Britain in 1603: The Tudor Legacy (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes
Impact of the Reformation
The Protestant Reformation transformed the religious landscape of Europe and had lasting consequences for Britain. By 1603, religious divisions had fractured the unity of Western Christendom, creating separate kingdoms with distinct forms of worship. For James I, ruling three separate kingdoms with different religious traditions presented complex challenges that would shape Stuart politics for decades to come.
The European Reformation
Catholic Church before the Reformation
Before the sixteenth century, Christianity in Western Europe operated under the unified control of the Catholic Church, which was centred in Rome and led by the Pope. The Pope claimed to have inherited spiritual authority directly from Christ through the apostle Peter. Bishops administered the Church in different countries, though they were often appointed by monarchs and derived their spiritual power from the Pope.
Catholic belief rested on several core principles:
Salvation depended on believing in Christ and following his teachings throughout daily life. Christians believed that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had sacrificed himself on the cross to pay for human sins, and that humans could avoid the punishments of Hell and reach Heaven if they died believing in him.
Priestly authority was central to Catholic practice. The Church taught that knowledge of Christ's word and the power to help human souls had been transmitted from Peter to those ordained as priests. This created a special, separate order of clergy with powers that laypeople did not possess.
Ceremonies and sacraments played a necessary role in worship. Sacraments are sacred acts or ceremonies, and Catholic teaching held that participating in these ceremonies was itself a sacred act that could not be replaced by private prayer or meditation alone. This gave enormous power to the Church because it made the institution a necessary part of each individual's relationship with God.
Understanding Catholic Sacraments
The sacraments were not merely symbolic rituals but were believed to have real spiritual power. The Church taught that only properly ordained priests could perform these sacred ceremonies, which created a fundamental dependency on the institutional Church for salvation. This is why the later Protestant rejection of this teaching was so revolutionary - it removed the Church's role as intermediary between individual believers and God.
The most important sacraments were the Mass and the Eucharist. During the Mass, the priest blessed bread and wine, which Catholic doctrine stated underwent transubstantiation - literally transforming into the actual body and blood of Christ. Only a priest properly ordained by the Church could receive and exercise this power to perform transubstantiation, which made the priest's presence essential within the sacrament. The Eucharist remained part of worship in most reformed churches, but as an act of remembrance rather than a sign of divine presence. Similarly, the ceremony of Confession required a priest's presence, whereas reformed churches emphasised private prayer and seeking God's forgiveness as the means of demonstrating repentance.
Over time, the Catholic Church had become increasingly wealthy and powerful. Like many powerful institutions, it appeared to some to have lost sight of the spiritual purpose that had justified its position. By the fifteenth century, criticism of the Church had grown due to increased literacy and printing. Reformers complained that religion had become mechanical, that faith had degenerated into superstition, and that Church leaders were embroiled in politics and luxurious self-indulgence. However, in the early sixteenth century there were few signs of change.
The Protestant challenge
These accumulated criticisms provided the background for the protest mounted by Martin Luther, a German monk who challenged the authorities and demanded reforms. Unlike many contemporary critics of the Church, Luther challenged not only certain practices but also core ideas. His central argument was:
Luther's Revolutionary Arguments
Luther's challenge to Catholic doctrine was radical because it fundamentally undermined the Church's authority and power:
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Salvation could not be guaranteed by the Church or by good works, but only by individual faith. Each person's salvation depended on their personal belief in God and following Christ.
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God offered salvation as a free gift to those who believed in Him and followed Christ.
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Belief came from private prayer and study of the Bible - the Word of God. The Bible should therefore be accessible to individual Christians, not just to scholars and clergy who could read it in Latin.
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Church ceremonies and sacraments only symbolised internal faith and too often encouraged ignorance and superstition.
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In God's eyes, priests and laity were equal, meaning that priests had no special powers.
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While the Church remained important as a source of guidance, teaching and preaching, there was no justification for the wide-ranging authority claimed by the Catholic Church.
The Pope responded by declaring Luther a heretic - the name given by the Catholic Church to those who challenged its teachings and denied its beliefs. Heretics could be excommunicated (expelled from the Church) or imprisoned, and if they refused to abandon their views, they were handed over to civil authorities to be burned alive. However, Luther was not the first reformer to suffer this fate. The rulers of Saxony, where Luther lived, protected him from the Church and its allies, allowing him to develop and publish his views and inspire other reformers such as Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin.
Those who adopted Luther's ideas became known as Protestants, and by 1550 there were Reformed churches in much of Germany and Scandinavia as well as the Netherlands and England. In response, some who remained loyal to the Catholic Church accepted certain criticisms and set about strengthening the Church by addressing abuses and clarifying its doctrines.
The Counter-Reformation
This process of internal reform, known as the Counter-Reformation, began with the Council of Trent which met in several sessions between 1545 and 1563. The authority of the Pope was reinforced, administration was improved, and many of the scandals that had provoked Luther's protests were eradicated.
