in ngland than doe e ither Erasmiani 111 or Lutherani sm , or even Zwingliani m, wh ich come clo er to b ing a more accurate descripti n than the other two. 19 e ond: the evide nce of Protestantis m in th e career and th ught of Crorm ell and tho. e humani t who performed cholarly services under hi direction add ub tantiall to our under landing of th e ideological ba es of Henrician policy. It e nables u to ·ee the complex interrelation hip of Prote tant belief and political action in the official Reformation accomplished during the romwell administration. Thu we need to reexamine the conclusi n of Cleb ch that the biblical. covenantal, morali tic hri tianity of earlie t ngli h Protestantism conflicted with 1he ro al, hierarchica l, liturg ical Christianity of the earl y R formation . 20 Like wi e. we ought to re n ider the ju tification for vie, ing, a A.G. Di ck n doe . the proce of Prote tantizati n and the official act of church and tale in the time f romwell as · 'The Two Engli h Reformations.'' 21 Th Pr te tant humani m of Morison and Tave rner, moreover, draw furth er at tention to the accompli hme nt of the humani t chol ar in the ervice of Cromwell , who have been over hadowed for o long by the earli er More group on the one hand and the later Edwardian reformers on the other. Th period of Engli h humani 111 immediately following the execution of More
132 The En lish Reformation
and Fi her u ed to be considered its dark age, but the recent scholarship of Zeeveld. Ferguson, McConica. and now Elton ha clearly demontrated that the econd half of the ISJO's saw the culmination of the movement, particu larl y in terms of the humanist impact upon society and government pol icy. Fu11hermore, I think that it is important to stress that the high point of the humanist movement in England came at least a decade after Prote tantism began to spread in that country. Conseq uently. it seems to me that traditionally scholars have tended to view th e problem of humani m and the Protestant Reformation in England the wrong way round. In attempting to a ses the significance of Morison, Taverner. and other younger Engli h humanists, I am attempting to turn the usual question of humani sm and the Reformation around. I approach the relation hip from the reverse perspective and ask what impact the Protestant reformer had upon humanist culture in the !SJO's. Perhaps th e most important thing that happened to the humanist movement in the latter part of the decade was that it underwent a process of Prote tantiza tion resulting in a new and more active role in the Reformation fo r the human ist. Contrary to the standard widely held view, it was in the later 1530' instead of the later 1540's that most English humanists adopted a moderate form of Protestantism. When it came to the decisive doctrinal que tion of free will, Taverner openly indentified himself with the moderate Protestanti m of two humanist reformers, Melanchthon and Sarcerius. 22 Finding evidence of Protestanti m in the younger generation of humanists poi nts to the more challenging task of charting the Protestantization of humanist culture in the English Renai sance and Reformation that remains to be done. Renaissance humanism and the Protestant Reformation became more closely related in England than in any other co untry. Third: Cromwell 's Protestantism and the use of Protestant doctrines by his humanist apologist in defense of hi s Reformation policy hed new light on the nature and purpo e of the offi cial religious propaganda campaign of the later 1530' . Certainly the disaffection, disobedi ence. and di turbances that occasioned many of the humani t pamphlets shows the problem the government had in persuading the people to accept the political and religious changes of the earl y Reformation . . But what impact did this pioneering effort of Cromwell to carry out a governmental campaign through printed books have upon the actual development of the Reformation? The truth is that the circle of Cromwellian humanists was neither as large nor as official as traditionally conceived. Morison, Starkey, and Taverner were the only real prod uctive members of the group. The Cromwell administration recognized th at the pu lpit wa more important than the printing press to its religious propaganda campaign. Concerning the ffectiveness of that campaign, Elton consider it unimportant that we cannot determine how many persons read
