CM CIVILISATION BRITANNIQUE
The Tudors monarchs: Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary and Philip, Elizabeth I
Tudor dynasty: 1485-1603
The symbol of the dynasty is the Tudor rose. The specificity is that it has two colors. We’re going to deal with the
Reformation. Conflicts with Scotland, France and Spain. Beginning of globalization and conquest and colonization
in Ireland and America. First English colony is Ireland.
THE ORIGINS OF THE TUDOR DYNASTY
It starts with Henry VII, puts an end to a conflict which has lasted for 30 years = the war of the roses (14551485). It was a permanent conflict between house of York and house of Lancaster. Half of the nobility of
England died during this war. 22 august 1485 is the battle of Bosworth which is in Leicestershire which put an
end to the war. Creation of the dynasty of the Tudor by Henry VII.
Red rose of Lancaster is gonna be mixed with the white rose of York. Henry VII of Lancaster will marry Elizabeth
of York. Tudor rose is an emblem which we find on many monuments still today.
Walter Scott coined the term “war of the roses”. He initiated the genre of the historic novel.
Three symbolic animals: a red dragon (Wales), lion (Plantagenets, Richard II last Plantagenet king), white
greyhound (symbol of loyalty).
THE RELATION BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE
Cannot talk about this without mentioning religion. Henry VIII created the Church of England and break with
Rome. The Henrician Reformation of the 1530’s. First to be assimilated to breaking with the continent (Brexit).
Reformation → history is much more complex than just Henry VIII. More meaningful to use Reformation“S”. we
should not use Anglicanism (coined in the 19 th). We should use “the Church of England”. Question of
Protestantism is very complex also.
The way to refer to the period : 16th and 17th century, the Renaissance, the early modern period (she prefers this
one).
TUDOR MANIA
There was kind of a Tudor mania → films, historical romances, …
One of the very first film dealing with Henry VIII is A Man for All Seasons. Elizabeth I with The Private Lives of
Elizabeth and Essex.
THE BEGINNING OF A ‘MODERN’ STATE ?
Transition of England from a medieval (feudal) state to an early modern realm. During the 16 th, institutions were
created, laws were passed and precedents set that remain at the heart of the English polity today. The dev of
national bureaucracy and administration. The establishment of the Church of England is a landmark in British
history (raise the q of toleration and prosecution). The genesis of a belief in national sovereignty → really obvious
in Shakespeare’s writing on Edward II. It was a hugely formative period. A time of dramatic change, innovation
and exploration.
Yeomen of the guard dates from the period of Henry VII. Oldest military corpse in existence today.
TUDOR LEGACIES
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We know a lot mainly thanks to Hans Holbein who was invited to the court of Henry VIII and made 100s of
portraits. Also thanks to architecture outside London (1666 great fire). Henry VIII was the first king to be so
involved in architecture, he was a great palace builder.
Whitehall, Westminster: in 1536 it became Kynges Paleys which was the official palace. Fire in 1698 → only
one building remains today.
Hampton Court is another great palace. Near London. We can recognize a Tudor building thanks to the chimneys.
Archeology : the Mary Rose: the boat Henry VIII was most proud of. It sunk in the cannel in 1545. There is a
Mary Rose museum in Portsmouth: great help for historians. The Mary Rose was raised in 1982. Henry VIII
created the royal navy. This creation will lead to the colonial enterprise later.
Another legacy is the National Post Office also under Henry VIII. Very first national postal service for royal mail.
Important to control a country. Under Elizabeth I is the creation of the secret service.
Henry VIII adopted the harp as a symbol of the Kingdom.
Portraits had a political role. These portraits were used around the kingdom.
RICHARD III
Died at the battle of Bosworth, Richard chose to charge an aristocrats on the other side (Stanley who killed
Richard). His body was buried very quickly under an abbey. It was forgotten. He was under a carpark when
historians decided to dive and look for his corpse. He is referred to as the king of the carpark. Found in September
2012. He was actually officially buried in 2015 in Leicester Cathedral. The Queen did not attend the burial. His
reputation as a villain but actually created by Sir Thomas More to vindicate Tudor role. Henry VII needs to
assess and affirms his power. This is why Richard III was turned into the epitome of evil.
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HENRY TUDOR / HENRY VII (1485-1509)
He was the earl of Richmond. The Welsh flag is still used today.
Thomas More: follows the Tudors propaganda and paints Richard III as a usurper. Initiating the story of the
two princes killed in the Tower. Public servant from 1518. Henry VIII’s privy council. Lord Chancellor. The
Prince by Machiavel in 1513 → two animals: both a lion and a fox. Force et le pouvoir du lion mais aussi la ruse
du renard. Very popular throughout the 16th and the 17th century.
Legend of the two princes: the 2 sons of Eward IV held captive in the Tower of London. Disappeared mysteriously.
He is going to rely on Thomas More to vindicate the Tudor’s role.
ORIGIN OF THE NAME
Henry V (untimely death in 1422). He was victorious against the French in Agincourt. Henry V married
Catherine of Valois and had the son. Next king in line is Henry VI. But Henry V widowed Catherine who remarried
after the death of the king and married a Welsh courtier who was named Owen Tudor. He is Henry VII’s
grandfather. THIS IS A WELSH NAME.
In 1452, Henry VI had two half-brothers: Edmund Tudor and Jasper Tudor. Edmund was married to Lady
Margaret Beaufort who had a son → future Henry VII (Henry, Earl of Richmond). He was born at Pembroke. Born
in 1457.
WAR OF THE ROSES
Born during this period. There was potential danger for Henry so Jasper took Henry out of the country (not
an exile, a flight to avoid being killed). They went to France, to Britany. At that time house of York appeared
firmly established so there was this feeling that Henry would remain in France for the rest of his life.
However after 28 years of “exile” Henry decided to sail from Harfleur (near le Havre) to Milford Haven in Wales
with a force of French mercenaries and English exiles (his army) in august 1485. He did that to claim the throne.
He marches through Wales and has the flag (white, green and red dragon). Flag → green and white of the Tudor
family and the red dragon of Cadwaladr (symbol of Wales). He meets Richard III at Bosworth.
The legend is that Richard’s crown when it fell in an hawthorn bush, Henry picked up the crown from this bush.
Crowned as Henry VII in October.
Aim to rebuild and rewrite a dynasty. So he had to cast Richard III as a usurper. But Henry VII was not either a
legitimate king. He had to ensure that this new dynasty was not endangered.
A REIGN OF 24 YEARS
He reigned until his death in 1509. The coat of arms: incorporates the Welsh red dragon, the lion, …
Thomas Penn entitled his book Henry VII a ‘Winter King’. This metaphor because of a shadowy reputation. Very
enigmatic king and he is under-explored because of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I’s celebrity. When a biography on
him it concentrates on his administrative and his fiscal measures. Major point in his reign. But also he was seen
as a miser (= avare). One of the major source is Polydore Vergil.
Sean Cunningham said ‘Henry VII was one of England’s unlikeliest monarchs’. Because not really expected
because he lived 28 years in France. He is an exile and an outsider. He wanted to break the cycle of division,
usurpation, deposition and murder during the war of the roses. Henry VII had to convince the people of England
that his rule was rightful and effective. Image of a ruthless king and personal kingship. He didn’t trust a lot of
counsellors.
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Polydore Vergil: is an Italian and his job is to collect papal taxes. England is catholic at that time so they have
to pay taxes to the Pope. He is also involved in writing history. Henry commissioned him to write history written
in Latin. Major second history of Henry VII was from Francis Bacon in 1622.
John Guy said “a dark prince and infinitely suspicious”. Question of taxation is a crucial one, Henry is going to
impose a lot of taxes on his aristocrats. Enforce to enter into bonds.
Richmond palace: build during this period but doesn’t exist today. Henry died here. Elizabeth I also died here.
Privy chamber is the inner circle of counsellors. Only one allowed to be as closed as that to the king. He died of
tuberculosis probably.
Henry added an new chapel in Westminster abbey called the Lady Chapel. In it there are the tomb effigies of Henry
VII and Elizabeth of York.
1485-1489
In 1486 he married Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV. His first son is Arthur, Prince of Wales.
First time that the prince is referred as the Prince of Wales. He was born in Winchester which is supposed to be
on the ruins of Camelot so references to the legend of Arthur.
Few years after he signed the Treaty of Medina el Campo in 1589: settled the details of proposed marriage
between Arthur and Catherine of Aragon.
There are pretenders: two teenagers. Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck. They pretend they are descendants of
the Yorkist line and had an army with them so Henry had to stop them. 1487: Battle of Stroke and 1491: Perkin
who was Irish pretended that he was one of the princes. Instead of peace and this new Tudor dynasty supposed to
reunites both houses there are threats.
At the end of his reign, he went through a series of calamities because there were various deaths. 1500: his third
son died. 1502: Prince Arthur died. 1503: Elizabeth of York died in childbirth. He died in 1509.
HENRY’S GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
Seen as a miser so he did not spent a lot of money. What costs a fortune is war so there was no war during his
reign. He protected the English productions. Tried to encourage exports to the continent. The Navigation Act to
ensure that English goods were carried in English ships so you don’t have to pay customs. John Cabot was an
Italian who lived in England and was financed by Henry to discover faraway lands. Vigorous assertion of royal
fiscal rights such as legal fees and fines.