The Catholic Church's Response
The Counter-Reformation was not merely defensive - it represented a genuine attempt to address corruption and abuses within the Church while reaffirming core Catholic doctrines. This renewal strengthened Catholic resolve and created a more militant, organized opposition to Protestantism. The reforms addressed many of the practical complaints that had fueled Protestant criticism, making the theological differences between the two branches all the more stark and irreconcilable.
The resulting renewal of faith and papal authority strengthened the loyalty of Catholics and increased Protestant fears, leading to war in Europe. It also contributed to Catholic plots against Queen Elizabeth and James I, and to the anti-Catholic paranoia that affected many English Protestants in the seventeenth century.
By the end of the sixteenth century, Europe was divided between a militant Protestantism, which rejected the authority of the past and looked to the Bible for its rules and inspiration, and a militant Catholicism determined to recover its control and destroy heresy. The religious map of Europe showed predominantly Lutheran areas in Scandinavia and Northern Germany, Calvinist Churches influential in parts of Germany and Holland, France with a Catholic establishment but a legally tolerated Protestant minority known as Huguenots, and England and Scotland predominantly Protestant while Ireland's population remained mainly Catholic.
Britain and the effects of the Reformation
Henry VIII's Reformation
In England, a Reformation was carried out on the instructions and in the interests of Henry VIII. Henry was not a Protestant, and his seizure of the Church and its property was motivated by a desire for power and wealth, as well as the need for a divorce in order to marry Anne Boleyn and, hopefully, produce a male heir.
In 1534 the Act of Supremacy declared the King to be Head of the Church. This was followed by the seizure of Church property, including the monasteries, and laws to enforce royal control and regulate the succession to the throne. By rejecting the authority of the Pope, Henry placed himself in the Protestant camp and was forced to grant positions of influence in the Church to men with Protestant ideas.
The Parliamentary Legacy
Equally significant, the chosen method of establishing and enforcing his new powers was the use of statute law, made and only reversible in parliament. This enhanced both the status and power of parliaments at a time when religious ideas and conflicts made members more concerned and willing to exercise their influence. This constitutional development would have profound consequences for Stuart politics in the seventeenth century.
Religious reversals under Edward and Mary
A genuinely Protestant Reformation was carried out during the short reign (1547-53) of Henry's son, Edward, which his Catholic daughter Mary could not entirely reverse during her even shorter reign (1553-58). Both settlements required the cooperation of the political elite in parliament once more.
When Elizabeth sought to create reconciliation and a moderate compromise in the Church of England, she not only had to establish it by parliamentary statute, but was also faced by parliamentary efforts to modify and change the arrangements she put in place. Henry's actions enhanced both the status and power of parliaments at a time when religious ideas and conflicts made members more concerned and more willing to exercise their influence.
Conflict of ideas: Calvinism and predestination
Mary's persecution of Protestants and her links with Spain (she married the heir to the Spanish crown) created a backlash against Catholicism across all social classes. Perhaps equally important, her persecution drove some Protestants into exile in Europe, where they came into contact with other Protestant groups.
The development of Protestant ideas posed problems for government. Luther argued that the rules for Church government, as well as salvation, could be found in the Bible, and that the Christian monarch, or godly ruler, had the power and responsibility of interpreting and enforcing them. However, the Bible was often unclear and contradictory, and individuals who believed their salvation depended on it were inclined to interpret it for themselves. Protestant ideas soon began to develop in different ways, and the varied and piecemeal nature of reform in different areas reinforced these differences.
Calvin's Doctrine of Predestination
By the time of Mary's death, there was considerable variation of opinion on what constituted a 'true' Church. The model favoured by many was that established by the French reformer, John Calvin. Calvin had extended Luther's ideas about salvation to establish the doctrine that some people were predestined to be saved because they were able to accept the gift of salvation and the disciplined Christianity that went with it.
Predestination was the belief held by Calvin and his followers that God chooses beforehand those to whom he will grant salvation. The sign of such predestination was the ability to live a godly life and accept the rules of a godly Church. The idea that God would exclude some souls from a gift that He granted freely was in some ways illogical and would be rejected by later religious leaders, but such assurance of salvation did encourage great dedication and commitment among Calvin's followers.
Many exiles returned after Mary's death, determined to reform the Church along Calvinist lines.
Presbyterianism and church organisation
Presbyterianism was a system of church organisation in which individual congregations were governed by a minister with the help of lay Elders (senior members) under the supervision of an elected assembly known as a Synod.
This meant getting rid of all traces of Catholic ceremonies and rituals and allowing ministers to concentrate on preaching the Word of God and ensuring that their parishioners lived godly lives (whether or not they wanted to). In Scotland the reformer John Knox was able to establish a Calvinist system known as Presbyterianism, but in England the reformers came up against a Queen who was more interested in political control and religious peace than in their cherished schemes of reform.
