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John Bradford

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98-538: John Bradford (1510–1555) was an English Reformer , prebendary of St. Paul's , and martyr . He was imprisoned in the Tower of London for alleged crimes against Queen Mary I . He was burned at the stake on 1 July 1555. Bradford was born in the village of Blackley , near Manchester in 1510. He was educated at a grammar school. Talented with numbers and money, he later served under Sir John Harington of Exton in Rutland as

196-401: A chamber at Lincoln College . Thence he put forth a witty and effective reply to John Saltmarsh , who had attacked his views on ecclesiastical reform. Fuller subsequently published by royal request a sermon preached on 10 May 1644, at St Mary's, Oxford, before the king and Prince Charles , called Jacob's Vow . The spirit of Fuller's preaching, characterised by calmness and moderation, offended

294-576: A chapter of his 1916 book The Pleasures of an Absentee Landlord to an appreciation of Fuller and of the genial spirit of Fuller's prose, writing that Fuller retains the intimate tone of one who is in a little circle of friends. There is no attempt at the impartial dignity of history. If he tells what happens, he takes it for granted that we should like to know what he thinks about it. In about 1640 Fuller married Eleanor, daughter of Hugh Grove of Chisenbury , Wiltshire . She died in 1641. Their son, John, baptised at Broadwindsor by his father on 6 June 1641,

392-492: A day (except during the hunting season); of "powerful but unoriginal mind", he let himself be influenced by his advisors from whom he was never apart, by night or day. He was thus susceptible to whoever had his ear. This contributed to a state of hostility between his young contemporaries and the Lord Chancellor , Cardinal Thomas Wolsey . As long as Wolsey had his ear, Henry's Catholicism was secure: in 1521, he had defended

490-417: A devotional work. This was a clean shirt that was sewn specifically for the burning, made in the style of a wedding shirt. "This clothing with a new shirt to wear at the stake became a common feature at the burnings, a way of signaling support for and honouring the victim, as though he were being dressed as a bridegroom for a wedding." Also, the ceremonial donning of the shirt of flame could be seen as similar to

588-525: A drunken head; Lord, I have a swearing heart. ' " However there are other attributions for the phrase "there but for the grace of God"; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (in the voice of Sherlock Holmes ) attributes the phrase to Richard Baxter (1615–1691) in The Boscombe Valley Mystery (1891): Why does fate play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, "There, but for

686-420: A natural and humble obedience. This declared England an independent country in every respect. English historian Geoffrey Elton called this act an "essential ingredient" of the "Tudor revolution" in that it expounded a theory of national sovereignty . Cranmer was now able to grant an annulment of the marriage to Catherine as Henry required, pronouncing on 23 May the judgment that Henry's marriage with Catherine

784-668: A political affair than a theological dispute. In 1527, Henry VIII requested an annulment of his marriage, but Pope Clement VII refused. In response, the Reformation Parliament (1529–1536) passed laws abolishing papal authority in England and declared Henry to be head of the Church of England . Final authority in doctrinal disputes now rested with the monarch. Though a religious traditionalist himself, Henry relied on Protestants to support and implement his religious agenda. Ideologically,

882-498: A religious minority until political events intervened. As heretics in the eyes of church and state, early Protestants were persecuted. Between 1530 and 1533, Thomas Hitton (England's first Protestant martyr ), Thomas Bilney, Richard Bayfield , John Tewkesbury , James Bainham , Thomas Benet , Thomas Harding , John Frith and Andrew Hewet were burned to death. William Tracy was posthumously convicted of heresy for denying purgatory and affirming justification by faith, and his corpse

980-515: A second set of royal injunctions ordering the destruction of images to which pilgrimage offerings were made, the prohibition of lighting votive candles before images of saints, and the preaching of sermons against the veneration of images and relics. Afterwards, the shrine and bones of Thomas Becket , considered by many to have been martyred in defence of the church's liberties, were destroyed at Canterbury Cathedral. Worthies of England Thomas Fuller (baptised 19 June 1608 – 16 August 1661)

1078-589: A sermon at Westminster Abbey , on 27 March 1643, on the anniversary of Charles I's accession, on the text, "Yea, let him take all, so my Lord the King return in peace." On Wednesday 26 July, he preached on church reformation, satirising the religious reformers, and maintaining that only the Supreme Power could initiate reforms. He was now obliged to leave London, and in August 1643 he joined the king at Oxford, where he lodged in

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1176-611: A servant. Through his good influence and abilities in auditing and writing, he gained favour and trust with his employer and at the Siege of Montreuil in 1544, occupied the office of paymaster of the English army during the wars of Henry VIII . Later, he became a law student at the Inner Temple in London. Through the contact and preachings of a fellow student, he became acquainted with and converted to