FOREIGN POLICY
SCOTLAND
Eventually succeeded in concluding in 1499 a treaty of peace, followed in 1502 by a treaty for the marriage of
James IV to Henry’s daughter Margaret. From whom Mary, Queen of Scots and her son, James VI of Scotland,
James I of England, were descendant.
SPAIN
In 1501: arrival in England of Catherine of Aragon for her marriage with Prince Arthur.
Even though Henry VII was a rich king, the richest kingdom at the time was Spain (in terms of finance and power).
This marriage was supposed to enhance the prestige of the Tudor dynasty. Testifies to the growing strength of
the Tudor regime in the eyes of the European powers. Europe didn’t care about Britain at that specific time. Didn’t
think they were powerful enough.
Catherine and Arthur were married for one year. When she was married to Henry VIII, she said that the marriage
had not been consummated.
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ARTHUR
Died suddenly in 1502. The situation of Catherine was difficult so suggested to marry Henry instead, but this
wasn’t agreed upon during Henry VII’s lifetime due to wrangling over Catherine’s dowry.
To conclude on this reign, Henry VII left a safe throne. More precisely, he left a solvent government (no debts).
Left a fortune to his son, the future Henry VIII. The Royal Council was reborn as the Court of Star Chamber, set
up to deal with judicial matters.
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HENRY VIII (1509-1547)
He was a beautiful young man and became big at the end of his reign
Catherine of Aragon (1485-1538) is his first wife. Spanish princess. Mess when Henry VIII will ask for a divorce.
He had a lot of portraits. He had 6 wives.
Portrait in 1515 made by a Venetian diplomat: “the handsomest potentate”, “extremely fine calf”, “so very
beautiful”, “he speaks French, English and Latin and a little Italian, he plays well on the lute and harpsichord,
sings from book at sight, draws the bow with greater strength than any man in England and joust marvellously”,
“a most accomplished prince”. Henry who was not raised with his brother Arthur had a typical humanist education
→ studying languages, music, …
Crowned three days after his father’s death. For his contemporaries, he embodied the perfect prince kind of.
Seen as a great monarch who reshapes the country’s institutions and identity by some and by a tyrant who
was ruthless, destroying all those who did not follow him by others. Thomas More: “this is like having fun
with tamed lions… often he roars in rage for no known reason, and suddenly the fun becomes fatal”.
HENRY’S EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
He was born in 1491 in Greenwich Palace (follow the Tames and it’s five miles eastern London). Arthur was
supposed to be the next king and the two brothers were not educated at the same place. Henry was educated in
Eltham. He was very close to his mother and sisters. In 1497, Arthur was betrothed by proxy to Catherine of
Aragon. Catherin arrived in England in 1501 (she was 15). Arthur died in 1502.
Henry’s education: he could speak French, Italian and Spanish (vernacular languages as opposed to Latin). He was
proficient in Latin. A good musician, excellent dancer, devoted sportsman (archery & tennis). After Arthur’s death
in 1502, anew team of tutors were hired to further his education. He was overprotected.
In 1499, Henry was introduced to two major humanist at the time Thomas More and Erasmus. Erasmus of
Rotterdam: “When we came to the hall, all retinue was assembled…. In he midst stood Henry, aged nine, already
with certain royal demeanour; I mean a dignity of mind combined with a remarkably courtesy.” Already he was
prepared to be the next king even though it was not planed this way initially.
After Arthur death, Henry VII arranged betrothal between Henry and Catherine of Aragon. Wanted to keep
the dowry. New marriage treaty. However problem because Leviticus XX, 21: “if a man shall take his brother’s
wife… they shall die childless.” To get this new marriage treaty there was a need to secure a papal dispensation
because of this canon law. In 1504, Henry received an agreement by the pope and the bull of dispensation was
granted by the Pope. The aim was to foster peace between England and Spain. The question of the consummation
of the marriage was already there. There was a lack of precision, kind of shift enunciation. In 1504, Henry was
under the age of consent (14) so he couldn’t be married. The marriage was not consummated at that time. On the
eve of his 14th birthday, Henry repudiated the wedding.
HENRY’S EARLY REIGN
The same year he is invested as Prince of Wales and sent to Greenwich to live at court. In 1509 (April 21), Henry
VIII became King of England and Lord of Ireland.
At the very beginning of the reign, Sir Thomas More (humanist and lawyer) wrote a Latin poem for the new king.
Idea that the new reign is a new spring. Comparing Henry to an ideal prince and knight. New symbol →
pomegranate of Grenada, it’s the symbol of Catherine of Aragon.
Henry VII has imposed many taxes, fines, charters so that he could get a lot of money. Henry VIII decided to
grant a general pardon to anyone with grievances. Then he announced his intention of marrying Catherine of
Aragon for a second time (he was possibly in love but other reason was possibly the fastest way for a king to secure
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a dynasty). He had his father’s unpopular tax-gatherers and debt-collectors arrested (accused of treason).
Edmund Dudley and Richard Empson were beheaded.
Foreign policy: Henry wanted to make his name on the European stage. He very quickly decided to resume
the war with the French. The model was Henry V. he joined the Pope Julius II’s Holy League against France.
1513: battle of the Spurs (= éperon). It was fought in Thérouanne and Tournai (belonged at the time to the kingdom
of France). However, the war with France costs a fortune so Henry changed his mind thanks to the Council of
Cardinal Wolsey. One way to end the war is to have another wedding. Mary Tudor (his sister) married the king
Louis XII.
Because Henry had attacked France, Scotland in a retaliation attacked England because of the Auld Alliance (a
defensive alliance between France and Scotland to deter Engand from invading either country). The Scots were
defeated at Flodden in 1513. That’s the moment when James IV of Scotland died.
1519: death of the Holy Roman Emperor: Maximilian I. Charles V will become the Holy Roman Emperor (15001558).
Marriage in 1501 and their first child is Mary in 1516 (third Tudor monarch). She is trained by Spanish tutors
(Juan Luis Vives, Spanish humanist). Juan Luis Vives published De institutione feminae Christianae advocating
women’s right to an education. He was dedicated to and commissioned by Catherine for the education of her
daughter Mary.
THE RISE OF CARDINAL WOLSEY
Councillor of Henry. He does not belong to the aristocracy. His father was a butcher. He was an excellent pupil
so why he was sent to Oxford. He then became chaplain to King Henry VII. Entered the service of Henry VIII.
Well known for his eloquence. Rose to prominence as the new king’s favourite counsellor (doing what the king
wanted).
He was referred to as a second king (alter rex). His power is going to become great. In 1515 he is appointed
Cardinal by Pope Leo X and the same year Lord Chancelor by Henry VIII. In 1518, he became Cardinal
Legate (close advisor to the Pope). He thought that peace was the best way not to waste money and his role was
undisputed from 1515 to 1529. He dominates this part of the reign. He is the one who commissioned Hampton
Court. He was a patron of the arts. He was in control of England’s foreign policy.
THE HENRICAN COURT
THE FIELD OF THE CLOTH OF GOLD & THE ECONOMY OF
MAGNIFICIENCE
It’s in terms of geography it is in France. Calais was an English possession at the time. For two weeks in a valley
there was a meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I in June 1520. This encounter was supposed to be a
political encounter but turned out to be a display of magnificence. Wolsey is behind the whole thing. Henry went
with 5 000 followers. There were entertainment everyday and they had to build some tents (build with cloths of
gold). Henry wanted to grow a beard to imitate Francis I.
There were tournaments during these two weeks. In 1536, Henry was injured during a tournament and the wounds
he got would affect his health for the rest of his life.
A CALL FOR SPIRITUAL RENEWAL ON THE CONTINENT
England is Catholic at the time. Henry is married to a catholic princess. However on the continent there is some
criticism on papacy. That’s not the first time. In the 14th century, John Wycliff wanted to reform the Church. He
saw corruption in the Church hierarchy. He said that everyone should read the Scriptures (= the Bible). He was
condemned as a heretic. His followers were called the “Lollards”.
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At the time, the Bible is St Jerome’s Vulgate (the Latin text of the Bible, 4th century). St Jerome is associated
with a lion, often represented in his study. In the Renaissance, this text is going to be revised. Erasmus is one of
the first to actually focus on the abuses of the Church and advises that people should return to the original text (he
translated the Bible starting with the Greek testament). The aim was to return to early Christian values of
simplicity, piety and faith. It was called Erasmus’s New Greek Testament.
October 31, 1517: KEY MOMENT !!! Wittenberg, in Germany and a monk (Martin Luther) nailed his 95 theses
to the door of a church. He wanted to reform the Church. He is the “catholic of the reformation”, he initiates
the reformation on the continent.
The 95 theses: he denounces the corruption of the Church and the “indulgences” (the papal practice of asking
payment for the forgiveness of sins). At the same time, the Basilica in Rome was renovated so the Pope needed
money. Sermon on Indulgences and Grace by Luther.
Luther’s doctrine: sola scriptura (only the text of the Bible is important), sola gratia (grace), sola fide (about
salvation which depends on faith). Luther focuses on the authority of the word so you need books. You don’t
need a priest, you can read the Bible on your own. So, very different relationships to religion. Importance of
individual conscience. Salvation depends on faith and not good words: “sola fide”.
Indulgences: you give money to the priest and you go to heaven. People realised that this system was possibly a
bit too much.
Reformation was made possible because of Bible translations but also the role of print. All the languages that
are not Latin can be referred to as vulgar or vernacular languages. People could for the very first time read the
Bible in English.