133 John K. Yo t
the pamphl ts of the humanist sci olars when ihe conte nts of their sermons prove that preachers had done o. 23 On the other hand. I think we have good rea on to conclude that both the humanist writer and the multitude of preachers derived their ideas of religious reform largely from the works produced by the English Protestant reformers in the late 1520' and earl y 15J0·s. prior to the official propaganda campaign of Cromwell. We have al ready seen some evidence to support thi position in regard to the doctrinal similarities between Tyndale and Taverner. The un succes ful negotiation of Stephen Vaughan in early 1531 to recuit Tyndale for government ervice did at lea t thoroughly e xpose Cromwell to the reformer's proposals. As late as Nove mber of 153 1. Vaughan sent a copy of Tyndale's exposition of the First Epistl e of John to romwell. which stressed obedie nce to the law of Christ as the c sence of the Christian life and the basis of religiou morali 111 . At the same time. Vaughan. who had become especially enthusiastic about the reformist id eas of Robert Barnes. forwarded a second copy of Barne's S11pplica1io11 to romwell in case the lir t one had not reached him . 24 Vau ghan's activities therefore introduced Cromwell to the idea of reform promoted by the leaders of ngli sh Protestantism precisely at the time when he began to favor the reformation of religion. In my judgment. there is neither intern al nor external evidence to support in any way the widely accepted thesis of Zeeveld that Thomas Starkey bu ill the via media of the English Reformation from the principle of adiapliora that he di covered in Melanchthon's plan for unity among Protestant nations co nta in ed in the Loci communes of 1535. Stark ey's adiaphorism differed greatly from Melanchthon ' insofar as he gave the government authority to co ntrol adiapli ora . i. e .. the realm of permi ible, but none sential things. 25 Mclanchthon did not come by means of Starkey to influence the development of Engli sh Protestantism. Starkey never full y embraced Prote tantism, remaining a Catholi c humanist. It is more likely that Starkey learned about Melanchthon·. Chri. tian adiaphori sm from Cromwell. than the reverse. Cromwell's lir t ex posure to a version of Melanchthon's concept of Christian adiapliora may well have come from his reading of Barnes's S11pplicatio11 , in wh ich there were several page devoted to adiaphori tic reli gious practice. Barnes considered required adiapliora a burden to bear for the purpose of brotherl y ch arity and a peaceful commonwealth. Otherwise, justification by faith alone freed the Christian from bondage to any external work. l h The ceremonie of Mosaic law were, to Tyndale. examples of things indifferent to sal vation. Tyndale categorized all ceremonies and acrifices a adiaphora. which he described a thin not so necessary to spiritual health that it was 27 si nful to neglect them. In his 1533 commentary on the Sermon 0 11 the Moun t. Tyndale si re sed the need to practice charity and pre erve unity concerning adiaphoristic ceremonies,2 just a Hugh Latimer had emphasized
134 The English Reformation
in hi Advent sermon of 1529 that external religion was unnecessary to the worship of God. 29 Barnes, Tyndale, and Latimer clearly perceived the si nilicancc of adiaphorism for church unity several years before the publication of tarkcy's Exhortatio11 to Obedience. Concerning.the spread of the Reformation in England, therefore, there remains the important task of in e tigating the relation hip beh ccn the religious policy of the Cromwell admini !ration and the ideas of the Protestant reformers. There may be, as Elt on claim . no need to investigate further the reformist ideas of the humani t thinker ,30 but the reform programs of the Protestant reformers de erve more attention. Historians too often have been more concerned with th e derivation of the doctrine of the reformers than with their ideas about the ref rm a t ion of religion . Fourth: in the later 1530's, Taverner provided a perceptive analysi of the diflicult y in implementing the official Reformation policy, which certainly suggest that the government was encouraging the reformist preachers who were propagatin Protestant ideas. As Taverner understood the situation, the problem wa popular oppo ition to reformation policy. The common people were guilty of trea on. lander, malice, and ingratitude. 