1274-512: A short time he preached with success at the Inns of Court , and then at the invitation of the master of the Savoy , Walter Balcanqual , and the brotherhood of that foundation, became lecturer at their chapel of St Mary Savoy . Some of the best discourses of the witty preacher were delivered at the Savoy to audiences which extended into the chapel-yard. In one he set forth with searching and truthful minuteness

1372-530: A time whilst in the Tower, Bradford was put in a cell with three other reformers, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer , Ridley, and Latimer. Their time was spent in careful study of the New Testament . On 31 January 1555, Bradford was tried and condemned to death. Bradford was taken to Newgate Prison to be burned at the stake on 1 July. Bradford was given a special " Shirt of Flame " by a Mrs. Marlet, for whom he had written

1470-485: A young man, John Leaf. Before the fire was lit, he begged forgiveness of any he had wronged, and offered forgiveness to those who had wronged him. He then turned to Leaf and said, "Be of good comfort brother; for we shall have a merry supper with the Lord this night!" A century later, in his Worthies of England , Thomas Fuller wrote that he endured the flame "as a fresh gale of wind in a hot summer's day, confirming by his death

1568-622: Is a gift from God received through faith . If Luther was correct, then the Mass, the sacraments, charitable acts, prayers to saints , prayers for the dead, pilgrimage , and the veneration of relics do not mediate divine favour. To believe otherwise would be superstition at best and idolatry at worst. Early Protestants portrayed Catholic practices such as confession to priests, clerical celibacy , and requirements to fast and keep vows as burdensome and spiritually oppressive. Not only did purgatory lack any biblical basis according to Protestants, but

1666-467: Is financial contribution. Besides paying obligatory tithes , English people voluntarily donated large amounts of money to their parish churches . Lollardy anticipated some Protestant teachings. This anticlerical movement originated from the teachings of theologian John Wycliffe (died 1384), and the Catholic Church considered it heretical . Lollards believed in the primacy of scripture and that

1764-620: The Act in Restraint of Appeals , which outlawed appeals to Rome on ecclesiastical matters and declared that This realm of England is an Empire, and so hath been accepted in the world, governed by one Supreme Head and King having the dignity and royal estate of the Imperial Crown of the same, unto whom a body politic compact of all sorts and degrees of people divided in terms and by names of Spirituality and Temporality, be bounden and owe to bear next to God

1862-549: The Archbishop of Canterbury to act against the Pope's prohibition. Henry thus resolved to bully the priests . Having first charged eight bishops and seven other clerics with praemunire , the King decided in 1530 to proceed against the whole clergy for violating the 1392 Statute of Praemunire , which forbade obedience to the Pope or any foreign ruler. Henry wanted the clergy of Canterbury province to pay £100,000 for their pardon; this

1960-640: The Church of England broke away first from the authority of the Pope and bishops over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church . These events were part of the wider European Reformation : various religious and political movements that affected both the practice of Christianity in Western and Central Europe and relations between church and state. The English Reformation began as more of

2058-536: The Protestant faith. This caused him to abandon his legal studies and in 1548, he took up theology at Catharine Hall (now St Catharine's College ), University of Cambridge . In 1549 he was awarded his MA and in that same year was appointed to a fellowship at Pembroke College, Cambridge . At this institution he was often referred to with the nickname "Holy Bradford" not from malice but out of respect for his dedication to God and his unselfish attitude. In August 1550 he

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2156-585: The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 . The medieval English church was part of the larger Catholic Church led by the Pope in Rome . The dominant view of salvation in the late medieval church taught that contrite persons should cooperate with God 's grace towards their salvation (see synergism ) by performing charitable acts , which would merit reward in Heaven . God's grace was ordinarily given through

2254-508: The Treasons Act 1534 , which made it high treason punishable by death to deny royal supremacy. The following year, Thomas More and John Fisher were executed under this legislation. Finally, in 1536, Parliament passed the Act against the Pope's Authority , which removed the last part of papal authority still legal. This was Rome's power in England to decide disputes concerning Scripture . The break with Rome gave Henry VIII power to administer

2352-497: The Tudor dynasty . Before Henry's father ( Henry VII ) ascended the throne, England had been beset by civil warfare over rival claims to the English crown. Henry wanted to avoid a similar uncertainty over the succession. Catherine of Aragon's only surviving child was Princess Mary . Henry claimed that this lack of a male heir was because his marriage was "blighted in the eyes of God". Catherine had been his late brother 's wife, and it