In 1530, there is the Augsburg Confession. Luther presented his 28 articles to Charles V. Start of Lutheranism as
a formal movement. Protestant comes from Pro-testare (to bear witness to). For Luther monks were instruments
of the Devil.
In Geneva there is a Reformation wall → John Calvin. Monument with leading figures of Calvinism.
MARTIN LUTHER AND THE REFORMATION
This reforming movement spread across Europe and had profound consequences. You cannot refer to the one
English Reformation because there is not one moment. Should refer to English Reformations.
First step in 1526: William Tyndale’s New Testament. The translation into English is not authorized, only the
Vulgate is authorized. Tyndale is considered a heretic. He is banned from England. He goes to Anvers but also
condemned as a heretic by Charles V. Burnt at the stake in Flanders. This shows that translating the Bible is a
matter of life and death.
Tyndale wrote The Obedience of a Christian Man considered one of the key foundation books of the English
Reformation. He insists on reading the Bible in your own language. At the time this is revolutionary and not
accepted in England.
RECAP: Luther defy Rome. The reformers were evangelicals (used for the first reformers in England, those
interested by Luther’s ideas). It was a movement of the gospel. Word Protestant was coined in 1529. The movement
in England spread thanks to merchants, professors and students. Luther’s book were on sale in Oxford as early
as 1520. Cambridge was a fertile ground because Erasmus was teaching there.
HENRY VIII AS ‘THE POPE’S LOYAL SON’ VS THE PROTESTANT
REFORMATION
In 1521: Luther’s ideas were circulating. Luther appears before the Diet of Worms (= réunion d’assemblée) and
condemned as a heretic. The same year, Cardinal Wolsey (chancellor and cardinal) condemned Luther’s doctrines.
In May 1521: mass burning of Lutheran books at St Paul’s yard.
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Henry VIII asserts the sacraments. Henry is very close to the Pope, he is an ally to the Pope and he is also going
to finance the new basilica of St Peter’s in Rome. He published the Defence of the Seven Sacraments. He dedicates
this to the Pope. Smart way of getting a title and the Pope grants him the title of Fidei Defensor (defender of the
faith).
In the roman catholic church, there are stages starting with baptism. Marriage is part of the sacraments. For Luther
there is only two Sacraments (baptism and the eucharist (called the lord’s supper)). Major break in the doctrine.
There are two perspectives. On the one hand, transubstantiation: transformation of bread and wine which stand
for the real body and blood of Christ. For Luther, the bread and wine are only symbols (spiritual way): called
consubstantiation.
HENRY VIII’S BREAK WITH ROME
‘The King’s Great Matter’. The Henrician Reformation: is it an accidental byproduct of the king’s lust?
In 1526, the king had fallen in love with Anne Boleyn (lady-in-waiting to Catherine). Voltaire says that the king
broke with Rome because he was in love.
The Tudors were anxious to secure the dynasty. Need of a male heir. Catherine of Aragon had 6 children, several
miscarriages and some died very young. The only child who survived was Mary. Henry thought God was punishing
him. In 1527, the King asked Wolsey to appeal to the Pope for an annulment. But divorce is forbidden so the
Pope didn’t accept. At the same time there is the Sack (invasion) of Rome by Charles V in 1527. Charles V is
Catherine of Aragon’s nephew. So also a question of geopolitics.
Bible analysis: Henry met Thomas More and they discussed passage of the Bible (Leviticus 20:21). There are two
interpretations. Leviticus is the interpretation of Rome and the other is found in Book of Deuteronomy. Henry
submitted the interpretation of this text to all the universities and learned scholars of Europe. In the end, it’s a
fiasco. The Pope is not going to change his mind. Wolsey is going to lose his job because he did not get the Pope’s
approval of the divorce in 1529. There is a legatine court in Rome. Wolsey was indicted in a praemunire charge.
The King decided to handle it by himself.
The next counsellor is Thomas Cromwell. Thomas suggested to Henry to put the great matter in the hand of the
Parliament. Theological debate which had an impact on the political situation. Moment when tiny evangelical
minority is becoming more important. Cromwell is the son of a butcher, he doesn’t belong to the aristocracy. He
left home and decided to travel around Europe. He is becoming fluent in German and Italian so starts working for
Wolsey. Became King’s most trusted servant following his marriage to Anne Boleyn. He is the one who is behind
Anne Boleyn’s execution. He hated her and managed everything he could do so that she was executed. Cromwell
started his career in 1531 and arrested 10 years later for high treason.
Thomas More resigned as Lord Chancellor. He is a key figure because he is reluctant to turn to Luther’s idea.
In 1532, Henry begins to control the Church. The King married Anne Boleyn who was pregnant. In 1533, Elizabeth
was born. Henry got Parliament to approve an Act of Succession that settled on his heirs by Ann (banned after
Ann’s death). In March 1534, Pope Clement declared the marriage between Henry and Catherin lawful. In
1533: Archbishop Cranmer declares that Catherine of Aragon and Henry’s marriage is null and void, being
against the law of God.
Act of Supremacy is passed in 1534: it took a long time since Wolsey was supposed to get the approval of the
Pope in 1526. The King and Queen of England are the Supreme Head of the Church of England. The idea is
that if you have a look at Luther on the continent, theses reforms come from the people who are accepting these
reforms. In England, the Church is imposed from the top (major difference). Most people are Catholic in England
at that time. They were asked to abide by the Church of England.
In 1534, Christian III King of Norway and Denmark implements Lutheranism.
The break with Rome (schism) & the independence of the national Church: Henry VIII is not Protestant (“catholic
without a Pope”: Bernard Cottret). Henry VIII passes the Act of Supremacy and at the same time Luther translated
the Bible into German. Also, at the same time, Pope Paul III organises the Counter Reformation.
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In England, there are many problems because the major counsellors have to choose their own side. Fisher was a
defender of Catherine (executed in 1535). William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury.
Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor, he refused to sign the Oath of Succession and was beheaded in 1535. He
is considered a martyr. In 1536, Catherine of Aragon dies. The same year, Anne Boleyn has a miscarriage.
Declared that same year an incestuous traitor and beheaded (affair wither own brother and other men at court).
Princess Mary: her mother died. She had to accept the Supremacy over the Church of England.
Henry married Jane Seymour in 1536.
Scarisbrick: critical of the reign. He is a Catholic.
After the Act of Supremacy we have the first Bible in English which is authorized, the Coverdale Bible (first
complete English translation of both the Old and New Testaments) in 1535. It will be a bit modified and became
the Great Bible in 1539. This is Henry’s Bible. First time a Bible in English + the portrait of the King.
Approximately 9,000 parishes and they all had to buy the Bible by 1541. FOLIO is the biggest format that exist
(physical size). The same year Calvin publishes The Institutes of the Christian Religion (justification by faith and
salvation through grace). He was using Luther’s ideas and also insisted on the justification by faith and salvation
through grace.
In 1536 Act of Ten articles. Enforced by a Treason Act. If you id not abide by these ten articles you could be
arrested. Written by Archbishop of Canterbury at the time: Thomas Cranmer. Luther had only two sacraments,
here we have three (baptism, Eucharist (Holy Communion) and Penance). Purgatory became a non-essential
doctrine → criticized. Settling the doctrine of this new Church of England. When it comes to the Saints,
calendar, some were left off the calendar.
THE DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES & THE PILGRIMA GE
OF GRACE
The same year (1536) correspond to the dissolution of monasteries. Next step with the break with Rome. Kings
and queens never went to the north of England. Thomas Cromwell (second advisor) passed a piece of legislation:
all monasteries with an annual income of less than 200 pounds would be dissolved. Plunder. Both England and
Wales got rid of the 900 monasteries in five years. In terms of wealth, 30% of the country’s landed property went
to the crown. Biggest transfer of landed wealth in English history.
Pilgrimage of Grace took place in the North of England: they disagreed with the dissolution. Robert Aske is the
most famous name behind this rebellion.
It began in Lincolnshire to Yorkshire. The monasteries were crucial for communities, they provided charity and
education. Series of rebellion. Among the rebels there was a mix of social classes (commoners, the gentry, the
nobility and the clergy). 40,000 rebels in arms in the North. Really a landmark moment because the English
reformation (Henrician reformation) could have stopped. But it was in the North. Real threat though. Herald report
is working both ways: trying to give precise elements but also tries to reassure the King.
The aims of the rebels was to restore the papacy and the Pope and the relation between papacy and England.
Restore the monasteries and prevent further closures and restore Princess Mary as the King’s heir. Wanted
to eliminate the commoners in the King’s circle. In the Herald Report, reference to “vile blood” → Thomas
Cromwell who was a commoner. His parents were selling beer. The rebels in the North thought that Cromwell
was a caterpillar. Getting rid of Thomas Cranmer (the one behind the Reformation) and also Hugh Latimer.
Banner used during the Pilgrimage of Grace (holy wounds: stigmata). Putting an end to the Pilgrimage of Grace
was the aim of the royal army which was sent to the North. Aske was a barrister and accepted the duke of
Norfolk’s policy. This man was sent to the North to negotiate peace but there were empty policies. Henry broke
his word and imposed martial laws in the North and Aske was executed, but also hundreds of rebels.
The monks were also working and there was: lead mining, iron mining and selling wool.
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Ireland: also rebellion in Ireland. At the very same time, not just a question of religion but also the progression
of English control over the country in term of property, possession, land owning.