3 1 At the root of the oppo it ion to Cromwell' reform program, he saw the conservative clergy who remained papal upportcrs either out of elf-interest or uperstition and therefore ca u ed the ma se to go astray. 32 What made it difficult for the Reformation of the 1530's to establish a new order were the disturbances throughout the country cau eel by the controversies between the reforming preacher and the traditional clergy. This was the real level of conflict that cau. eel romwell problem and created unre t among the parishioners. Taverner blamed th e co nservative clergy for the widespread discontent with Cromwell's program of religious education that wa intended to give pari hioner an understanding of the need for reform and halt their superstitious beliefs .33 Latimer had perceived the seriousness of this problem as early as December 1530, when he accused the traditional ecclesia tic not only of pre enting the laity from reading vernacular Scripture but also of keeping them ignorant of true religion with their laws, customs, and cercmonie . Corrupt prelates were contending that vernacular Scripture would ca u e here y and insurrection. He claimed that they were willing to ri k rebellion only if it wa necessary to maintain their wealth. In 1532, Latimer tre ed in a letter to Archbishop Warham the need to bring about a "reformation" in the judgment of the common people in order for them to under tand that the works of their particular vocations had more value for 1 their piritual life than did voluntary works .- ~ Taverner· preface to his 1536 translation of the Augsburg Confession provides not onl y the clearest statement of Cromwell's direction of the program of religious reformation but particularly of his support for preachers of reform lik e Latimer. Taverner praised Cromwell by asking 135 John K. Yost
"who cannot unless he be mortally infested with the pe tiferous poison of envy most highly commend, magnify and extoll your right honorable mastership's most circum- peci godliness and most godly circumspection in the cause and matter of our Chri tian religion which with all indifference do not only permit the pure, true and incere preachers of god' work freely io preach, but also yourself to the uttermo t of your powe r do promote and further the cause of Christ and not only that, but also do animate and enco urage others to the same.•• Jo
It pl ea ed Latimer in 1538. for example. to be able to report to Cromwell that there had been prog re recently in reforming the uper titious worship of Mary in Worcester. A a result , people in Worce ter were turning from idl eness to labor and from idolatry to godliness. Latimer closed his letter to Cromwell about the reform of religion in Worcester by committing "our whole matt er to your goodne s .. . long to continue to uch good purposes." 37 The recent effort of Elton and Christopher Haigh in tracing the enforcement of offi cial Reformation policy e sentially confirm Taverner' perception of the problem and further recognize the crucial role played by the reforming preachers in bringing about religious change. 38 The eccle ia tical and ecular government in Lancashire, observes Haigh. was too weak IQ overcome the irong efforts of the con ervative cleric to preserve traditional doctrine and practi ces and to counte r the program of official propaganda. or did the new religion co me to Lancashire by anonymou traders and merchants . Rather, Lancashireborn university-trained theologians worked to propagate the new religious order by converting their friends and relations:3g Elton describes numerous conflicts betwee n innovative and traditional cl eric and suprisin gly acknowledges that the efforts to change faith and practice ·•ca used even more unre t than the great political readju tment in England's relation with Rome.·· 40 Fifth: the much neglected religious controversy over marriage and celibacy especially intere ts me because it provides a good example of how the humani t and reformers sought to reintegrate life tyle and value system by tran forming the medieval Christian ideal. The renunciation of the ethical duali m that exalted virginity above marriage and the repudiation of the rule of clerical celibacy by the reformers illustrates particularly well how far they went beyond the Cromwellian humanists in eeking to break down the old order and to build up a new one. In 1532 Taverner dedicated hi Engli h Iran lation of Erasmus' E11 comi11m 111atrimo11ii to Cromwell. Taverner ju tifie his choice of a treatise to dedicate to him by tre sing how the Epystle i11 Laud aud Praise of Mwrimony is "a thing full nece sary and expedient to translate it into our vu lgar tongue, and so under your noble protection to
