REFORMATION CASE STUDIES
Case Study 1: The English Reformation (Bernard Capp)
Background. The English generally happy with the Catholic Church. Active lay
piety: religious gilds flourishing, bequests to parish churches. Anti-clericalism less
significant than in Germany- English kings had gained effective control over church
appointments & taxation), so the pope had less power.
Henrician Reformation.- essentially political- a ‘state Reformation’. Henry wanted a
‘divorce’ from Katharine of Aragon, to remarry and produce a male heir. When the
pope ignored pressure to annul the marriage, Henry made himself head of the church
(Act of Appeals, 1533; of Supremacy 1534). This paved the way for marriage to Ann
Boleyn, and the plunder of the church- a heavy fine (£118,000) and dissolution of the
monasteries (1536 onwards) which doubled the king’s income.
Henry’s Reformation: ‘Catholicism without the pope? Henry didn’t change
traditional theology. But a drift towards more evangelical, semi-Protestant positions.
Royal injunctions (1536, 1538) against images, ‘superstitions’, pilgrimages, and
urging the clergy to preach and teach. An English-language bible. The Ten Articles
(1536) – only 3 sacraments mentioned, not the Catholic 7.
Why so little opposition? Why was there not more open resistance? Probably a) fearcf the fate of Thomas More, Bp Fisher, the Howard family. b) gradual nature of the
changes. No one knew how far they would go, or whether they might blow over (cf
Henry II, John). Bishops, nobles, ordinary people went along reluctantly.
Impact on the people. Papal authority meant little to ordinary people. But the attack
on images, relics, lights was significant. So was the attack on the monasteries- which
sparked a massive rebellion in the North (Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536)
Edwardian reformation. Edward VI (1547-53), child-king. His uncle (duke of
Somerset) as Protector accelerated the Reformation: sweeping attack on images,
shrines, and abolition of chantries and confraternities 1547 (which undermined
purgatory). 1549 new Prayer book, in English- transformed parish church services and
triggered major rebellions- esp in the South-West (Prayer Book Rebellion). Even so,
another, more radical Prayer Book in 1552. Edward VI a teenage ‘proto-Puritan’.
Mary (1553-8) brought England back to the Catholic fold: papal supremacy, the
Mass, the old sacraments. Married clergy were deprived. Most of the nation happily
accepted the restored Catholic order. Could Mary have succeeded permanently?
By now a growing body of Protestant support, esp in London and the S.E. Almost 300
were prepared to be burned alive for their faith- Archbp Cranmer, Bps Latimer,
Ridley and Hooper and many ordinary men and women. But overall the burnings did
not provoke much opposition. Duffy (Fires of Faith, 2009) argues that Mary was
successful: the burnings crushed Protestant leaders and cowed the rest. Her big
mistake was to die too soon.
Elizabeth (1558-1603). Older works (e.g. Dickens, English Reformation) end with
the 1559 Elizabethan settlement. Elizabeth brought in a new prayer book (1559), and
Protestant doctrines (39 Articles, 1563). But winning over the people was a very longterm process. Some historians (Haigh, Scarisbrick) argue that Protestantism never
won ‘the hearts and minds’. Others (Collinson) say it did, very slowly. But by c1600.
the English had come to feel Protestant, with Catholicism seen as subversive, foreign,
disloyal, frightening- helped by the Spanish Armada 1588, Gunpowder Plot 1605 (and
lots of earlier assassination attempts), and Protestant propaganda.
Case Study 2: Religious Co-Existence in the Swiss Confederation (Beat Kümin)
Setting: alliance of urban & rural republics (incl. Forest Cantons, Bern, Zurich) with
associates (like the Valais, Grisons) and condominions (e.g. Thurgovia and Baden).
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From the early 1520s, Zwingli challenges the Catholic system (represented by the
Black Madonna at the monastery of Einsiedeln near Schwyz) in Zurich;
The spread of the Reformation leads to confessional conflict and the two Kappel
Wars of 1529/31; the peace settlements - agreed by the Swiss Diet – allow religious
choice and regulate co-existence in the condominions.
Extracts from the Second Kappel Peace of 1531 (Walder ed., Religionsvergleiche, pp. 5-9):
(b): ‘It has … been … agreed by both the parties that where, in the same condominions, any
parishes or districts, however designated, have adopted the new faith and wish to remain with
it, then they may do so;’
(e): ‘If any persons, whether one or more, wish once again to restore and receive the seven
sacraments, the office of the holy mass and other customs of Christian church ceremony, they
shall and may do so, in the same way as the preachers may for their part.’
(f): ‘They shall also share with the priest, according to their size: the patrimony and that
which belongs to the benefice, and assign the remainder to the predicant.’
