To what extent was the English Church in 1553 different from what it had been in 1532?
Paragraph 1: structural Paragraph 2: doctrinal
Parliament passed an Act of Repeal which undid many aspects Edwardian Reformation: revived
the mass, ritual worship, and clerical celibacy. Also implicitly reaffirmed the traditional doctrine of
the Lord’s Supper (i.e. transubstantiation). This restored the Church to what it had been in 1547
under the Act of Six Articles
Structural – largely different – see p. 302.
Latin Mass was re-established under Mary – similar to 1532.
Key point: Mary succeeded in returning the English Church to Rome in an organisational sense,
but Protestant beleifs were still rife across England.
Mary’s first Parliament in October 1553: religious laws passed under Edward repealed; the order
of service at the time of the death of Henry VIII restored.
Mary did relinquish title of Supreme Head of the Church in December 1553. BUT Parliament had
met in autumn and refused to repeal the Act of Supremacy – only in 1555. Could not immediately
erase lasting structural + constitutional reforms established by Nov 1534 Act of Supremacy.
BUT Mary unable to effect immediate sweeping reform. Doctrine was certainly repealed in law,
Royal supremacy reversed (but did not erase…) but, in practice, Protestant beliefs still rife. Edwardian bishops were still in their sees until April
1554. Nearly 300 Protestants were burned as heretics later in Mary’s reign – again, illustrates
how law could not simply engender reversal in doctrine.
Could aruge that in doing so affirmed supremacy of statute law over divine law? – only
perpetuates structural changes.
Act of Repeal only passed in Autumn 1553 – doctrinal shifts would take more than few months to
materialise/ come into fruition. E.g. Cromwell’s injunction in 1539 mandating copy of English
Submission of the Clergy in 1534 bolstered control over clergy – matters handled in the King’s
bible in every parish – still in place by 1553. Markedly different to 1532 – Bible previously only
Court of Chancery – not in Archbishops’ Court, as was previous precedent. Chantries, guilds and
permitted in Latin.
lay brotherhoods abolished and their property seized by the Crown.
Henrician Reformation only reversed in 1554 with the Second Act of Repeal – undid all anti-
The Act in Restraint of Appeals (April 1533) based on Collectanea Satis Copiosa – expertly drafted
papal legislation since 1529.
by Cromwell and preamble declared that the monarch possessed an imperial jurisdiction which
was not subject to any foreign power. Declared that appeals could not be made to Rome ‘in
cuases matrimonial’ – legislated away the Pope’s authority and transferred to the king. Would The Act of Six Articles, which had established the key Catholic doctrines in 1539, was repealed in
only be repealed around 400 years later. 1547. Effectively left the Church without an official doctrine – markedly different to 1532: Church
Contrast to structure of the Church in 1532: Papacy recpgmosed as the Court of Law, and the had previously affirmed doctrines e.g. transubstantiation.
Papal Curia under the Pope also acted as a Court of Appeal. (although the Church’s claims to legal
supremacy had been challenged in 1528 by lawyer Christopher St German – asserted superiorty In 1547 injunctions issued – attacked features of popular Catholicism e.g. lights, images, stained
of English law over canon law of the Church. glass, processions, and practices associated with Candlemas, Ash Wednesday, and Palm Sunday.
Paragraph 1: structural Paragraph 2: doctrinal
Parliament passed an Act of Repeal which undid many aspects Edwardian Reformation: revived
the mass, ritual worship, and clerical celibacy. Also implicitly reaffirmed the traditional doctrine of
the Lord’s Supper (i.e. transubstantiation). This restored the Church to what it had been in 1547
under the Act of Six Articles
Structural – largely different – see p. 302.
Latin Mass was re-established under Mary – similar to 1532.
Key point: Mary succeeded in returning the English Church to Rome in an organisational sense,
but Protestant beleifs were still rife across England.
Mary’s first Parliament in October 1553: religious laws passed under Edward repealed; the order
of service at the time of the death of Henry VIII restored.
Mary did relinquish title of Supreme Head of the Church in December 1553. BUT Parliament had
met in autumn and refused to repeal the Act of Supremacy – only in 1555. Could not immediately
erase lasting structural + constitutional reforms established by Nov 1534 Act of Supremacy.
BUT Mary unable to effect immediate sweeping reform. Doctrine was certainly repealed in law,
Royal supremacy reversed (but did not erase…) but, in practice, Protestant beliefs still rife. Edwardian bishops were still in their sees until April
1554. Nearly 300 Protestants were burned as heretics later in Mary’s reign – again, illustrates
how law could not simply engender reversal in doctrine.
Could aruge that in doing so affirmed supremacy of statute law over divine law? – only
perpetuates structural changes.
Act of Repeal only passed in Autumn 1553 – doctrinal shifts would take more than few months to
materialise/ come into fruition. E.g. Cromwell’s injunction in 1539 mandating copy of English
Submission of the Clergy in 1534 bolstered control over clergy – matters handled in the King’s
bible in every parish – still in place by 1553. Markedly different to 1532 – Bible previously only
Court of Chancery – not in Archbishops’ Court, as was previous precedent. Chantries, guilds and
permitted in Latin.
lay brotherhoods abolished and their property seized by the Crown.
Henrician Reformation only reversed in 1554 with the Second Act of Repeal – undid all anti-
The Act in Restraint of Appeals (April 1533) based on Collectanea Satis Copiosa – expertly drafted
papal legislation since 1529.
by Cromwell and preamble declared that the monarch possessed an imperial jurisdiction which
was not subject to any foreign power. Declared that appeals could not be made to Rome ‘in
cuases matrimonial’ – legislated away the Pope’s authority and transferred to the king. Would The Act of Six Articles, which had established the key Catholic doctrines in 1539, was repealed in
only be repealed around 400 years later. 1547. Effectively left the Church without an official doctrine – markedly different to 1532: Church
Contrast to structure of the Church in 1532: Papacy recpgmosed as the Court of Law, and the had previously affirmed doctrines e.g. transubstantiation.
Papal Curia under the Pope also acted as a Court of Appeal. (although the Church’s claims to legal
supremacy had been challenged in 1528 by lawyer Christopher St German – asserted superiorty In 1547 injunctions issued – attacked features of popular Catholicism e.g. lights, images, stained
of English law over canon law of the Church. glass, processions, and practices associated with Candlemas, Ash Wednesday, and Palm Sunday.