136 Th Engli h Ref rmat ion
co mmunicate it t the peopl e.·' Hi s main concern ha to do with teaching people that celibacy result from the ·'blind super tition of men and women which ea e not day by day to profe s and vow perpetual chastity before ... they ufficiently kn ow them elve and the infirmity of thejr nature." In Taverner· judgment. the combination of uperstttton and inadequate elf-kn wledge in the practice of celibacy ··hath been and i yet unto thi day th e ro t and ver cau e original of unnumerable mischiefs." He conclude his dedication by calling for ·• some peedy reformation· • to re medy the problem or l'elibacy. 41 iarkey. ften con id ered to have the keenesJ mind among the Cromwellian humani ts. discussed the que lion of marriage and celibacy during the early ISJO·s when he dealt with the proble m of depopulation in the manuscript known a the Dialogue between Pole and Lupser.42 Clerical celibacy, according to Starkey, i the principal obstacle to population growth. For a I ng whil e. he admits, it ha been his belief that the church has greatly impeded th in crea e of Christian by binding uch a multitude of ecular pric t . monk s. fri ars, and nun to vows of chastity. Thu Starkey proposes to relax the Jaw of clerical celibacy and explains why:
'· Where fore. except the ordinance of the Church were (to the , hich I wou ld never gladly rebel), 1 would pl ainly judge that it hould be very convenient ometime to relea e the band of thi law. pecially consid ering the difficulty of that great virt ue, in a mann er above nature; for the which. as I think, our Ma ter hri t did not bind us thereto by hi precept and co mmandment. but left it to our arbitrament whether we w uld tudy to trive again t nature. who e instinct only by p ial grace we may overcome. Wheref re it appeareth to me t relea e thi Jaw very nece sary." 43
tarkey' conte ntion that cha lity is above nature. that overcoming nature depend upon pecial grace. and that Christ never required celibacy but left it io individual discretion are ess ntial ingredients in the Reformation defen e of cleri cal marriage. Starkey's sen e f historical perspective enabled him to under tand the proce s of change and the importance of analyzing problems in relation to lime and place. Thus he re peats the argument att ributed to the humani t Pope Piu II that while there was great rea on in the beginning of th e Church toe tablish the law of clerical celibacy there i now greater rea on to repeal it. Starkey" own en e f historical perspective in regard to clerical marriage articul ate an important principle of humanist reform: "For this i the nature of all man· ordinance and civil law, that according to the time, per on. and place they be ariabl e . and ever require prudent correction and due
137 J hn K. Yost
r formation. wh erefore in thi matter I think it were neccs ary to temper and at 1 a~t I ive a nd admit all ecular pric I lo marry al their liberty, co n~idc ring now the great multitude of them." Starkey therefore conclude 1ha1 p rmilling ccular pric I to marry will remove a great obstacle to p pulation growth. On the other hand, tarke thinks it is "a th ing very conveni ent and meet " for all well-ordered commonwealths to have 111 nasteri e and abb ys lo which cha te person can withdraw ~ r a li fe of prayer. tudy. and conte mplation. H oppo e the eliminati on of mona terie and .,bbeys fro m " hristian p licy" becau e f the comfort they provide for peopl e oppres eel by worldly va nity. 44 While he proposed clerical marriage a a ~ol ution t the pr blcm of depopulation . Starkey never directl attacked the celibate ideal or re pudiated the rule of clerical celibacy. The Protestant reforme r were the one who fought lo aboli h clerical c libacy and monastic vow of cha lily and to establish clerical marriage a a rcli giou and et hical norm cs ential lo the well-being of the social order as Pr tc !anti 111 concci ed of it. In 1531 Tyndale responded to the charge made hy Mor that it was heresy lo con ider