Obvious step forward Protestantism with the Great Bible and the Ten Articles. 1538: systemic assault on shrines,
relics and sites of pilgrimage → assaults on Christian symbols. Thomas Becket was an archbishop in the 12th
century. He was murdered and the murder was commissioned by the King Henry II in Canterbury Cathedral. There
was a shrine after his murder so this is why there is a pilgrimage to Canterbury. He could not afford to go to
Jerusalem or to the continent. There were badges to prove that you did the pilgrimage. Jeffrey Chaucer at the time
of Richard II wrote those Canterbury Tales.
Henry was determined to kill off the cult of Thomas Becket and ordered the shrine to be destroyed. The reason
behind these destructions is because the veneration of saints was seen as an idolatry practice.
Pope had refused the divorce and another reaction is the counter-reformation. The Pope published an
excommunication of Henry VIII.
FROM THE TEN ARTICLES TO THE SIX ARTICLES
In 1539 the reforms were reversed with the passage of the Six Articles because Henry was a Catholic all his life.
He went back to what existed before: reaffirming traditional Catholic teaching on several matters. On the question
of transubstantiation, he goes back to this doctrine and the priests’ celibacy. In the Protestant religion, marriage
is allowed. In 1540, end of the arise of Thomas Cromwell, he is beheaded.
To conclude: to refer to the early reformers, we use the word evangelical. The Church of England before the
Reformation was a geographical expression, not a distinctive entity. Should not use the word Anglican (a least
before the 17th). Shift in religious sensibilities. We move on from an image-based religion to a religion which
is word-based. The book in itself is important, what God says.
Roughly 1/5th of Londoners were Protestants by 1547. Fewer people outside London. It was imposed from the top
and unwanted reformation. It became a period of dangerous confusion. This confusion still present nowadays
(Scarisbrick).
Henry died in 1547 at the age of 55. He became more and more tyrannical at the end especially after his accident
in 1536 (wound in his leg from which he never recovered). Henry Howard introduced the sonnet form in England.
He was the last noble to be executed by command of Henry VIII.
HENRY’S SIX WIVES
“divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived”. Catherine of Aragon, Ann Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne
of Cleves, Katherine Howard, Catherine Parr.
Jane Seymour, mother of Edward (who will become Edward VI). Katherine Howard accused of betraying the King
by having affairs with other men. Catherine Parr is the only woman Henry chose himself. She produced an English
translation of Erasmus’ Paraphrases on New Testament.
SUCCESSION
Succession Act of 1543: placing Mary and Elizabeth back into the line of succession. In 1543 Edward was going
to be the next one in line.
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EDWARD VI (1547-1554)
He was a child and he died very young because not great health.
The mid-Tudor period was referred as the mid-Tudor crisis as a kind of period of turmoil. Edward and the crafting
of authority. Mary and the construction of queenship.
The mid-Tudors have been largely ignored by historians in the past. Recent research suggests that there was a
remarkable amount of continuity between Henry VIII and his children. Economic crises: bad harvests in 1551
and 1556.
Edward has received a humanist education. John Cheke was his tutor. He was educated at Cambridge and
became tutor of Edward VI in 1548. He influenced Edward when it comes to Protestantism.
Since Edward was a child he needed counselors: Edward Seymour and Duke of Northumberland. At one point,
in a Chronicle written by the King himself, he denounces Seymour’s “ambition, vainglory, …”. He’s going to take
some distance from his tutor. He’s going to get rid of Seymor and be advised by the Duke of Northumberland.
Both powerful regents.
Some historians had tried to say that it was a crisis of monarchy.
ROYAL AUTHORITY IN IRELAND
In the 1530s, Dublin was actually controlled by London and in 1542, Henry had declared himself King of
Ireland. That’s the moment when we’re going to have an area around Dublin (‘the Pale’) which is an enclosed
area which refers to the limit of English role. After Henry’s death, Edward enforced a policy of protecting the
Pale by fortifications and colonization. We can refer to the Irish colony. To separate the English settlers and the
rebels outside the Pale. It existed before Edward but since Edward there was the fortification and colonization.
ENGLAND
When it comes to religion, under Edward VI there was an acceleration of Protestantism. He was actually
educated by Protestant tutors. In 1547 Edward decided to dissolve the Chantries. They are places helpful for the
community. Opportunity for him to take money. The Chantries were part of the fabric of communal life,
communities outside the city. Attack on the Catholic belief in purgatory and the saying of prayers for the
dead. We are moving towards a more ambitious Calvinist Reformation. Fight against idolatry, miracles,
superstition. That will lead to Iconoclasm (get rid of all images and sculptures in the churches). Edward VI =
iconoclasm.
EDWARD’S REIGN
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer crowned Edward king on January 28, 1547, at the age of ten. His reign is
associated with the most radically evangelical program of religious reform attempted in England either before
or since. Henry VIII was a Catholic and never changed but when we turn to the Article we changed from the 10 to
the 6. The Six Articles were repealed.
In January 1546, a year before Henry’s death, English reformer John Hooper summarized the situation in England
in a letter to his mentor, the Zurich reformer Heinrich Bullinger: “As far as true religion is concerned, idolatry is
nowhere in greater vigor. Our King has destroyed the Pope, but not popery.” The Tudor State, Henry in particular
could not force people to change their beliefs, it takes time.
FIRST ROYAL INJUNCTIONS
In July 1547, Edward VI issued his First Royal Injunctions. These injunctions sought: “the advancement of the
true honor of Almighty God, the suppression of idolatry and superstition throughout all [Edward’s] realms and
dominions, and to plant true religion, to the extirpation of all hypocrisy, enormities and abuses.”. “extirpation” is
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a very strong word. “abuses” of the Roman Catholic Church. Item 2 expressly forbade the “offering of money,
candles, or tapers, [to] relic, or images, or kissing and licking of the same, praying upon beads, or suchlike
superstition.” Key word is “superstition”. Roman Catholicism is going to be erased. Item 3 ordered the clergy to
destroy all images capable of inspiring superstitious devotion and abuse. Images.
Eamon Duffy is a Catholic historian. As a Catholic, he thought that these injunctions were a “charter for
revolution”.
A SECOND DISSOLUTION
With King Edward VI English reformation entered a new phase of accelerating radicalism. Edward had been
educated by Protestant tutors. Seymour was also a Protestant so that’s why we have quick changes. The next
dissolution is in 1547 → dissolving of the Chantries (comes from French: chapellenies). Place within a church
and they are associated with singing. Saying masses (messe catholique). These chantries were part of the fabric of
the community, the communal life. Also an attack on purgatory, Catholic beliefs and the saying of prayers for
the dead. We are moving towards a more ambitious Calvinist Reformation as opposed to miracles and superstition
and idolatry.
ICONOCLASM
Removing images → iconoclasm. 28 February 1548: Edward VI’s Privy Council banned religious images in
stained-glass, wood and stone. Assault on all these Catholic artifacts / culture. Stripping of the altars. Wood will
be used for that because simpler. Candlesticks and church plate were melted down and sold off. Walls were
whitewashed to not be able to see the decorations anymore. Relics were discarded. We wanted to get rid of
painting of saints but some were hidden in parishioners’ houses. We went from chalice to communion cup (more
simpler glass). Chalice is a very decorated artifact.
In Catholicism we used stone for the altars but it was destroyed to have them made from wood. The roods (cross)
and the consecrated stone altars were destroyed.
The next stage is the publication of The Book of Common Prayer in English. One book for all the services.
One kind of liturgy: words, music and actions used in ceremonies. How is a Protestant service organized → this
book would help everyone know that. Enforced in 1549 in the First Act of Uniformity. Designed to be used by
priest and people. Compiled by Thomas Cranmer, written in English so it was a groundbreaking decision to use
vernacular language.
This book failed because it was ambiguous because some Roman Catholic traditions were maintained so
people were at loss (priests were allowed to marry). People were divided, revolts in the country: a wave of unrest
swept England (surge of inflation). June 1549: Prayer Book rebellion starts in the South West this time in Devon
and Cornwall called the Western Rising. ‘oblique resistance was widespread’: judges and the local gentry refused
to enforce edicts from Parliament.
In 1548, Seymour who was behind of this book has his protectorship revoked. Accused of having driven the
country to chaos. He was executed.
Northumberland’s religious settlement: committing England unequivocally to the Protestant cause. Iconoclasm
goes on. January 1950: defacing of images and abolition of old service books. March 1551: commissioners ordered
all remaining Church plate to be called in and disposed of. Parishes all over the country sold off their Church plate
and other treasures to prevent confiscation. Many were forced to sell valuable items to pay for the new
requirements: the religious changes implemented by the government required massive spending for small parishes.
Moment where we had more and more communion tables (the altar was remade a communion table in wood)
constructing pulpits and whitewashing walls.
Second Act of Uniformity and a Second Book of Common Prayer in 1552. No avoiding this book. Everyone
living in England, Wales and Calais were required to attempt church on Sundays (or you were fined). Judges were
sent to enforce the use of the Second Book of Common Prayer. Vestments of priests had to be very simple. The
Mass was abolished and replaced with Holy Communion (the difference being that the bread and wine now only
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represented Christ and did not become Christ). Predestination: the belief that it was already decided if you were
bound for heaven or hell (from Calvin). “whatever you do, things have been decided beforehand, you don’t have
the choice” → the happy few were chosen by God in advance. Not possible to buy a place in heaven through good
work, donating money to the church or saying prayers.
