THE INFLUENCE OF THE ZURICH REFORMED TRADITION ON THE ELIZABETHAN CHURCH. 1559-1 563 by KENNETH RICHARD MACMILLAN A thesis submitted to the Department of History in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Queen's University Kingston* Ontario. Canada August, 1997 copyright O Kenneth Richard MacMillan. August 1997 National Library Bibliothèque nationale 191 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your & Vomrni~rente Our Ne Nam refBnmar The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distniute or seU reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/fih, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or othemise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract During the period of Marian exile between 1554 and 1558. a nurnber of important English cler~grnenand statesmen fled to the Continent and took refuge in the CrnigrC; communities of Strassburg and Zurich. These two communities were imbued with the tradition of Zurich reform. which in cornpanson to "catholic" Lutheranism and "radical" Calvinism espoused moderate Protestant views. The Zurich reformers taught that diversity might exist among Protestants. that certain rites which were indifferent to salvation might be retained in churches. that parish ornarnents irnpeded the path to salvation, that a clerical hierarchy might exist out of practicality. and that the civil rnagistrate might govem the church. Well versed in these tenets the exiles from Strassburg and Zurich retumed to England in 1559 with hopeç that under Elizabeth 1 the English Church would again embrace the godly reformation that had flourished under her brother Edward VI. Between 1559 and 1563. they took proactive roles in defining the Elizabet han Church. helping to shape its governance. doctrine. liturgy. and discipline. During this time. correspondence continued between the former exiles and the leaders ofthe Zunch church, Heinrich Bullinser, Rudolph Gualter. and Peter Martyr Vermigli. who tried to advise and support their English fiends. These interactions set a precedent to the Zurich reforrners' involvement in controversial events which occurred in the Church of Ençland in the later- 1 560s and 1 570s. Because of their close relationship with the Zurich reformers, the former exiles from Strassburg and Zurich held medial. Erastian Protestant views. Thus. in 1559 they could explicitly support the Queen. her Council. and the House of Cornmons in their intention to re-establish royal suprernacy over the Church and to unite the nation under a unifom order of worship based on the Edwardian prayer book of 1552. These Former exiles included Francis Russell. earl of Bedford. an important member of Elizabeth's Privy Council. Sir Anthony Cooke, a Parliamentanan close to the levers of power. and several En~lishdivines. such as Richard Cox, Edmund Gnndal, John Jewel, Robert Home, John Parkhurst, and Edwin Sandys. Because of their explicit support of the Elizabethan religious settlement and their participation in important religious affairs during the Parliament of 1559. the clergymen within this group received a disproportionate number of episcopal seats. In these powemil positions they participated in the omaments controversy of 1559 to 1560, defences of the English Church between 1 559 and 1 562. and the Convocation of 1563. crucial events that shaped the Elizabethan Church in a manner reflectinç late-Edwardian and Zurich models of reform. Acknowledgernents 1 wish to acknowledge my personal debt to Professor Gerald W. Olsen of Nipissing University. who was a tme mentor to me through several years of my studies. 1 am grateful to Professor Paul C hristianson of Queen's University for enduring numerous sessions of seemingly endless questions and for his careful reading of a drafi version of this thesis. My thanks are also extended to the staff of the Interlibrary Loans and Special Collections departments of Stauffer Library, Queen's University, whose kindness and efficiency helped me to complete this work in a timely rnanner. This thesis is dedicated to my parents. Table of Contents Abstract Acknowledgernents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Summary and Conclusion Bibliography Vi ta Chapter One Introduction and Literature Review "Oh Zurich! Zurich! how much oftener do I now think of thee than ever 1 thought of England when 1 was at Zurich!"' These panegyrical words. written in 1559 by the English divine