2450-566: The Wycliffite Bible , an English translation of the Latin Vulgate . In 1401, Parliament passed the Suppression of Heresy Act , the first English law authorising the burning of unrepentant or reoffending heretics. In reaction to Lollardy, the 1409 Constitutions of Oxford prohibited vernacular Bible translations unless authorised by the bishops. This effectively became a total ban as

2548-539: The Anglican Church broke away from Catholicism, in part because the title was re-conferred by Parliament in 1544, after the split.) Wolsey's enemies at court included those who had been influenced by Lutheran ideas, among whom was the attractive, charismatic Anne Boleyn . Anne arrived at court in 1522 as maid of honour to Queen Catherine, having spent some years in France being educated by Queen Claude of France. She

2646-526: The Archbishop of Canterbury. This Act also reiterated that England had "no superior under God, but only your Grace" and that Henry's "imperial crown" had been diminished by "the unreasonable and uncharitable usurpations and exactions" of the Pope. The First Act of Supremacy made Henry Supreme Head of the Church of England and disregarded any "usage, custom, foreign laws, foreign authority [or] prescription". In case this should be resisted, Parliament passed

2744-525: The Bible should be available in the vernacular languages for the benefit of the laity . They prioritised preaching scripture over the sacraments and did not believe in transubstantiation. In addition, they condemned prayers for the dead and denied that confession to a priest was necessary for salvation. Lollards believed the Catholic Church was a false church, but they outwardly conformed to Catholicism to evade persecution. When Lollards gathered together, they read

2842-569: The Catholic Church from Martin Luther's accusations of heresy in a book he wrote—probably with considerable help from the conservative Bishop of Rochester John Fisher —entitled The Defence of the Seven Sacraments , for which he was awarded the title "Defender of the Faith" ( Fidei Defensor ) by Pope Leo X . (Successive English and British monarchs have retained this title to the present, even after

2940-456: The Church of England became markedly Protestant during the reign of Henry's son Edward VI (1547–1553) largely along lines laid down by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer . Under Mary I (1553–1558), Catholicism was briefly restored. The Elizabethan Religious Settlement reintroduced the Protestant religion but in a more moderate manner. Nevertheless, disputes over the structure, theology, and worship of

3038-508: The Church of England continued for generations. The English Reformation is generally considered to have concluded during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603), but scholars also speak of a "Long Reformation" stretching into the 17th and 18th centuries. This time period includes the violent disputes over religion during the Stuart period , most famously the English Civil War which resulted in

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3136-579: The Clergy . (Parliament subsequently gave this statutory force with the Submission of the Clergy Act .) The next day, More resigned as lord chancellor. This left Cromwell as Henry's chief minister. (Cromwell never became chancellor. His power came—and was lost—through his informal relations with Henry.) Archbishop Warham died in August 1532. Henry wanted Thomas Cranmer —a Protestant who could be relied on to oppose

3234-525: The English Church, tax it, appoint its officials, and control its laws. It also gave him control over the church's doctrine and ritual. While Henry remained a traditional Catholic, his most important supporters in breaking with Rome were the Protestants. Yet, not all of his supporters were Protestants. Some were traditionalists, such as Stephen Gardiner , opposed to the new theology but felt papal supremacy

3332-539: The English population, especially among academics and merchants with connections to continental Europe. Protestant thought was better received at Cambridge University than Oxford . A group of reform-minded Cambridge students (known by moniker "Little Germany") met at the White Horse tavern from the mid-1520s. Its members included Robert Barnes , Hugh Latimer , John Frith , Thomas Bilney , George Joye and Thomas Arthur . Those who held Protestant sympathies remained

3430-588: The German Lutheran princes of the Schmalkaldic League . There also seemed to be a possibility that Emperor Charles V might act to avenge his rejected aunt (Queen Catherine) and enforce the Pope's excommunication. The negotiations did not lead to an alliance but did bring Lutheran ideas to England. In 1536, Convocation adopted the first doctrinal statement for the Church of England, the Ten Articles . This

3528-487: The King as a petition for reform on 18 March. On 26 March, the Act in Conditional Restraint of Annates mandated the clergy pay no more than five percent of their first year's revenue ( annates ) to Rome. On 10 May, the King demanded of Convocation that the church renounce all authority to make laws. On 15 May, Convocation renounced its authority to make canon law without royal assent—the so called Submission of

3626-448: The King's nomination for bishop, they would be liable to punishment by praemunire. The Act of First Fruits and Tenths transferred the taxes on ecclesiastical income from the Pope to the Crown. The Act Concerning Peter's Pence and Dispensations outlawed the annual payment by landowners of Peter's Pence to the Pope, and transferred the power to grant dispensations and licences from the Pope to