1553: 42 Articles → kind of mixture between Calvin, Zwingli and Luther. Cranmer had established links with
Protestant reformer across Europe. Circulation of ideas between the continent and England. Many continental
theologians came to England to spread a whole variety of ideas, including those of Calvin. These articles defined
the practices and doctrines of the Church of England. Edward VI died before Parliament could approve the Articles.
ECONOMIC CHANGES IN THE 1540S
The decade was characterized by:
-
Inflation
Depression in the cloth industry
Rising incidences of poverty and unemployment
Population increases put enormous pressure on the land
Homelessness
The Vagrancy Act of 1547
Poor harvests in 1550-1552
Kett’s Rebellion in 1549 (against poverty and enclosures)
THE SUCCESSION
Edward wrote several drafts for the succession. It was called the “Device for the Succession”. His aim was to
actually bypass Mary’s succession because she was Catholic. Various drafts to override the terms of Henry VIII’s
Third Act of Succession. 17 June 1554: Edward VI alters his “devise” leaving the throne to Lady Jane Grey,
the daughter of Henry VIII’s younger sister. July 1553: Edward VI’s death. The Privy Council sent a letter to Mary
to tell her she was not going to become Queen. Princess Mary was able to gather sufficient support to
overthrow Lady Jane Grey’s administration following a 9-day reign.
Edward VI died at Greenwich palace on July 6, 1553. His heart collapsed when he was not yet 16. Buried beneath
the original altar of Henry VII’s Lady’s Chapel. Lain unburied during the long negotiations between Mary I and
her ministers as to the mode of the funeral rites. For the first time, the English Book of Common Prayer was used
for the funeral of a monarch (still used today).
RECAP: 1000 years of Christianity. Augustine was sent by Pope Gregory to Kent in 597 to convert Britain to
Christianity. King Henry VIII had embraced some aspects of the Protestant Reformation. With Edward VI,
England moved towards a much more decisively Protestant direction. This was reversed with the Catholic
restoration under Queen Mary I. Overturned by Queen Elizabeth I’s Protestant Reformation called “the Elizabethan
reformation”.
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MARY TUDOR (1553-1558)
Born in 1416. She becomes Queen at 37 years old, in July 1553. October 1st, 1553: coronation of Mary I as Queen
of England and Ireland without the Archbishops of Canterbury and York present. She is the first Queen Regnant
since the 12th century. She reigned in her own right, not through marriage to a king. An instant wave of support.
British and English population is welcoming this new Queen.
This period is called the Marian Counter-reformation. Restoring Catholicism and papal authority. ReCatholicization. Mary’s dominant aim was to end the schism with the Papacy and make England once more part
of Catholic Christendom.
Focus on three moments:
-
Marrying Philip II of Spain, son of her cousin Charles V
Reginald Pole: back from exile, a powerful figure in Mary’s government
Persecution of Protestants, restoring laws against heresy
SECTION 1: MARRIAGE WITH PHILIP II
Philip II: son of Charles V. He inherited Spain, the New World and the Netherlands. He married four times and
Mary was wife n°2. January 4, 1554: marriage treaty with Mary I which barred him from succession if she died
childless. Still agreed to formal betrothal by proxy on March 6, 1554.
They married in Winchester Cathedral. She was committed to the ideal of dynastic monarchy. Marrying early as
a means to deflect the attacks against female rule. Philip was not a mere king consort but a king in his own right.
His role in politics was unquestioned. The fact that a Spanish King would mingle in English politics was an affront
to national honor. In 1554, Sir Thomas Wyatt’s rebellion crushed. In 1556, Philip becomes King of Spain (after
abdication of Chares V in October 1555). He didn’t stay in England, he went to the continent many times. He left
England twice and the second time never returned. Referred as “an experiment in dual monarchy”.
Succession: from the very beginning Mary wants to get rid of Elizabeth and does not commission a murder but
sent Elizabeth to the Tower of London (1554) excluding her from the succession.
SECTION 2: AN INNER CIRCLE OF COUNCILLORS
Pole appointed cardinal in 1536 → while he was in exile (time of the dissolution of the monasteries). He was
one of the three cardinals who presided over the Council of Trent (from 1545 to 1547). Council of Trent: a
council of Roman Catholics, which was organized in response to the protestant Reformation. The Council issued
key statements and clarifications on the Catholic Church’s doctrine and teachings, addressing a wide range of
subjects. Starting the “counter-reformation”, a period of Catholic revival across Europe. 29 November 1549:
start of a long Papal conclave: Cardinal Reginald Pole gets within 2 votes. The winner is Julius III elected in 1550.
He is a Catholic. For him Thomas Cromwell was “an agent of Satan sent by the devil to lure King Henry to
damnation”.
In 1554 with the accession of Mary I, he comes back to England and he addresses Parliament and thanks them
for restoring him. 30th November 1554: reconciliation with Rome = absolved England from schism. He is
appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1556 by Mary. Massive influence on secular and religious affairs,
although not a Privy Counsellor. Cardinal Pope died the same day as Mary I.
SECTION 3: MARIAN COUNTER-REFORMATION
It is about returning her people to Catholic obedience. 1553: Catholic liturgy restored. Nearly 300 Protestants
were burned at the stake during Mary’s reign (kind of purification). This is when she was given the nickname
Bloody Mary. Burnings were intended to persuade the people of God’s true way and limit the spread of heresy.
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Some people had to recant (idée de chanter un nouveau chant) their religious beliefs. Some agreed some didn’t.
Gardiner was behind purges. Purging universities and asking Protestant fellows to recant. Only two complied.
This marked the beginning of the heresy trials.
15 May 1556: Mary I has John Cheke, scholar, royal tutor, arrested near Antwerp for his involvement in antiCatholic propaganda on the continent. He was shipped back to England. John Cheke refused to recant (tutor of
Edward VI). He changed his mind several times. In 1556 he had to make his final recantation and died one year
later. He made this humiliating recantation of his Protestantism at Mary I’s court on the feast of Francis of Assisi.
This event shocked many people.
Thomas Cranmer, the mastermind of the reformation, refused to recant and was burnt at the stake in Oxford
in 1556. 237 men and 52 women executed by burning. Cranmer made 6 recantations and then he refused. Cranmer
(1489-1556) was one of the leaders of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury. When Mary I came
to the throne, Cranmer was arrested, he proceeded to write 6 recantations. During a service at the oxford University
Church, he renounced the recantations, he was immediately sent to be burned.
Eamon Duffy was a Catholic and wrote Fires of Faith, Catholic England under Mary Tudor.
Many people decided to leave England during Queen Mary’s reign. Massive exile to Geneva (Calvin). These
exiles produced the Geneva Bible published in 1560 (Shakespeare quotes this a lot). 1563: John Foxe’s Actes
and Monuments, popularly known as The Book of Martyrs. Published under Elizabeth’s reign. The most popular
books in England for many years after their publication, provided a view of England as an elect nation chose by
God.
In 1558, Calais was lost. Greatest humiliation of her reign. There was also a pale around Calais. It was under
English control since the 14th century (Henry V).
She thought she was pregnant twice. Lots of researches made by doctors. But each time there was no child.
Undiagnosed illness. Phantom pregnancies. Her belly was swelling but there was no child. She died in
November 1558. On her death bed she was obliged to recognize Princess Elizabeth as her heir.
Gynocracy / gynecocracy → “the rule by women”. A sixteenth-century exceptional situation. This question was
not only reserved to Mary Tudor. Queen Katherine of Aragon: serving as regent of the kingdom in 1513 while
Henry pursuing his wars on the Continent. Even quelling a Scot’s invasion in Henry’s absence. Katherine Parr,
also regent in 1544 while Henry was on military campaign in France. Mary Tudor in England, Marie of Guise,
Mary Stuart in Scotland (Queen of Scots, 1565). Mary of Austria Queen of Hungary & Bohemia, 1515-1526,
Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (1531-1555). Other regents: Catherine de Medici in France, Joanna of Austria
in Spain, Catherine of Austria in Portugal.
The First Blast of the Trumpet by Knox: biblical background, trumpets of Jericho. “One celebration of the mass
is worse than a cup of poison”. “Give me Scotland or I die”. He really wanted to turn Scotland into a Protestant
country. Knox was born in Edinburgh, he went to St Andrews University. One of Edward VI’s favourite chaplains,
later Bishop. In 1553: forced to flee for safety to the continent. Settled eventually in Geneva. Great influence
on Calvin. “monstruous” (unnatural, not monsters) “regiments” of women. Published when he was in exile in
Geneva. Probably the best known but least understood of Knox’s writings. By 1558, a number of Knox’s friends
had written tracts advocating female ruling. Mixture of religious and non-religious arguments. He declared it
was the law of God and of nature that women must not rule. Reference to Jezabel (Ahab’s wife in The Old
Testament, “that cursed idolatress”). Arguments from Aristotle and Augustine. He quotes Aristotle Politics and
from that he take the notion of natural order. Also refers to Sparta and Greek legend “the enchantment and venom
of Circe” (a sorceress) / Ulysses (Odyssey). This pamphlet was ill-timed because Mary Tudor died the same year.
He was not allowed to go back to England. The aim was to justify rebellion against tyranny rather than against
female rulers per se. Aim was to get rid of Mary Tudor but she died.
THE SCOTTISH REFORMATION (1559-1560)
Was a long time coming but came dramatically. In early 1559, Protestants were an outlawed minority in a
Catholic pro-Frech state. It could be imposed thanks do Marie of Guise’s death (mother of Mary Queen of Scots).