John Jewel to his long-time mentor Peter Martyr, emphatically showed the persona1 gratitude that one of many English clergymen and statesmen felt toward Zurich. Whether in Zurich, Strassburg, or other émiRrt; comrnunities sharing the traditionqof~urich reform dunng the Marian exile between 1554 and 1558, these English Protestants worshipped freely, using with few changes the Book of Comrnorr Prayer established in England during Edward VI's reign. Upon the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558, they retumed to their native England, with hopes that under the new Queen, the English Church would again embrace the godly refonn which had flourished under Edward, and further the refonnation which had spread so pervasively through the Continent. Many exiles imbued with the traditions of Zurich retumed to take proactive rotes in defining the Elizabethan Settlement of religion. Between 1559 and 1563. they helped to establish and defend the govemance. doctrine. liturgy, and discipline of the newly reconstituted Church of England. Dunng this period. correspondence continued between the former exiles and the leaders of the Zurich church. ~nrisre-?Heinrich Bullinger. ' The Zirrich I,errers. or Ï'he ( 'clrrespnndencrr,l,Seiwrtrl English Iliishop.~and Orhers. irith srme ofthe //elwtirrn Rejirrrrrrs, During the Reign ofC.uren Elitnheth. 2d cd.. cd. Hasiings Robinson. Parkcr Socicty (Cainbridgc: Cainbridgc. U.P.. 1846). p. 33. This cdition contains tlic Icttcrs of \-oluitic 1 (1842) and voliiinc 11 ( 1845) clironologi~~llyamngcd in onc scrics. (Hcraftcr citcd. with narncs of corrcspondcnts and date, ris Zurich l.t.trers). Tlic cccIcsiasiical supcrinicndcni of tlic Zurich cliurclics. his deputy Rudolph Gualter, and the Italian exile Peter Martyr Vermigli (now resident in Zurich). who tned to advise and support their English fiiends and to influence the direction and shape of the Elizabethan church. This thesis attempts to examine the influence exerted by the leaders of the Zurich church and by those in England imbued with a tradition of Zurich reform on the Church of England between the Parliament of 1559 and the Convocation of 1563. By way of introduction, this chapter provides a survey of the historiography on this topic. As this chapter will show, the impact of the Zurich reforrnen on the early-Elizabethan Church of England has not been adequately descnbed by historians. 7 ïIe Zurich I&y?)rrn~edTradiimr il) iZzabe/hut1 Drg/atrd The suggestion that the leaders of the Zurich church influenced the early-Elizabethan Church is not new. It was made impiicitly by Bishop Gilbert Bumet in his Hisfory of the Refc)rrnc~fio?)@hr C'hwch of fi~g/a~,d( 1679- 7 14) and by John Strype in his Ai~ilalsojlhe Rcf«rmnfiotl(1 709-3 1 ). Bot h Bumet and Strype incorporated into t heir text and included in appendices various letten between the former Marian exiles and their friends in Zurich. While this correspondence was often printed and translated inaccurately. its inclusion made it manifestly clear that at least some influence was exerted by Bullinger, Gualter, and Martyr during the first decade and a half of Elizabeth's reign.-either Bumet nor Strype undenook to analyse in any detail the nature or extent of this influence. Possibly this was because the limited number of letten available for analysis made it appear at best negliçible and restticted to isolated events. In the last century. however, the publication by the Parker Society of the "Iniroduciion." Zurich l.errer.~.p. v. Zurich I.eflrr.sgreatly irnproved both the number of letters available for analysis and access to these usetLi sources. This collection included over two hundred letters, dating from late- 1 558 to the mid- 1 570s. written mostly by English statesmen and divines and the leaders of the Zurich church.' WhiIe historians have often used the wealth of information contained in this collection to show the opinions of various Englishmen on certain events conceming the early Elizabethan Church, few have directly considered the question of the Zurich reformers' influence upon their friends in England. Those who have made specialized studies, as the following bnef discussion will reveal, have concentrated their efforts on events after 1 563. The fim historian to specifically consider a Zunch influence on Elizabethan England was Frank Gully. In his thesis "The lnfluence of Heinrich Bullinger and the Tigurine Tradition upon the English