3724-712: The Pardon to Clergy Act 1531. By 1532, Cromwell was responsible for managing government business in the House of Commons. He authored and presented to the Commons the Supplication against the Ordinaries , which was a list of grievances against the bishops, including abuses of power and Convocation's independent legislative authority. After passing the Commons, the Supplication was presented to

3822-629: The Savoy, where Samuel Pepys heard him preach; but he preferred his conversation or his books to his sermons. Fuller's last promotion was that of Chaplain Extraordinary to Charles II . In the summer of 1661 Fuller visited the West in connection with the business of his prebend , which had been restored to him. On Sunday 12 August, while preaching at the Savoy, he was seized with typhus fever , and died at his new lodgings in Covent Garden on 16 August. He

3920-477: The annulment and other grievances against the church. The Catholic Church was a powerful institution in England with a number of privileges. The King could not tax or sue clergy in civil courts. The church could also grant fugitives sanctuary , and many areas of the law―such as family law―were controlled by the church. For centuries, kings had attempted to reduce the church's power, and the English Reformation

4018-559: The authority of the papacy above the Crown) and Wolsey's subsequent death in November 1530 on his way to London to answer a charge of high treason left Henry open to both the influences of the supporters of the queen and the opposing influences of those who sanctioned the abandonment of the Roman allegiance, for whom an annulment was but an opportunity. In 1529, the King summoned Parliament to deal with

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4116-488: The bishops never did authorise an official English translation. At the same time, the Bible was available in most other European languages. As literacy rates increased, a growing number of orthodox laity who could read English but not Latin resorted to reading the Wycliffite Bible. Lollards were forced underground and survived as a tiny movement of peasants and artisans. It "helped to create popular reception-areas for

4214-434: The capacity of lecturer. While at St Clement's he was suspended; but soon recovered his freedom and preached wherever he was invited. At Chelsea, where he also occasionally officiated, he covertly preached a sermon on the death of Charles, but he did not break with his Roundhead patrons. James Hay, 2nd Earl of Carlisle made him his chaplain, and presented him in 1648 or 1649 to the curacy of Waltham Abbey . His possession of

4312-497: The church and further Protestant beliefs. Initially, Parliament passed minor legislation to control ecclesiastical fees, clerical pluralism , and sanctuary. In the matter of the annulment, no progress seemed possible. The Pope seemed more afraid of Emperor Charles V than of Henry. Anne, Cromwell and their allies wished simply to ignore the Pope, but in October 1530 a meeting of clergy and lawyers advised that Parliament could not empower

4410-460: The circumstances of the time. In grief over his losses, which included his library and manuscripts (his "upper and nether millstone"), and over the calamities of the country, he wrote his work on the Cause and Cure of a Wounded Conscience (1647). It was prepared at Boughton House in his native county, where he and his son were entertained by Edward Lord Montagu , who had been one of his contemporaries at

4508-533: The city of Westminster and the parishes contiguous to the Savoy. A pass was granted by the House of Lords, on 2 January 1643, for an equipage of two coaches, four or six horses and eight or ten attendants. On the arrival of the deputation at the Treaty of Uxbridge , on 4 January, officers of the Parliamentary army stopped the coaches and searched the gentlemen; and they found upon the latter "two scandalous books arraigning

4606-538: The clergy were also accused of leveraging the fear of purgatory to make money from prayers and masses. The Catholics countered that justification by faith alone was a "licence to sin". The publication of William Tyndale 's English New Testament in 1526 helped to spread Protestant ideas. Printed abroad and smuggled into the country, the Tyndale Bible was the first English Bible to be mass produced; there were probably 16,000 copies in England by 1536. Tyndale's translation

4704-414: The commissioners of the House of Lords, whose last service to his friend was to interest himself in obtaining him a bishopric. A Panegyrick to His Majesty on his Happy Return , one of the many contemporary poems celebrating the restoration of Charles II, was the last of Fuller's verse efforts. On 2 August 1660, by royal letters, he was admitted Doctor of Divinity at Cambridge . He resumed his lectures at

4802-436: The criminal to that shameful end. While the phrase, or its attribution to Bradford, cannot be traced to before 1800, Townsend notes that there is a 17th-century attribution of a similar sentiment to Bradford, demonstrating how "by the sight of others' sins, men may learn to bewail their own sinfulness". According to this tradition, Bradford, "when he saw any drunk or heard any swear, &c., would railingly complain, 'Lord I have

4900-502: The curacy of St Bene't's , Cambridge. Fuller's oratory soon attracted attention. In June 1631 his uncle gave him a prebend in Salisbury , where his father, who would die in the following year, already held a canonry . The rectory of Broadwindsor , Dorset, then in the diocese of Bristol , was his next preferment (1634); and on 11 June 1635 he achieved the degree of Bachelor of Divinity from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. In 1640, he