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Knox was instrumental. In less than 18 months, Protestants won a civil war, created a new Protestant and proEnglish establishment. 1560: The Scottish Reformation Parliament adopted the Protestant Scots Confession of
Faith (abolished papal jurisdiction and the celebration of the sacraments according to Roman Catholic rites) an
the Book of Common Order. Aimed at catholic women rulers.
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ELIZABETH I (1558-1603)
She reigned for 45 years.
INTRODUCTION
She had a humanist education. She could speak and write Latin, Greek, French, Italian perfectly. She was
completely fluent. She was a natural orator. She translated Boethius’s On the Consolation of Philosophy in less
than one month. She was a terrific player on the virginals. Music is part of this early modern world. Excellent
dancer and also good at hunting. Perfect princess.
Earliest letter that she wrote in Italian, July 1554. she had an italic handwriting. Very easy to follow what she
writes because she has this beautiful italic hand.
Keyboard instrument. Virginal is an instrument (ancestor of the piano). Shakespeare coined this verb (to virginal
→ to tap with the fingers as on a virginal).
In 1558 she is 25 years old and she is seen as a peacemaker just as Mary was seen as a peacemaker at the beginning
of her reign or also Henry VIII. The city of London saw her as a Protestant saviour. She is compared to many
women in the Old Testament. Deborah is the most common reference. Coronation pageants: showcasing stability
and concord; to welcome the new queen. Henry III king of France at the time say she is “la femme la plus fine du
monde”.
In 1572, the Queen commissioned a painting (An Allegory of the Tudor Succession). It goes back to the past, we
see Henry her father and on the right hand side of Henry there are Mary Tudor and her husband, Philip II (Spanish
King) and on the left hand side, Elizabeth in her gorgeous apparel and she is bigger than his sister in this painting.
Right hand side → weapons. Revival of peace in England.
November 1558 when Mary died, Elizabeth was in a house in Hatfield.
She inherits serious financial strain. A lot of debts. She inherits a largely catholic country. All the exiles from
Geneva come back to England because they hoped that she would continue Edward’s Reformation. Threatened
by France and Scotland too. She also was known for her sharp intellect, political analysis. She would choose the
most peaceful way most of the time. She was also skilled in diplomacy. She managed to settle the religious mess,
question in one year. She stabilized the kingdom.
Key counsellor → William Cecil, Lord Burghley. Privy councillor to Edward VI. He became the principal
adviser to the queen. Master of statecraft. Cecil is the longest-serving and most successful politician of the Tudor
age. Elizabeth I’s Secretary of State and Lord Treasurer.
Robert Dudley was her favourite for a couple of years. She did not marry him because she thought it would be
too dangerous. He had been married himself when they started this relation but his wife was found dead in her
house. The Queen and Dudley were in love. He was always by her side and the Spanish ambassador wrote that
Dudley visited her room at night on a regular basis. Elizabeth had many suitors. She refused to marry for political
reasons.
1559: RELIGIOUS SETTLEMENT AND THREATS
A/ ‘SUPREME GOVERNOR’ OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
Had to do with law: ‘governor’. She was a woman so political too.
In one year she managed to settle the country. Act of Supremacy in 1559 (rejected papal authority and made the
Queen “Supreme Governor of the church”; jurisdictional rather than spiritual authority) and Act of Uniformity
(enforced the use by ministers of a third Book of Common Prayer). Legacy of Thomas Cranmer and Protector
Somerset. Cecil drafted his Royal Injunctions (question of iconoclasm, condemning images, miracles and relics,
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preaching against the papacy and superstition and JPs (Justices of the Peace) were sent around the country to
track recusants → people who do not abide by Church of England and this Act of Uniformity).
B/ LITURGY MAINLY FROM CATHOLICISM
Mix between Catholicism and Calvinism. Could be viewed as a political via media. 39 Articles are still used
today (1563). Elizabethan Church of England is neither Rome nor Geneva but a compromise, a via media.
Ecumenical perspective → you try to please everyone. It is smart in terms of politics because it tries to encapsulate
Rome and Geneva. Inclusive Church. The consequence of having these Act of Uniformity and 39 Articles is that
this new Church of Egland is going to ensure stability. It saved England from the Wars of Religion. In the continent
not the same story.
In France we had the wars of religion. Elizabeth reign was peaceful in the end. In France civil wars between
Catholics and Protestants. Same in the Netherlands (possessed by Spanish crown). Conflict and war between
Catholic Spaniards and the Calvinist Dutch.
In Ireland there’s also a conflict but not the same one. Became a battleground in these European wars of religion.
September 1580: the Desmond rebellion. Moment in the 1580s when we are going to have the creation of the
Munster Plantation. An attempt to introduce thousands of new English settlers into the confiscated Fitzgerald
lands. Colonization in other words and a lot of land are given to English colonists. A moment when English
colonization moved forward in Ireland. Imposing the new Church of England. Some 500 000 acres were planted
with English colonists. By 1589 there were up to 3-4 000 English settlers in the province.
Night of the 23 to the 24 August 1572 → massacre of St Bartholomew in Paris. It happened at night and the
leader of the Protestant faction was Gaspard de Coligny, Seigneur de Châtillon, Admiral and Huguenot leader,
he was murdered → major symbol of this massacre. It is witnessed from the English Embassy by both Philip
Sidney and Francis Walsingham.
Francis Walsingham counsellor of Elizabeth I is going to organise an organization of spies.
The Reformation is a slow moving conformity. You have to take into account the ‘long time’. Catholicism was
still there. The high clergy (bishops and archbishops), most of them were still very faithful, they supported
Catholicism and were against these impositions. By the end of 1559, every one of them had been deprived of their
sees and placed in custody. If you go to the countryside, the clergy in these other areas were less attached to
Catholicism (it’s the parochial clergy and only a quarter to a third of them resisted the taking of the new oath).
Division between the clergy. 39 articles tried to retain Catholic elements and tried to incorporate Calvinist
elements.
1/ CATHOLICS
You have to have a look at a city now in France: Douai was a Spanish Flander at the time and there was a
university and in parts of the university there was an English college and that’s the place where most Catholics
went after Elizabeth become queen. It was the most important place to educate and form Catholic priests. These
priests were sent to England to convert the English people back to Catholicism but they had to hide and wear
disguises (they looked like merchants).
In the North, the people of England were still very much Catholics. In 1569 there is a rebellion → the Northern
Rising (Northern Earls: an army of 5 000 men crushed by the authorities). Revival of the Pilgrimage of Grace kind
of and considered as the last Catholic rebellion against the Reformation. Gradually Church of England is gonna be
accepted by people. Faith died with people.
Douai-Rheims Bible (Biden took the oath of office on it). Forst edition of the Roman Catholic translation of the
Bible in English. Both a reaction to and product of the Protestant Reformation. The goal of this translation was to
assist in the re-conversion of English Catholics. Thre project was overseen by the English College at Douai (15781582).
1570: landmark. Moment when the Pope delivered his Regnans in Excelsis → excommunication of Elizabeth I
and exhorting her Catholic subjects to overthrow her. Led to a campaign of persecution. Response to her
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persecution of Catholics in England. Catholics in England: some families conformed awkwardly, they would abide
by the Church of England but would practice Catholicism in secret. Fearing these papists (derogatory word).
Several Catholic plots to overthrow Elizabeth I. Between 1585 and 1603, 150 executions of Catholics. Erosion of
Parish Catholicism largely complete by the end of the 1590s. 1572 → Ridolfi Plot: plot was uncovered and people
behind were arrested and executed (one of the major plot). It was an abortive international Catholic conspiracy
intending to put Mary, Queen of Scots on the English throne. Comes from Roberto di Ridolfi (1531-1612) who
was a Florentine baker who had settled in England. After the Ridolfi plot, series of laws passed to control : Treason
Act of 1572. Act against bringing papal bulls from Rome 1572. Act increasing the penalty for absence from church
1581. Act against seminary priests and Jesuits 1586.
Major figure behind these threats: the Jesuit order founded by Ignasius Loyola. That’s a Catholic order which is
known for education and they would be very close to the people in Douai and decided to send priests in England.
Behind a mission to England. And Robert Persons is one of the major leader of this mission to England (1580).
He arrived in London disguised as an army captain. Moment when we have all those Jesuit priests who managed
to get to England often disguised so that they would blend in with the people in England. Royal Proclamation to
arrest Jesuits in England and Wales in 1581. One of the major figure is St Edmund Campion: executed in 1581
(another martyr). Protestant martyrs under Mary’s reign and Jesuits’ martyrs under Elizabeth’s reign. He became
a Jesuit in 1573 and was sent to England in 1580. He was arrested and executed and then canonised in 1970 by the
Pope Paul VI. Another figure is Robert Southwell, a poet. Also arrested, put on a rack and eventually executed
too.
2/ PURITANS
They are people who want the Reformation to go further. The word Puritan was a term of abuse. These people
were narrow-minded, the word Puritan or Precisian would be used with a derogatory meaning. They were Church
rebel. Printing press was owned by a Puritan printer, Robert Waldegrave.
3/ MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
Mary Queen of Scots → at the very beginning of the Tudor period, James IV married Margaret Tudor, sister to
Henry VIII. They had a son James V who married in 1536 Mary of Guise the French princess and they had a
daughter: Mary Queen of Scots. She could have been a legitimate Queen for England so that’s a threat to
Elizabeth.
