In the years 1536-53 Humanist thinking was declining rapidly. In the late years of Henry
VIII’s reign he began to embrace humanism and the renaissance and encouraged humanist
speakers however by Edward and Mary’s reign it was completely abandoned. This could be
due to a number of reasons such as the death of Henry VIII, focus on religious reform and
focus on economic policy. In this essay, I will be arguing that the Humanist thinking declined
mostly due to focus on religious reform under Edward and Mary
In the years 1536-1553, Humanist thinking declined due to Mary and Edward’s focus on
religious reforms. Despite Edward being a young king, he constantly pushed for religious
reform and the adoption of protestantism; humanism was not something of significance to
him and so he and Somerset focused on moderate protestant reform. Examples of these
include the 1547 First Book of Common Prayer, the 1547 injunctions, abolishment of
chantries and guilds etc. These policies attacked traditional catholic beliefs and enforced
protestantism within England. It is clear that Edward’s reign was focused on restoring
England to protestantism highlighting the decline of humanist thinking in the years 1553-
1553. Furthermore, Mary’s reign also featured the abandonment of humanism and its ideas.
Mary similarly put a focus on catholic reform and did not not want to promote any other
ideology such as protestantism or humanism. Mary’s contempt for anything other than
catholicism was demonstrated through her treatment of protestants and protestantism in
general; her method of burning 281 protestants for not recanting displays not only her
commitment to catholicism but rejection of any other type of thinking. Therefore between the
years 1536-1558, humanist thinking declined due to focus on religious reforms. However, it
could be argued that humanist thinking did not decline in the years 1536-1553 but instead
increased. If humanism is defined as challenging traditional structures of religion, Mary and
Edward’s radical reform could be seen as an active demonstration of humanist principles.
For example, Mary’s ban on imagery, statues and the cult of saints showed that not all
Catholic tradition was restored and that there was a new way of thinking (which could be
classed as humanist) emerging showing that humanist thinking arguably did continue in the
years 1536 to 1553. However, It is clear that Mary did not put stock in Humanist thinking
shown through her large replacement of humanist theologians teaching at Oxford and
Cambridge with Catholic appointments. She also strongly enforced a return to traditional
catholicism by restoring Catholic doctrine like transubstantiation in the Eucharist through her
injunctions and so cannot be considered a Humanist as her beliefs weren’t anything new but
rather normal catholicism. Therefore, in the years 1536-1553 Humanist thinking declined due
to a focus on religious reforms.
In the years 1536-1553, Humanist thinking declined due to Mary and Edward’s focus on
economic policies. Under both Edward and Mary, England's financial situation was poor;
both monarchs aimed to improve this by extracting extra revenue from places such as the
Church and so, certain changes to religion were actually economically motivated. In
Edward’s reign there was much discontent due to economic factors such as inflationary
pressures, agrarian issues and taxation. The rate of inflation was rapidly increasing during
the late stages of Henry’ reign due to his expensive foreign policy in Scotland and France
leading to a marked reduction of real wages especially for the lower classes. Whilst Edwards
dissolution of chantries and guilds could be seen as religiously motivated (it represented a
further attack on traditional catholic beliefs) it was also economically motivated as the Crown
VIII’s reign he began to embrace humanism and the renaissance and encouraged humanist
speakers however by Edward and Mary’s reign it was completely abandoned. This could be
due to a number of reasons such as the death of Henry VIII, focus on religious reform and
focus on economic policy. In this essay, I will be arguing that the Humanist thinking declined
mostly due to focus on religious reform under Edward and Mary
In the years 1536-1553, Humanist thinking declined due to Mary and Edward’s focus on
religious reforms. Despite Edward being a young king, he constantly pushed for religious
reform and the adoption of protestantism; humanism was not something of significance to
him and so he and Somerset focused on moderate protestant reform. Examples of these
include the 1547 First Book of Common Prayer, the 1547 injunctions, abolishment of
chantries and guilds etc. These policies attacked traditional catholic beliefs and enforced
protestantism within England. It is clear that Edward’s reign was focused on restoring
England to protestantism highlighting the decline of humanist thinking in the years 1553-
1553. Furthermore, Mary’s reign also featured the abandonment of humanism and its ideas.
Mary similarly put a focus on catholic reform and did not not want to promote any other
ideology such as protestantism or humanism. Mary’s contempt for anything other than
catholicism was demonstrated through her treatment of protestants and protestantism in
general; her method of burning 281 protestants for not recanting displays not only her
commitment to catholicism but rejection of any other type of thinking. Therefore between the
years 1536-1558, humanist thinking declined due to focus on religious reforms. However, it
could be argued that humanist thinking did not decline in the years 1536-1553 but instead
increased. If humanism is defined as challenging traditional structures of religion, Mary and
Edward’s radical reform could be seen as an active demonstration of humanist principles.
For example, Mary’s ban on imagery, statues and the cult of saints showed that not all
Catholic tradition was restored and that there was a new way of thinking (which could be
classed as humanist) emerging showing that humanist thinking arguably did continue in the
years 1536 to 1553. However, It is clear that Mary did not put stock in Humanist thinking
shown through her large replacement of humanist theologians teaching at Oxford and
Cambridge with Catholic appointments. She also strongly enforced a return to traditional
catholicism by restoring Catholic doctrine like transubstantiation in the Eucharist through her
injunctions and so cannot be considered a Humanist as her beliefs weren’t anything new but
rather normal catholicism. Therefore, in the years 1536-1553 Humanist thinking declined due
to a focus on religious reforms.
In the years 1536-1553, Humanist thinking declined due to Mary and Edward’s focus on
economic policies. Under both Edward and Mary, England's financial situation was poor;
both monarchs aimed to improve this by extracting extra revenue from places such as the
Church and so, certain changes to religion were actually economically motivated. In
Edward’s reign there was much discontent due to economic factors such as inflationary
pressures, agrarian issues and taxation. The rate of inflation was rapidly increasing during
the late stages of Henry’ reign due to his expensive foreign policy in Scotland and France
leading to a marked reduction of real wages especially for the lower classes. Whilst Edwards
dissolution of chantries and guilds could be seen as religiously motivated (it represented a
further attack on traditional catholic beliefs) it was also economically motivated as the Crown