4998-429: The dead , which were made possible by the communion of saints . Religious guilds sponsored intercessory Masses for their members through chantries . The monks and nuns who lived in monasteries prayed for souls as well. By popular demand, "prayer for the dead dominated Catholic devotion in much of northern Europe." English Catholicism was strong and popular in the early 1500s. One measure of popular engagement

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5096-543: The death of Edward VI in 1553, Mary I ascended to the throne restoring rights and protections to Catholics. In the first month of the new monarch's reign, Bradford was arrested and imprisoned on the charge of "subversion and trying to stir up a mob" and committed to the Tower of London . At the time "stirring up a mob" was a serious and dangerous act, leading to riot and possible death, and certainly major disturbance to society. During his time in prison, he continued to write religious works and preach to all who would listen. For

5194-490: The early Protestant leaders went through a humanist phase before embracing the new movement. A notable early use of the English word reformation came in 1512, when the English bishops were called together by King Henry VIII , notionally to discuss the extirpation of the rump Lollard heresy. John Colet (then working with Erasmus on the establishment of his school) gave a notoriously confrontational sermon on Romans 12:2 ("Be ye not conformed to this world, but be ye reformed in

5292-403: The grace of God go I" as an expression of humility and reliance on God's grace rather than his own morality. The editor of The Writings of John Bradford , Aubrey Townsend, notes this in his preface: The familiar story, that, on seeing evil-doers taken to the place of execution, he was wont to exclaim, "But for the grace of God there goes John Bradford", is a universal tradition which has overcome

5390-471: The grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes." The phrase has also been attributed to John Newton (1725–1807) and in Catholic tradition to Philip Neri (1515–1595). English Reformation Electors of Saxony Holy Roman Emperors Building Literature Theater Liturgies Hymnals Monuments Calendrical commemoration The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when

5488-465: The groundwork for the subsequent Reformation was laid by Renaissance humanists who believed that the Scriptures were the best source of Christian theology and criticized religious practices which they considered superstitious. By 1520, Martin Luther's new ideas were known and debated in England, but Protestants were a religious minority and heretics under the law. The theology and liturgy of

5586-460: The high royalists. To silence unjust censures he became chaplain to the regiment of Sir Ralph Hopton . For the first five years of the war, he "had little list or leisure to write, fearing to be made a history, and shifting daily for my safety. All that time I could not live to study, who did only study to live." After the defeat of Hopton at Cheriton Down , Fuller retreated to Basing House . He took an active part in its defence , and his life with

5684-428: The hindrances to peace, and urged the signing of petitions to the king at Oxford, and to the parliament, to continue their care in advancing an accommodation. In his Appeal of Injured Innocence Fuller says that he was once deputed to carry a petition to the king at Oxford. This has been identified with a petition entrusted to Sir Edward Wardour , clerk of the pells, Dr Dukeson, "Dr Fuller," and four or five others from

5782-577: The king's garrisons. In Andronicus, or the Unfortunate Politician (1646), partly authentic and partly fictitious, he satirised the leaders of the Revolution; and for the comfort of sufferers by the war he issued (1647) a second devotional manual, entitled Good Thoughts in Worse Times , abounding in fervent aspirations, and drawing moral lessons in beautiful language out of the events of his life or

5880-408: The lapse of time. The tradition of attribution of the phrase to Bradford dates to at least the early 19th century, as it is found in A treatise on prayer by Edward Bickersteth (1822): The pious Martyr Bradford, when he saw a poor criminal led to execution, exclaimed, "there, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford". He knew that the same evil principles were in his own heart which had brought

5978-471: The late great storm with more success than many other great men". He was known as "a perfect walking library". Antithetic and axiomatic sentences abound in his pages. "Wit," wrote Coleridge after reading the Church History , "was the stuff and substance of Fuller's intellect". Charles Lamb made some selections from Fuller, and admired his "golden works." American essayist Samuel McChord Crothers devoted

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6076-517: The law of Christ allows, supreme head of the English Church and clergy". When Warham requested a discussion, there was silence. Warham then said, "He who is silent seems to consent", to which a bishop responded, "Then we are all silent." The Convocation granted consent to the King's five articles and the payment on 8 March 1531. Later, the Convocation of York agreed to the same on behalf of the clergy of York province . That same year, Parliament passed