Henry VII
James IV
Mary of Guise
Margaret Tudor
Henry VIII
James V
Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587)
A tragedy in three acts:
-
-
France: her father James V died in 1542. At 6 days old, Mary Stuart becomes Queen of Scots and her
mother is a regent. In 1548, she is sent to France: betrothed to Dauphin François. 1558, she marries
Francois II. After she is Queen of France because of the marriage for one year (death of François II in
December 1560). Moment when she could claim the English throne. She represents a threat for Elizabeth
I. Mary declared herself to be the legitimate Catholic claimant to the English throne.
Scotland: She goes back to Scotland after her husband’s death. In 1560: treaty of Edinburgh,
withdrawal of English and French troops from Scotland. It forced Mary to renounce her right to claim the
English throne and left Protestant lords governing Scotland. In 1565 she married Darnley, her cousin and
they had a son, James I. James I is Scottish. Darnley was a plotter and ends up assassinated. Mary marries
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someone else the following year the Earl of Bothwell but raise of the Presbyterian Church (backed by
Elizabeth) so she is forced to abdicate because she is Catholic. She cannot face the people behind the
Reformation so she flees to her cousin Elizabeth.
England: she stays 20 years imprisoned and executed at 44. Moment when Cecil is sure that Mary
Queen of Scots is going to be behind some plot to get rid of Elizabeth. Babington Plot in 1586. 29 October
1586, the English Parliament meets to consider the case of Mary Queen of Scots. 4 December 1586, Mary
found guilty of treason under the 1584 Act for the Queen’s safety. In the end, Cecil forced Elizabeth
to sign her death warrant in February 1587. Elizabeth signed the warrant reluctantly, she thought it
would not be used.
C/ CALVINIST DOCTRINE
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS AND THE SCOTTISH REFORMATION
1588: THE SPANISH ARMADA
The Spanish Armada in 1588. Iconic moment in the reign. Able to get rid of the Spanish attempt to invade
England. 1580: Spain declared war on England. Fear of the Spanish invasion: ‘The English Enterprise’. 1588: First
Spanish Armada. Elizabeth’s famous speech to troops at Tilbury. 8 hours of fighting. A change in wind direction
prompted the Spanish retreat toward the North Sea and then some of them landed in Ireland. Fears of Spanish
invasion did not disappear until the end of her reign. A defining moment in English history.
THE VIRGIN QUEEN AND THE MYTH OF THE GOLDEN AGE
Some portraits are associated with symbols
-
The Pelican Portrait → pelican on her pendant which symbolizes self-sacrifice and generosity. Elizabeth
as a mother to her kingdom.
The Armada Portrait → beginning of the opening up to the world and not just colonizing Ireland.
The Phoenix Jewel → legendary female creature: capacity to regenerate itself.
The Plimpton Sieve Portrait → symbolizes her chastity and separating the good from the bad.
Elizabethan age associated with peace and plenty: this is associated with the myth. Also the moment when she
passed the 39 Articles. Cannot dissociate politics from religion. The 39 Articles provided a kind of appeasement
after Henrician reformation, Edward iconoclasm and Mary’s return to Catholicism.
Cannot dissociate the marriage matter and the question of succession. How is the Tudor dynasty going to last ?
That was the end of the dynasty actually. Various lovers but she thought that marrying the Earl of Leicester would
be too dangerous. Another plan organized by Cecil and Parliament in 1579: considered marrying François, Duke
of Alençon / Anjou called “Monsieur”. As soon as the treaty with France was signed, Elizabeth thought that it was
not useful for her to marry a French. Other potential husbands. As opposed to the myth, which was conveyed by
portraits and all the wealth there was a widespread dissatisfaction with her policies after 1580. Anxiety from the
people because of the legacy.
Marriage proposed in 1572. He arrived in England in 1579.
As opposed to all these myths, this decade is the one of terrible anxiety and lots of socio-economic crisis. She
had granted some monopolies to some courtiers (then the price of things rise): criticized. By 1598, monopolies
had doubled the price of steel. Poverty, bad harvests, Poor laws at the time too. 1600: English East India
Company was founded. She opened the last Parliament in October 1601. She delivered this speech without
knowing it was her last one. She didn’t go to the House of Commons but ask the MPs to go to Whitehall and she
delivered the speech from here.
When it come to politics, some of her favourites and especially the Earl of Essex tried to organize a coup in 1601
but it failed. He was part of these monopoly systems.
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SOCIAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY
ELIZABETHAN
CONTRASTS
LONDON,
A
CITY
OF
The Shard (310m) near the London Bridge. Paris looks like a village compared to London. Already the case in the
early modern period.
ROMAN PERIOD
London was a Roman city first. Named Londinium AD 50-140. Emperor Claudius invades Britain in 43 AD.
The moment when the Romans invade Britain where we have the firsts networks of road. Today the motorway is
a very ancient roman road. London was called Londinium and the Romans decided to build a bridge over the
Thames. Here in particular because it’s the area where the river is the narrowest. Narrow enough to erect a bridge
across it. Already in Roman times it was the largest city in Britannia. This area was called Britannia. London is
also a big city in Roman times because it’s a port, a harbour. Really at the heart of the wealth of England. Today
still parts of this Roman role in London.
City walls which we found in the early modern period. Nothing changed between Rome times and Tudor times.
Forum where the market was and an amphitheatre.
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
The Tower of London and Westminster Abbey dates from this period. Where the place almost all the kings and
queen are buried. Both a place of coronation and burial and that dates from the medieval period.
REFORMATION LONDON
In London, we don’t find a lot dealing with the 16th and 17th century contrary to Paris. Because most of the buildings
were destroyed and this dissolution of monasteries had an impact on the architecture in London specifically.
When dealing with urban history and the cityscape, the moment of the Reformation is a turning point. London will
never look the same as what it looked before the dissolution. Not just the monasteries but also many other places
governed by the clergy (hospitals, priories, colleges, etc.). The fabric of medieval London vanished in the 1530s.
In North of London there is a The Charterhouse, a Carthusian monastery founded in 1348 which was preserved.
Almost only element from before the reformation which we can find in London in Smithfield. It was turned into a
Tudor mansion.
TUDOR LONDON
The population of London:
•
•
•
•
1558: 80,000
1603: 200,000
1750: 700,000
2016: over 8.6 billion
Population really expanded during Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Extraordinary expanding under Queen Elizabeth. It
goes hand in hand with an increase in trade and wealth.
Two types of people coming to London:
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In-migration: they were coming from the countryside and could belong to any type of professions.
Very varied picture. Roughly 100,000 people including royalty, nobility, merchants, artisans, laborers,
actors, beggars, thieves and spies.
Refugees: coming from the continent because of political and religious persecution. Wars of religion
in France (Duke de Guise, St Bartholomew). Huguenots were Protestants in France who were obliged to
leave the country. Some of them came to London. Londoners were used to hear various languages.
SECTION 1: MAPPING THE CITY: URBAN CARTOGRAPHY
The idea of a map or view portraying the whole city: a new concept. After 1550, the city was a subject of interest
for artists to focus on. Early maps: not impersonal plans.
Well known map from 1561 → ‘Civitas Londinium’ first bird’s-eye view of London first printed from
woodblocks. Considered as one of the oldest maps of London. Providing a detailed view of the buildings and
streets of the city and of its environment.
Panorama of London by William Smith in 1588.
View of London in Civitates Orbis Terrarum, Cologne, 1600. This map tells us a lot about the traffic on the
Thames. Testifies the wealth of the city. Characters at the bottom of the map → world costumes reflecting fashion
in the city. From an Atlas of the world’s cities. It was in 6 volumes, the first in 1572. Made by Braun and
Hogenberg in Germany. 546 cities of the world. Until the end of the 17th century, most maps will be a combination
of maps plus picture / characters. Lots of gardens on the Southbank. Circular pattern of the Elizabethan theatres
built in 1599 for the Globe and the other a bit earlier.
Survey of London, John Stow → topographical meaning (Robison Crusoe). Very precise description of the city.
Written in 1598 and revised in 1603. He was an English historian and an antiquarian. Detailed, ward-by-ward
topographical and historical tour of the city: “the fairest, largest, riches and best inhabited city in the world”. But
it is close to truth probably what he says about London. He was very much interested in traditions (Catholics
tradition). He voices the anxieties about the changes he witnessed. He wants to keep the past. Topical issue. What
should we do about monuments ? should we change the past ? should we stick to the appearance ? his ideals of
the Commonwealth: interested in London as a Commonwealth and has a look at the social changes that take place
in the city. Criticizing the changes and registers the damage done to the fabric of the city because of growth and
because of the reformation. → focus on the traffic on the river Thames: “principal store house”, “2000 wherries
and other small boats”, “3000 poor men”. Very precious figures for historians. So lot of wealth and of course
people coming to London to find a job.
London city wall → in order to enter the city, you had to go through one of the seven gates. Way to control
entrances in the city.
SECTION 2: CIRCULATION OF GOOD IN THE CITY: THE ROYAL
EXCHANGE, THE TWELVE GREAT LIVERY COMPANIES, ST
PAUL’S
St Paul’s Churchyard: chief centre of the book trade, centre for the dissemination of news. Lots of book stores
at the time.
Focus on the Royal Exchange: 1571. Everything started in 1571 and that is quite a very interesting story. Thomas
Gresham was a merchant and he spent a few years in Antwerp (= Anvers) which was the most important financial
place in Europe. He went back to London and thought they should also have an exchange in London and he used
his fortune and founded the project (private enterprise) and has these building made and Elizabeth visited the
exchange and allowed Gresham to name the new space the Royal Exchange. Place where people would meet and
discuss about the latest topics. He was knighted. In the galleries around the courtyard you had plenty of shops with
the latest fashion. People, not just women, would go and shop and purchase the latest dress or hats r whatever. A
very busy place.