(g): ‘Nor shall either party besmirch or abuse those of the other faith, and if any persons do
so, shall be punished for it by our governor, in appropriate measure.’
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The Peace is vague on implementation, resulting in lengthy negotiations of religious
co-existence between confessional groups, local communities and the governing
Swiss cantons (use of Simultankirchen; ‘juridification’ of conflicts; system deplored
by Catholic reformer [St] Carlo Borromeo)
Conclusions: confessional identities/tensions can emerge ‘from below’; Kappel seen as a
pioneering legal settlement & alternative to religious uniformity/persecution.
(a) Sources
Johnston, P.; Scribner, R. W. (eds), The Reformation in Germany and Switzerland (Cambridge, 1993)
Walder, E. (ed.), Religionsvergleiche des 16. Jahrhunderts [16thC Religious Treaties] (Bern, 1945)
(b) Secondary works
Gordon, B., The Swiss Reformation (Manchester, 2002)
Hacke, D., ‘Church, space and conflict: Religious co-existence and political communication in
seventeenth-century Switzerland’, in: German History 25 (3/2007), 285-312
Head, R., ‘Fragmented dominion, fragmented Churches: The institutionalization of the Landfrieden in
the Thurgau 1531-1610’, in: Archive for Reformation History 96 (2005), 117-144
Kaplan, B., Divided by Faith: Religious Conflict and the Practice of Toleration in Early Modern
Europe (New Haven, 2007)
Kümin, B., ‘Burgundy and the Swiss Confederation’, in: Rosamond McKitterick (ed.), The Times
Medieval World (London, 2003), 208-211
Case Study 3: The French Reformation/Religious Wars (Penny Roberts)
Reputation:
The French Reformation was peculiarly divisive > 30+ years of civil war between
Huguenots (Protestants) and Catholics which undermined royal authority.
Absolute monarchy seen partly as reaction to.
Cf conflict in Netherlands/Dutch Revolt > actual political division into Dutch
Republic and Spanish Netherlands.
French Reformation:
Not really significant until 1550s with emergence of Calvinist Church:
1) Royal policy: 1520s/30s reforming ideas largely tolerated by crown due to
association with Christian humanism and protection of king’s sister.
More radical ideas emerged mid-1530s > assault on mass in Affair of Placards
(1534) and > refuge abroad (Geneva effectively French Church in exile).
Persecution sporadic, due to e.g. alliance with German Protestant princes.
2) University of Paris (Sorbonne) and parlements (chief law courts) > legal
repression of ‘heresy’ quite effective until 1550s.
Directive role of Geneva? Often responding to requests for ministers.
Particularly targeted nobility (estimated half converted by c. 1560) and towns
where Protestants concentrated (estimated 10% population by c. 1560).
Particular surge late 1550s > early 1560s, worshipping in public, concessions
from crown. Resulting tensions > French Wars of Religion (1562-98).
DEBATES:
How religious were the wars?
Traditionally all down to high politics – weak monarchy due to succession of young
kings after 1559 - Francis II (1559-60), Charles IX (1560-74), Henry III (1574-89) dominated by noble factions.
More recently religion restored to centre stage (M.P. Holt, ‘Putting Religion Back…’,
French Historical Studies, 18 (1993)): studies of local communities and violence.
Massacres one of most infamous features – St Bartholomew’s Day, Aug. 1572, Paris.
Could the French monarchy have turned Protestant?
Impossible due to nature of French monarchy? Sacral status. Henry IV (1589-1610)
previously Huguenot leader, converted 1593.
BUT contemporaries clearly thought so: e.g. Calvin’s dedication of Institutes to
Francis I (1515-47); Henry II (1547-59) called for a General Council 1551;
controversial policy of appeasement under Catherine de Medici (queen mother to
three kings and regent 1560-63), although toleration temporary solution.
Difficult balancing act: king required to uphold Catholicism + provide peace and
stability for all subjects. French king considerable control over Church and tradition
of independence from Rome, less to gain.
Did the wars lead to collapse of royal authority?
Did diminish, but historians recognised major period of judicial and financial reform.
For much of wars, France officially at peace and royal will upheld. Policy most seen
to symbolise erosion of royal authority, toleration of Hug minority embodied in edicts
of pacification (Edict of Nantes 1598 most well known) upheld it. Opportunity to
circumvent usual obstacles of regional variation > introduction of nationwide
measures by central agents of crown (cf C17th intendants under Louis XIV).
Discussion Questions
1) How important were political contexts to the
development of the Reformation?
2) Did the Reformation promote or inhibit religious
toleration?
3) Should we properly refer to 'The Reformation'
or 'Reformations'?