6174-565: The living was in jeopardy on the appointment of Oliver Cromwell 's "Tryers"; but he evaded their inquisitorial questions by his ready wit. He was not disturbed at Waltham in 1655, when the Protector's edict prohibited the adherents of the late king from preaching. There is good reason to suppose that Fuller was at the Hague immediately before the Restoration , in the retinue of Lord Berkeley , one of

6272-561: The marriage, but the Pope refused. According to canon law , the Pope could not annul a marriage on the basis of a canonical impediment previously dispensed. Clement also feared the wrath of Catherine's nephew, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V , whose troops earlier that year had sacked Rome and briefly taken the Pope prisoner. The combination of Henry's "scruple of conscience" and his captivation by Anne Boleyn made his desire to rid himself of his queen compelling. The indictment of his chancellor Cardinal Wolsey in 1529 for praemunire (taking

6370-524: The newly imported Lutheranism". Some Renaissance humanists , such as Erasmus (who lived in England for a time), John Colet and Thomas More , called for a return ad fontes ("back to the sources") of Christian faith—the scriptures as understood through textual, linguistic, classical and patristic scholarship —and wanted to make the Bible available in the vernacular. Humanists criticised so-called superstitious practices and clerical corruption, while emphasising inward piety over religious ritual. Some of

6468-431: The newness of your minds") saying that the first to reform must be the bishops themselves, then the clergy, and only then the laity. The Protestant Reformation was initiated by Martin Luther , a German friar . By the early 1520s, Luther's views were known and disputed in England. The main plank of Luther's theology was justification by faith alone rather than by faith with good works. In other words, justification

6566-429: The papacy—to replace him. The Pope reluctantly approved Cranmer's appointment, and he was consecrated on 30 March 1533. By this time, Henry was secretly married to a pregnant Anne. The impending birth of an heir gave new urgency to annulling his marriage to Catherine. Nevertheless, a decision continued to be delayed because Rome was the final authority in all ecclesiastical matters. To address this issue, Parliament passed

6664-664: The people to give to the poor rather than make offerings to images. The clergy were also ordered to place Bibles in both English and Latin in every church for the people to read. This last requirement was largely ignored by the bishops for a year or more due to the lack of any authorised English translation. The only complete vernacular version was the Coverdale Bible finished in 1535 and based on Tyndale's earlier work. It lacked royal approval, however. Historian Diarmaid MacCulloch in his study of The Later Reformation in England, 1547–1603 argues that after 1537, "England's Reformation

6762-426: The priest donning his vestments, thus subverting Catholic ritual. "...and so the martyr might pray over and kiss the shirt before putting it on... underlining their oneness with Christ and the fact they were willing to die..." A large crowd delayed the execution, which had been scheduled for 4 o'clock in the morning, as many who admired Bradford came to witness his death. He was chained to the stake at Smithfield with

6860-575: The priest offered to God the same sacrifice of Christ on the cross that provided atonement for the sins of humanity. The Mass was also an offering of prayer by which the living could help souls in purgatory . While genuine penance removed the guilt attached to sin, Catholicism taught that a penalty could remain in the case of imperfect contrition . It was believed that most people would end their lives with these penalties unsatisfied and would have to spend "time" in purgatory. Time in purgatory could be lessened through indulgences and prayers for

6958-483: The proceedings of the House," and letters with ciphers to Lord Viscount Falkland and the Lord Spencer . A joint order of both Houses remanded the party; and Fuller and his friends were briefly imprisoned. The Westminster Petition reached the king's hands; and it was published with the royal reply. When it was expected, three months later, that a favourable result would attend the negotiations at Oxford, Fuller preached

7056-464: The role of grace-giving sacraments. His choice of love rather than charity to translate agape de-emphasized good works. When rendering the Greek verb metanoeite into English, Tyndale used repent rather than do penance . The former word indicated an internal turning to God, while the latter translation supported the sacrament of confession. The Protestant ideas were popular among some parts of

7154-601: The rule of Puritan Oliver Cromwell . After the Stuart Restoration and the Glorious Revolution , the Church of England remained the established church , but a number of nonconformist churches now existed whose members suffered various civil disabilities until these were removed many years later. A substantial but dwindling minority of people from the late 16th to early 19th centuries remained Catholics in England – their church organization remained illegal until

7252-596: The same month the Ten Articles were published, Cromwell issued a set of Royal Injunctions to the clergy. Minor feast days were changed into normal work days, including those celebrating a church's patron saint and most feasts during harvest time (July through September). The rationale was partly economic as too many holidays led to a loss of productivity and were "the occasion of vice and idleness". In addition, Protestants considered feast days to be examples of superstition. Clergy were to discourage pilgrimages and instruct