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Today not exactly on the same location and the actual one dates from 1840s because the old one was destroyed in
a fire.
Livery companies: these are guilds (communautés d’artisans). Many companies in London but 12 ‘Great
companies’. These people controlled almost everything in London and the wealth of London depended on them.
Biggest one was Mercers (silk and velvet) dealing with expansive fabric.
Today you have a mayor of London but also a Lord Mayor of London. The Lord Mayor of London is a member
of a livery company. He is a representative of the city. When Charkes III was crowned he paid tribute to the new
king. Lord Mayor’s Show is 804 years old. It dates back to 1215 when King John allowed the City of London to
appoints its own mayor (Magna Carta). Pas de lien avec Magna Carta en soit mais découle des conflits entre le roi
Jean et ceux qu’on appelait les barons qui a créé Magna Carta mais aussi une charte qui a permis à Londres d’être
indépendant de la couronne.
SECTION 3: ‘DISCIPLINE AND PUNISH’: THE INNS OF COURT,
THE LONDON UNDERWORLD, TYBURN
Michel Foucault, Surveiller et punir. Naissance de la prison (1975).
STUDYING LAW AT THE INNS OF COURT
Close connection between the world of the law and the world of the stage. Not an inn (= auberge) but an inn
of court (= university where you study law). Four major inns of court in London (Gray’s Inn, Inner Temple,
Lincoln’s Inn and Middle Temple). Lincoln’s Inn is the biggest: many key people who studied in Lincoln’s inn.
Sir Thomas More, John Donne, 16 Prime Ministers (Margaret Thatcher). We can visit and attend lectures there.
THE LONDON UNDERWORLD
Many people coming to London to find a job but also many criminals, thieves. Very interestingly, there were a lot
of thieves who tried to trap people in taverns and they were using different strategies (game of card for example).
In the 1590s we find those pamphlets, the Conny-catching pamphlets. In order not to be tricked, these pamphlets
were giving you advice to avoid losing your money.
TYBURN
That’s outside the walls and it’s a place where all people would be executed. Notorious gallows for hanging
thieves. Associated with executions. In 1537, Henry VIII used Tyburn to execute the ringleaders of the Pilgrimage
of Grace.
SECTION 4: ENTERTAINMENTS: EARLY MODERN TOURISTS’
ACCOUNTS OF THEATRES AND BEAR GARDENS
A lot of people from the continent would come to London to visit the place. Thomas Platter wrote an account of
those journeys to London. Chiasmus pattern in his writing.
Bankside. Combat between bears and dogs and sometimes other animals. Modelled on the Roman or Greek arenas.
Place where there will next be the Elizabethan theatres. Fortune Theatres built in 1600.
Prostitution is a key theme in Hamlet.
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PRINTING, HUMANISM, EDUCATION IN THE
TUDOR PERIOD
SECTION 1: PRINTING
THE PRINT REVOLUTION IN EUROPE, 1450-1750
In 1450, there was medieval manuscripts and the appearance of the new technology of print.
In 1750, there was books everywhere.
The first 100 years, there was expensive, beautiful books. Then books for the lower end of the market. During
reformation, some books were destroyed and Luther : words of God. It was pushed by books. Rise of news,
magazines and newspapers.
PRINTING: BEGINNING OF A MASSIVE CULTURAL REVOLUTION
Johannes Gutenberg (1400-1468). Both paper and the movable type first appeared in China. Not invented in
Europe. In China however it is in Europe that the process of printing became mechanized. Document from 1439
→ a lawsuit which deals with the question of the construction of a press. First time we get the name of Gutenberg.
Before the printing press: 30 000 manuscripts were circulating. By 1455: Gutenberg bibles were circulating (about
200). By 1500: 20 million books printed in Europe. We can speak of a massive cultural revolution. We could print
more than 200 pages an hour.
The three leading cities in Europe were Venice, Paris and Antwerp (Anvers in French).
WILLIAM CAXTON (1415-1492)
He worked as an English merchant in the Low Countries. He set up the first printing shop in London near
Westminster Cathedral (political power). He published works of Chaucer, also the classics. He not only translated
these texts but also printed them. He had his printer’s device.
TRADE IN BOOKS
In the 16th century we cannot think of the reformation without thinking of books and publications.
William Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament.
Thomas More’s attack on translation of the Bible into the vernacular.
LITERACY AND REFORMATION
By 1590, around 30% of the adult male population could read and write. Moment when we had publication of
dictionaries. Samuel Johnson’s dictionary.
SECTION 2: UNIVERSITIES, GRAMMAR SCHOOLS, HUMANIST
CURRICULUM
Oldest university in Europe was in Bologna, Italy. Creation in 1088 and moment when they get a royal charter in
1189. Paris is number two and Oxford number three.
Oxford University in 1096: from 1167, teaching developed rapidly. When Henry II (French King) banned English
students from attending the University of Paris. 1254 → Pope Innocent IV granted to Oxford the university charter
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by papal bull. During the Great Matter, Henry VIII force the University to accept his divorce from Catherine of
Aragon. Under Elizabeth I we have the settlement of a printing press (today Oxford University Press).
Thomas Cromwell wrote a letter to Cardinal Wolsey.
HUMANIST CURRICULUM
Focussing not on Christian theological texts, but on classical ‘humanities’ subjects.
The seven liberal arts: standard curriculum for medieval students consisting of the ‘trivium’ (grammar, logic and
rhetoric) and the ‘quadrivium’ (geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and music). That’s the basic curriculum. In the
Tudor period there is a shift from these Christian theological text to this.
They used printed textbooks. Thanks to them they would learn to memorise quotations → basic learning for all of
them. They would also learn about argumentative rhetoric and to develop an elegant writing style.
Transition between the medieval scholastic teaching to a humanist teaching. Importance of the liberal arts. Greek
and Latin are rediscovered and printed for the very first time. English humanism took over the University of Oxford
and Cambridge.
The most popular art of rhetoric by Thomas Wilson (8 editions during the 16 th century). He goes back to Cicero
and all the precepts and advice.
The orator Giovan Pietro Maffeis (1533-1603)
GRAMMAR SCHOOLS
Place where students often required to speak Latin during school hours. They could be found all over the country.
In London, very famous school → St Paul’s school and it was founded by the Merchant Taylors’ School.
Dean / John Colet founded St Paul’s. First English school to teach Greek. He founded it in 1509 and it was to
educate 153 boys ‘from all nacions and countres indifferently’. According to John 21:11 → drag a fish from the
net on a boat and there was 153 large fish. This is why he took out this number.
School of Raphael → full-scale drawing, known as a cartoon. Purchased by Charles I in 1623.
Stratford upon Avon’s grammar school → Shakespeare learned here.
SECTION 3: MAJOR ACTORS
Who is considered as the ‘Prince of the Humanists’ ? Erasmus! We will see both Erasmus and Sir Thomas More.
Erasmus visited England under Henry VII and met the young prince who would become Henry VIII. His role on
education was important. He published a method in 1511 entitled De Ratione studii / On the Method of Study. He
privileged ethics over logic. Reat focus on logic and he turned to ethics. He also focussed on the formation of
character. Learning things by heart doesn’t lead to anything. Memorizing occupies a great part of education but
Erasmus tried to think of the human being. He wrote Moriae Economium in 1509, The Praise of Folly in English.
Pun on Sir Thomas More. Punning very present for humanists. Thomas More made many many puns. Criticizing
medieval scholastics and turned to the student as a person, the self.
Thomas More was first and foremost a lawyer. Also a scholar. Became chancellor after Wolsey’s being rejected
by Henry. He wrote the History of King Richard III. In 1520, another contemporary of Thomas More wrote a
famous passage which is a famous portrait of Thomas More → Robert Wittington: “A man for all seasons”. More
was harsh with the evangelists. His house was considered as an academy I the sense of a small university. Having
female educated.
Thomas More’s Utopia, in 1516. It’s not a novel, it’s a fiction but also integrates contemporary elements. Published
in Latin first in Leuven (Louvres). It is supposed to provide an organization of the best commonwealth. Political
echoes. It was extremely popular from the very start (5 editions). The first part take place in Antwerp (major place
for publication). Political but also ironic work. In Book 1 we have a ialog between 3 characters: Thomas More,
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Peter Gilles and Raphael Hythlodaeus (fictional character). Angelic messenger (Raphael) but also speaker of
nonsense in Greek (Hythlodaeus). He is a traveler to the new island of Utopia and met Amerigo Vespucci. The
new continent is called America after Amerigo. They discuss European politics all together and denounce
European politics, luxury, poverty. Critic of enclosures.
In Book 2, despcription of the island of Utopia. Very disturbing that there are 54 cities which are exactly the same.
Utopians are all excellent citizens, industrious (= they work hard) people, they work 6 hours long so not a lot so
they have free time to cultivate the mind. Utopia really focusing on cultivation of the mind. Everything takes place
before dawn. Absence of property, no King, no one owns anything: a Republic. Book extremely provocative for
the time. There is no money so no theft so don’t need any lawyer.
We can write it in Greek u-topia and it would mean ‘no place’ but also eu-topia which would mean ‘happy place’.
Supposed to provide a criticism of the reign of Henry VIII and the conditions of the poor people.
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