marriage a plea ing to God as celibacy. ndcr hrist' rule, Tyndale contends. neither tale make a cliff re ncc piritually except insofar a ii helps a person to obey the con1r.wndment and crve one's neighbor . The belief that virginity in it elf pi ca cs God lead to the kind offal e acrificc that belong in the tradition of pagan indolatry. Marry ing for plea urc ervcs God a well a abstaining for displ ca urc . The piritual alu c of marriage. celibacy. and a ll other deeds de p ' IHI o nly upon keeping the law and servi ng one' neighbor. o human law can bind Christians where God free them, a ert Tyndale, except whe n love and the needs of a neighbor require ervice. Love for nci ,hbor provides the principle for int rpreting all human law . For example, p opl c who ow cha lily but cann i control their pa sion should marry. The onl y justifi catio n he find for vowing chastity i to erve one' neighbor or to devote one elf 10 prayer and study. on ersel . rea o n of personal health and e rvicc to th commonwealth or neighbor justify breaking a vow of chastity. Tyndale repudiate the rule of cl rical celibacy for two princi pal rca on . First. those who vow hastity do o becau c they think it wi ll bring the m greater heavenl y r ward' than their neighbors. econd. th e papac ha never pe rrni11cd priest who could not control their pas ion to marry but has all wed th e m in tead to keep , horc . Because the papacy ha depri ved pric · 1 of the natural remedy provided by God fo r concupiscence. Tyndale advocate cl rical marriage by explaining that "to re i I and cry unto od for h Ip. and to uff r. is a ign that thou loves( God's law : and to love God' · la, is to be sure that thou art God' child. elect to mercy ...... 45 Barne vigorou~l argued for legalized clerical marria e in hi 1534 S11pplica1io11. urging the pope to give hi clergy the liberty granted by Paul in
13 The nglish Reforma tion
re ard to marriage. He co ntends that the pope cannot find proof in Paul that prayer and sacrifice require priests to li ve celibate. Marriage neither defile prayer nor contaminate acrifi ce. Concerning prayer. moreover. the cw Te tament make no distinction between clergy and laity. Because Scripture co ntains no such promi e. Barnes cannot accept the po ition of the papacy that God has bound himself to grant priests the gift of chastity for fastin g and watching. Many good men have prayed and fa sted without receiving the gift of chastity. Moreover, it makes no sen e to him why prayer and fa ting could help clergy but not laity to obtain the gift of chastity. He therefore questions: '"W hy be priests more bound to pray for the gift of chasity th an other hristian men be?" the Scripture make no distinction between clergy and laity or bet, ccn celibacy and marriage . 46 The co ntributions of the Protestant reformers seem to have had a much greater impact upon the proce of religious change in the early English Reformat ion than did those of the humani. t in tellectual who served Cromwell . While the theologian and preachers did more to disturb conventional order than to achieve posiiive renewal, we need to give more attention than ha been customary in recent re earch to the importance of disestabli shing the old order as a necessary fir t step in developing a new one.
otes
1 G.R. Elton. Reform and Renewal: Tho mas Cromh1ell and the Common Weill (Cambridge. 19 3), Ch. 2. For his mot recent statement on this matter, sec his "Thomas Cromwell Redivivus." Arcl,iv ji,'r Reformationsgesc/riclrte . 68 (1977), 196. where he concludes that Cromwell ··probably grew more Protestant as the decade advanced." Funhermorc. he claims. that Cromwell ''had become convinced that only a form of Protestantism could erve the kind of poli ty he was building." Thus Elton clarifies once and for all the role of Cromwell in religious reform. as well as the ques tion of whclhcr he was a11 Erasmian or a Pro1 es tant. Treatmenl or these two issues in recent major works on humanism and reform in early Tudor England have lacked clarit y and docu mentation. W. Gordon Zeeveld. Fow1da1io11 of Tudor Policy (Cambridge. Mass .. 1948); Arthur 8 . Ferguson. TlreArticulmeCirizen and rh e English Renalsscmce (Durham. . .. 1965): James K. McConica. English H11mani ts and Refomu11io11 Polirics 1111der Henry VIII um/ Ee/ware/ VI (Oxford. 1965): W. R. D. Jones. Tir e Tudor Commoll"'ealtlr: 1529-1559 (London. 1970).