7350-463: The same period, the most influential conservative bishop, Stephen Gardiner, was sent to France on a diplomatic mission and thus removed from an active role in English politics for three years. Cromwell's programme, assisted by Anne Boleyn's influence over episcopal appointments, was not merely against the clergy and the power of Rome. He persuaded Henry that safety from political alliances that Rome might attempt to bring together lay in negotiations with

7448-547: The seven sacraments — Baptism , Confirmation , Marriage , Holy Orders , Anointing of the Sick , Penance and the Eucharist . The Eucharist was celebrated during the Mass , the central act of Catholic worship. In this service, a priest consecrated bread and wine to become the body and blood of Christ through transubstantiation . The church taught that, in the name of the congregation,

7546-554: The troops caused him to be afterwards regarded as one of "the great cavalier parsons". He compiled in 1645 a small volume of prayers and meditations – the Good Thoughts in Bad Times – which, set up and printed in the besieged city of Exeter , where he had retired, was called by himself "the first fruits of Exeter press". It was inscribed to Lady Dalkeith , governess to the infant princess, Henrietta Anne (b. 1644), to whose household he

7644-518: The truth of that doctrine he had so diligently and powerfully preached during his life." Bradford is commemorated at the Marian Martyrs' Monument in Smithfield, London. He is also commemorated with one of the six statues on the exterior of Manchester Town Hall marking people important in the early history of the city. There is a 19th-century tradition tracing to Bradford the idiomatic "There but for

7742-537: The university and had taken the side of the parliament. For the next few years of his life Fuller was mainly dependent upon his dealings with booksellers, of whom he asserted that none had ever lost by him. He made considerable progress in an English translation from the manuscript of the Annales of his friend Archbishop Ussher . Amongst his benefactors was Sir John Danvers of Chelsea, the regicide. Fuller in 1647 began to preach at St Clement's, Eastcheap , and elsewhere in

7840-635: Was a continuation of this power struggle. The Reformation Parliament sat from 1529 to 1536 and brought together those who wanted reform but who disagreed what form it should take. There were common lawyers who resented the privileges of the clergy to summon laity to their ecclesiastical courts , and there were those who had been influenced by Lutheranism and were hostile to the theology of Rome. Henry's chancellor, Thomas More , successor to Wolsey, also wanted reform: he wanted new laws against heresy. Lawyer and member of Parliament Thomas Cromwell saw how Parliament could be used to advance royal supremacy over

7938-441: Was a sum equal to the Crown's annual income. This was agreed by the Convocation of Canterbury on 24 January 1531. It wanted the payment spread over five years, but Henry refused. The convocation responded by withdrawing their payment altogether and demanded Henry fulfil certain guarantees before they would give him the money. Henry refused these conditions, agreeing only to the five-year period of payment. On 7 February, Convocation

8036-404: Was a woman of "charm, style and wit, with will and savagery which made her a match for Henry". Anne was a distinguished French conversationalist, singer, and dancer. She was cultured and is the disputed author of several songs and poems. By 1527, Henry wanted his marriage to Catherine annulled . She had not produced a male heir who survived longer than two months, and Henry wanted a son to secure

8134-656: Was against the law of God. The Pope responded by excommunicating Henry on 11 July 1533. Anne gave birth to a daughter, Princess Elizabeth , on 7 September 1533. In 1534, Parliament took further action to limit papal authority in England. A new Heresy Act ensured that no one could be punished for speaking against the Pope and also made it more difficult to convict someone of heresy; however, sacramentarians and Anabaptists continued to be vigorously persecuted. The Act in Absolute Restraint of Annates outlawed all annates to Rome and also ordered that if cathedrals refused

8232-407: Was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his Worthies of England , published in 1662, after his death. He was a prolific author, and one of the first English writers able to live by his pen (and his many patrons). Fuller was the eldest son of Thomas Fuller, rector of Aldwinkle St Peter 's, Northamptonshire . He was born at his father's rectory and

8330-413: Was asked to agree to five articles that specified that: In Parliament, Bishop Fisher championed Catherine and the clergy, inserting into the first article the phrase "as far as the word of God allows". On 11 February, William Warham , Archbishop of Canterbury, presented the revised wording to Convocation. The clergy were to acknowledge the King to be "singular protector, supreme lord and even, so far as

8428-580: Was attached as chaplain. The corporation gave him the Bodleian lectureship on 21 March 1646, and he held it until 17 June following, soon after the surrender of the city to the parliament. The Fear of Losing the Old Light (1646) was his farewell discourse to his Exeter friends. Under the Articles of Surrender Fuller made his composition with the government at London, his "delinquency" being that he had been present in