Presbyterian Authority and Discipline
The Presbyterian system gave great authority to ministers and certain senior members of the congregation (known as elders or presbyters) to control the behaviour and lives of their followers. Those who sought to live a godly life in daily life engaged in a daily struggle to avoid sin and carry out God's will. This required the discipline and support of a Calvinist Church. Only those who were able to accept the restrictions entailed by this discipline could be sure of salvation.
The sign of sainthood lay in a daily struggle to avoid sin and carry out God's will in daily life, a struggle that required the discipline and support of a Calvinist Church. The harshness of this doctrine led it to be softened and later challenged by other reformers. However, for most Calvinists, the belief that, as long as they genuinely sought a godly life, they could be sure of ultimate victory over sin, was a powerful inspiration.
They could serve God in whatever capacity they had - as a merchant or labourer as well as a minister - and any success was evidence of God's approval, as well as enhancing the reputation of God's people.
The task was not easy and it was important that the Church to which they had access should support them with good preaching and instruction and not hinder them by unnecessary and possibly corrupting ceremonies and sacraments. Hence Calvinist enthusiasts required the correct forms and organisation within their Church, to reflect doctrine in practice as well as in words.
The Elizabethan settlement
As the daughter of Anne Boleyn, whose marriage to Henry had never been recognised by the Catholic Church, Queen Elizabeth was bound to establish a broadly Protestant form of worship when she came to the throne in 1558. However, as a skilful politician she recognised the need for healing and reconciliation in the religion of England.
The result was the Elizabethan settlement and the establishment of an Anglican Church which sought to provide a compromise - a 'middle way' between the Catholic and Protestant extremes. Undeniably Protestant in doctrine, it retained many of the familiar ceremonies and services inherited from the Catholic Church, as well as bishops, whom Elizabeth appointed and controlled and who therefore maintained her authority.
Elizabeth's Religious Compromise
The settlement was able to satisfy the needs of most of her subjects but, like most compromises, it left dissatisfied minorities at both ends of the spectrum. A minority of English Catholics gave primary loyalty to the Pope; their treason in attempting to replace Elizabeth with the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots in the Northern Rebellion of 1568-69 led to a Papal Bull (declaration) issued in 1570, which excommunicated Elizabeth and enjoined a duty on Catholics to remove her from the throne. This, and their links with Spain, did much to create anti-Catholic feeling in England.
A minority of Protestants was dissatisfied with a half-reformed Church and sought to persuade or pressurise the Queen into further change. Their desire for further purification of the Church led them to be nicknamed 'Puritans'. In the 1570s attempts were made to introduce reforms through Parliament, prompting the angry Queen to forbid such discussions and raise political conflict over MPs' rights to free speech.
Having lost this battle, Puritan preachers attempted to change the Church from within. Elizabeth, who was determined to maintain the system of bishops as the best method of ensuring her own royal control, suppressed their meetings and muted their protests, but she could not silence them entirely. By 1603 they had been denied the fulfilment of their plans for reform, but were nevertheless able to preach, convert, stimulate and spread their influence and ideas.
The Lasting Impact of Protestant Ideas
The impact of Protestant ideas as a whole was to encourage individual faith and teach the necessity of private study of the word of God, resulting in the spread of literacy and an increasingly educated laity. In Puritan ideas and practice this development found its most enduring expression, and nowhere was this demonstrated more effectively than in the debating chambers of parliament.
Conclusion: the effects of the Reformation in Britain
The result of such Reformation was that James inherited a legacy of religious divisions across three kingdoms:
- In Scotland the Presbyterian Church dominated the lowland areas, but a sizeable Catholic minority remained in the Gaelic highlands.
- In Ireland the majority of the population remained Catholic, and the loss of traditional chieftains encouraged the people to look to Catholic priests as leaders in the community. English control, however, led to the imposition of an Anglican Church as the official Church of Ireland, while Protestant settlers, especially those from Scotland, who settled in Ulster, brought an extreme Protestant or Presbyterian tradition.
- In England the established Church was Anglican, based on Elizabeth's 'middle way', with a small Catholic minority who remained loyal to the Pope. Within the Church, however, there was a significant movement seeking to achieve further reform.
Key Points to Remember:
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The Protestant Reformation shattered the religious unity of Europe, dividing it between Catholic and Protestant kingdoms and creating religious conflict that lasted into the seventeenth century.
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Martin Luther challenged Catholic teachings by arguing that salvation came through individual faith alone, not through the Church or good works, and that the Bible should be accessible to all Christians.
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Henry VIII broke with Rome for personal and political reasons, establishing royal supremacy over the English Church through the Act of Supremacy in 1534, which enhanced the role of parliament in religious matters.
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John Calvin developed the doctrine of predestination, teaching that God had chosen beforehand those who would be saved, leading to a strict, disciplined form of Protestantism that emphasised godly living.
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Elizabeth I created a compromise Anglican Church that retained some Catholic features while being Protestant in doctrine, but this satisfied neither committed Catholics nor Puritans who wanted further reform, leaving James I to inherit three kingdoms with different and conflicting religious traditions.