2 Elton. Reform and Renewal. p. 28.
3 I bid.. p. 34.
q Ibid.. p. 36. Moreover. Elton tends to regard romwell" s Protestantism as specifically Lutheran . On p. 43. he claims that after reading letters from Stephen Vaughan about Tyndale and Barne ·. romwell "came increasingly to favour Lut heran ideas and propagandists." In ··Cromwe ll Redivivus."" p. 202. he maintains that "'Cromwell"s sympathies for Lutheranism. muted though they remain. arc too well attested to ig nore .... "
139 .J ohn K . Yo I
5 Elion. Reform u11d Re11 rh'ul. pp. 35, 61 n. 74. ce also his Policy u11 d Police: The Enforcement o/' ,1,,, lfr/urmlllio11 i11 1he Age of Cro,111vcll (Ca mbridge. 1972). p. 204. The most extensive trca1 111 c111 of Morison·~ Pro1csrn n1 ideas and 1he qu..:stion of hi s dependence upon Luther is issic R. Bonini. .. Lulheran lnOuenccs in the rly English Reformntion: Ri chard Morison Reexamined." Archiv ur Rcfomw1io11sgeschich1c. 64 (1973). 206-223. On Taverner and Protcsrnntism. sec John K . Yost. ··German Protestant Humani m and the Early English Rei rmdtion : Richard Taverner and Official Translation," Bihliotheque d'Humarrisme et Rc•1111iss111,cc. 32 ( 1970). 6 13-625.
6 Elion. Reform u11d Rc11 eh'11I, pp. 64-65.
7 Mc onica. English Humanists cmd Hcformlllio11 Politics, ch. 6.
8 Neither Elton. Reform u11 d Re11 e1val. chs. 2. J nor Boni ni , " Lutheran lnOuence .. provide any specific evidence to show that romwcll and his humanis1 writers adopted a di tinctively Lu theran brand of Protestantism.
9 Trintcrud. " The Origins of Puri1 anism ... Church His1ory. 20 (1951). 37-57: William Clebsch. F. 11 glmul·.~ J:.."t1rlicst Protcstllnts ( cw Haven. Conn., 1964).
IOMorison . A rrmcdy for sedition. wherein are co11tey11 ed ma11y thynges concem y nge the true cmd loyal/ obey cmce. tltat commens owe unto their prirtce and SO\lerayne lorde the ky11ge (London, 1S36). sigs. £2-EJ.
1 J Morison. An im,ec1ive ayenstethe great and detestable vice. crcaso11 I London. 15391 , ig. A4.
12Richord Taverner. Cmechismc or i11 s1i1111e ofChriste11 religion (London. 1539). sig. A).
IJ Ibid. sigs. 0 7-F I.
14 Joamtis Oecolampadii de gemdna Verborum Donu'11 i, Hoc e t corpus m eum, jux1a vcwstissimos amhores. expositione fiber (S tra ssb urg. 1525): Fisher. De Veritute corporis et sa11g11i11is Cirri ti;,, Eucharist ill (Cologne. 152 ).
15Tyndale. l)oc1ri11 a/ Tremises. ed. Rev. H. Walter (Cambridge, England. 184 ). pp. 3 -372.
16 Taverner. Proverbes oruclugie, (London. 1539). sig . HI -HJ. He de cribe the Sacrament of the Lord's upper as a "~ymbole and argument of exccdyng unitie and brcnnyng cha ritic" and oncludcs that "we be breakers and not caters or (to pea kc more truly) we be unworthy eaters of th is my tical breade not di cernynge the lordes bodye ... The same year Taverner stre sed the unitive meaning of th e acr:unc nt in hi s Ca tcclr ismc. sigs. K 7• K where he underlines the need for con templation of its spiri tu:i.l meaning :i. nd urge self-examinati on before taking it in order not to profonc it and bring about damnation<
J . J . Sca risbrick. fle11ry VIII (Berkeley. Calif., 1968), pp. 3 9-380.
Wilhelm Oih he •. Gcsmnmche Sclrrifte,r (Leipzig, 192 ). VII. 135.
L9 For nn c.,:ce llcn1 bri ef survey of the problem of Zwingli's influence, sec G. \V, Locher. "Zwingli, EinOu ss in · ngland and Schonland-0, ten und Problcme." Zwi11glia 11 u. 14 ( 1975). 16.5 -209.