8526-713: Was baptised on 19 June 1608. Dr John Davenant , bishop of Salisbury , was his uncle and godfather. According to John Aubrey , Fuller was "a boy of pregnant wit". At thirteen he was admitted to Queens' College, Cambridge , then presided over by John Davenant . His cousin, Edward Davenant , was a tutor there. He did well academically; and in Lent 1624–1625 he became B.A. and in July 1628, at only 20 years of age, received his M.A. After being overlooked in an election of fellows of his college, he moved to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge in November 1628. In 1630 he received from Corpus Christi College

8624-650: Was buried in St Dunstan's Church, Cranford , Middlesex (of which he was rector). A mural tablet was afterwards set up on the north side of the chancel, with an epitaph which contains a conceit worthy of his own pen, to the effect that while he was endeavouring (i.e. in the Worthies ) to give immortality to others, he himself attained it. A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine – Gallery Fuller's sense of humour kept him from extremes. "By his particular temper and management", said Laurence Echard in his History of England , "he weathered

8722-436: Was characterized by its hatred of images, as Margaret Aston 's work on iconoclasm and iconophobia has repeatedly and eloquently demonstrated." In February 1538, the famous Rood of Grace was condemned as a mechanical fraud and destroyed at St Paul's Cross . In July, the statues of Our Lady of Walsingham , Our Lady of Ipswich , and other Marian images were burned at Chelsea on Cromwell's orders. In September, Cromwell issued

8820-469: Was disinterred and burned. Henry VIII acceded to the English throne in 1509 at the age of 17. He made a dynastic marriage with Catherine of Aragon , widow of his brother Arthur , in June 1509, just before his coronation on Midsummer's Day . Unlike his father , who was secretive and conservative, the young Henry appeared the epitome of chivalry and sociability. An observant Catholic, he heard up to five masses

8918-470: Was elected proctor for Bristol in the memorable Convocation of Canterbury , which assembled with the Short Parliament . On the sudden dissolution of the latter he joined those who urged that convocation should likewise dissolve. That opinion was overruled; and the assembly continued to sit by royal writ. Fuller wrote a valuable account of the proceedings of this synod in his Church History, although he

9016-606: Was fined £200 for remaining. At Broadwindsor, early in 1641, Thomas Fuller, his curate Henry Sanders, the churchwardens, and five others certified that their parish, represented by 242 adult males, had taken the Protestation ordered by the speaker of the Long Parliament . Fuller was not formally dispossessed of his living and prebend on the triumph of the Presbyterian party, but he relinquished both preferments about this time. For

9114-474: Was followed by the Bishops' Book in 1537. These established a semi-Lutheran doctrine for the church. Justification by faith, qualified by an emphasis on good works following justification, was a core teaching. The traditional seven sacraments were reduced to three only—baptism, Eucharist and penance. Catholic teaching on praying to saints, purgatory and the use of images in worship was undermined. In August 1536,

9212-418: Was highly influential, forming the basis of all subsequent English translations until the 20th century. An attack on traditional religion, Tyndale's translation included an epilogue explaining Luther's theology of justification by faith, and many translation choices were designed to undermine traditional Catholic teachings. Tyndale translated the Greek word charis as favour rather than grace to de-emphasize

9310-414: Was made vicegerent in spirituals. Effectively the King's vicar general , Cromwell's authority was greater than that of bishops, even the Archbishop of Canterbury. Largely due to Anne Boleyn's influence, a number of Protestants were appointed bishops between 1534 and 1536. These included Latimer, Thomas Goodrich , John Salcot , Nicholas Shaxton , William Barlow , John Hilsey and Edward Foxe . During

9408-533: Was not essential to the Church of England's identity. The King relied on Protestants, such as Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer, to carry out his religious programme and embraced the language of the continental Reformation, while maintaining a middle way between religious extremes. What followed was a period of doctrinal confusion as both conservatives and reformers attempted to shape the church's future direction. The reformers were aided by Cromwell, who in January 1535

9506-496: Was ordained deacon by Bishop Nicholas Ridley and appointed as his personal chaplain. He began preaching in churches in London under the mentorship of Ridley and Hugh Latimer . His gifts in preaching the Biblical faith led to his appointment in 1551 as Chaplain to King Edward VI and Prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral. He continued as a Fellow of Pembroke and as a roving preacher, mainly in London, Lancashire and Cheshire . Following

9604-402: Was therefore against biblical teachings for Henry to have married her ( Leviticus 20:21); a special dispensation from Pope Julius II had been needed to allow the wedding in the first place. Henry argued the marriage was never valid because the biblical prohibition was part of unbreakable divine law, and even popes could not dispense with it. In 1527, Henry asked Pope Clement VII to annul

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