G.M Trevelyan - SHE - Chapter V
[alert-success] ENGLAND DURING THE ANTI-CLERICAL REVOLUTION
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[alert-primary] REFORMATION [/alert-primary]
[alert-primary] REFORMATION [/alert-primary]
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John Leland for nearly ten years (1534-1543) travelled through the length and breadth of Henry VII’s kingdom, diligently to seek and observe things new and old. During the period of Henry VIII, through the instrumentality of Parliament, effected the anti-clerical revolution which marked the end of mediaeval society in England. This act constituted a social revolution.
The act of reformation carried out by Henry VIII was accompanied by many radical changes to religion and its core functions. The King approved the diffusion of the English Bible among all classes, destroyed the cruder forms of idolatry and relic-mongering. He by himself had created a new social and ecclesiastical order of things.
The reformation in England was at once a political, a religious and a social event. It has caused many changes and effects. Anti-clericalism is a social phenomenon. Anti-clericalism rendered the breach with the Papacy and the Dissolution of the Monasteries. There were two English opinion, lay and clerical. One of reform and the other of reaction.
Henry VIII followed the scholarly anti clerical ideologies of Erasmus and his Oxford friends, who were hostile to monks and friars. He supported lay domination. This notion was propagated busily by the printing press which circulated the attacks that appeal to the greed of the laity. The clergies were threatened and their future was in danger. The submission or the resistance of clergies became an utmost event, which would change the whole future of the English Society.
Among clergies, there were divided opinions. Many clergymen were in close and daily contact with laymen and understood their way of thinking. Some clergies supported laymen openly, like Wolsey who said: “Better the King than the Pope”. Many clergies sincerely desired reformation in their own profession but by no means were not ready to give away their privileges.
The result of reformation is that the orders of monks and friars were dissolved due to much propagation against them. New attitude towards religion, life and society arose. The new learning in classical and Biblical Study in Courts and Universities had made to see monks and friars as die-hard enemies of the new movement. Why monasteries must be maintained with vast expense was the questioned that was raised in all the streets of London. Ultimately it led to the dissolution of the Monasteries.
The Monasteries were sold and the sale has replenished the King’s treasury. The other monastic lands remained in the hands of the Crown. The social consequences of the Dissolution of the Monasteries were huge. It destroyed the important pilgrimage centres; thus, wealth and importance were reduced. Many monastic libraries were destroyed, which was a cruel injury to learning and literature.
Monks and Friars disappeared from the parish, and many left and went for other odd jobs for their survival. Some were given pensions and some found employment in the new movement as clergymen. Nunneries were also disappeared.
After destroying monasteries, the chantries were attacked. Henry VIII was preparing an attack on the system of chants but death took him. It was continued when Edward VI (1547) ascended the throne. The doctrines of Protestant emerged. Prayers for the dead are declared superstitious. Thus, endowments from the chantries were stopped. The funds generated from chantries were used to maintain bridges, harbours, and schools. Since, the chantries were stopped, School funds lost heavily.
Reformation has resulted in new educational methods and ideals of new learning, and eagerness to study Bible in their own language, which increased its value. Stanford School was the result of reformation, where Shakespeare got the classical education, free of charge.
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