20 lebsch. E11 ghmd's £arlies1 Pro1cs1u111 . p. 317.
140 The Engli,h R formation
21 A. G. Dickens. The Age of/1111111111ism and the Reformation (Englewood liff,. .J .. 19 2) . pp. 172-1 I.
22 Taverner. Common places of scri'prure orderly and after u compcudious fonue of 1eachy11g set fonh. sigs. A5•A6: · · Agayne other goynge in the mcanc bet wen these extremes. a Melanchthon nnd this arcerius. with many other excellent clerkcs. have denyed frewyl onely in spirituall mocyons and that also in such person as be not ycl regenerate and renued by the holy ghost. and yet in the mean season they take it not so awaye. but that they leve them also in spiritual mocions a ccrte n indcvour or willing, whi h indevour nevenhclcs c can fynis ·he no1hingc. onlcs it be holpen by the holy ghost. This (after my pore judgement) i the ryghtcst and truest way."
23 Elton. Policy and Police. p. L 11 .
24 Le((ers and Papers. Foreign and Domestic. oft/r e Reign of Henry VIII. ed. J . S. Brewer. J . Gairdner. R. H. Brodies (London. I 62, 1932). V. 553.
25 W. Gordon Zeeveld. pp. 12 • 156. On Melanchthon·s adiaphorism. sec also C.L. Munschrcck. "The Role of Melanch 1hon in the Adiaphorn ontroversy." Archiv flir Reformutio11 sgeschicl11e. 4 (196 ). 165- 1 I.
26 R bcrt Barne,. Whole Workes. ed. John Foxe (Lond n, IS 3). sec pp. 29 .3()() and pp. 309-339 for his ndiaphoristic approach 10 the problem of clerical marriage.
27 Tyndale. £xfK)si1io 11 and notes .... Togt!ther with the Practice of Prelate . ed. H. Walter ( ambridge. I 49), p. 32 .
28 Ibid. . p. 113: "For he that knowcth the intent of the law and of works. though he observes a thousand ceremonies for his own exercise. he shall never condemn hi brother. or break unity with him. in tho e things which Christ never commanded. but left indifferen1 ...
29 Senno11s by Hugh Latimer. ed. G.E. Corrie (Cambridge. 1844). pp. 3•24.
30 Elton. Reform and Renewal. p. 4.
31 Taverner. The Second booke of the Garden of wyesdome. (London. 1539). sig. F6.
32 Taverner. Common Places. sigs. A3-A4 .
33 Ibid .. sig . A4 - 5.
34 Latimer. emon and Rcmai11 ofII ugh Latimer. Sometime Bishop of ~Vorcestcr. ed. Re v. G.E. oric ( am bridge. Eng .. I 45). pp. 297 ,302.
35 Ibid .. pp. 353-354.
36 Taverner. The Co11fessyon of the fayth of the Germayne in the co1mcell. together with the Apologie ofMela11 cl11ho11 (London , 1536) . sig. A-2.
37 Latimer. Semons and Remains. p. 404 .
hrislophcr Haigh. Reformation and Resistance in Tudor Lancashire ( ambridge. 1975) .
9 /bit/. . pp. 116·1 17. 163 . 170.
141 John K . Yo 1
40 Flton . Policy mu/ Police. p. 34.
41 Era smu s. A ryg/11 fru1cful/ £pystle iu laude and praise of matrymony . tran . R. Ta\1ernour (London. 1532). sigs. A2-A3 .
42 ~I lloma, wrkC). A diulogur bcrwceu Reginald Pole and Thomll lupsc1. ed. Kath leen M. Burton (Lon Ion. l 43 /hi,/.. p. IJ 44 /h ie/.. p. HO. 4- Tyndale. An Anlwcr 10 Sir Tlromu s More "s Dialogue. ed. Rev. H . Waller (Ca mbridge, Eng .. 1850). pp. 157- 164 . 46 Barne,. 111/,ole Workes. ed. John F xe (London. 15 3). pp. JJ4-JJ9.