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| The Reformation was one of the most cataclysmic events in British history. Discover how old values were turned upside down as Henry VIII took over powers once held by the Church. |  Henry VIII accepts bibles from his bishops
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In 1534, Henry VIII severed ties between the English Church and Rome. This was an overtly political move as part of his wider European foreign policy, but the implications for the Church in England were immediate and devastating.
'The English landscape was thus altered forever, as abbeys, nunneries and monasteries were reduced to rubble.'
Henry badly needed cash to fund his wars with France, and to achieve his aims he ordered the Dissolution of the Monasteries, calling for their lands to be seized and sold into private hands. Within a decade, the entire monastic community had been dismantled, with monks and nuns ejected from the closed world of their institutions.
The English landscape was thus altered forever, as abbeys, nunneries and monasteries were reduced to rubble. A large amount of building material was recycled in new secular buildings, and a few houses were converted into domestic dwellings. However most were left to the elements to survive only as ruins.
The Church was also under attack by religious reformers, pushing for a Protestant Reformation that would change the way people worshipped. They, too, gradually prevailed, and the consequent liturgical changes, and re-interpretation of the relationship between the congregation and the priest, radically altered the use of space within churches. The lavish ornamentation that was a feature of pre-Reformation churches was comprehensively destroyed, along with its symbolism. It is still possible to see the physical scars of this process within today’s churches.
Such momentous events raise important questions. What was it all for? And what were the consequences for the Church, for Britain and for the British people?
'... valuables such as gems and plate from the shrine were collected and appropriated by the king ...'
Henry VIII’s decision to strip the assets of the monasteries was instigated by a direct need for cash, but it also provided an opportunity to assert the power of the state over the Church. Teams of Commissioners were sent out by royal command.
They were often drawn from the ranks of the local community and were people who had coexisted with the monasteries for generations. In some cases they would have been known, personally, by the abbots and monks they were about to dispossess.
The process of Dissolution was brutally simple. The monastic seal of the abbey in question was broken, to ensure that the abbot could take no further legal action in the name of the house. Valuables such as gems and plate from the shrine were collected and appropriated by the king as the head of the Church.
Finally, the most symbolic act of destruction was carried out - the church that had been used by the monastic community was destroyed to prevent future use. The monks were cast out into secular society, some given pensions and new appointments, others left to wander the countryside or find a new calling abroad.
The Commissioners usually left the walls of the church standing. Surviving ruins, such as those of Fountains Abbey, provide a vivid illustration of the sophistication of medieval architecture - the walls and arches still support themselves, even though only part of a larger structure now remains.
'... bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang.'
Opposition to the destruction of monastic houses was strongest in the northern and eastern shires, where communities were more reliant on monasteries for pastoral care. The only popular protest, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, was forcibly suppressed in 1536, and in general the destruction continued unopposed.
However, by the end of the 16th century there is a discernible feeling of regret over the loss of so many beautiful buildings, expressed by Shakespeare when he writes of the ‘bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang.’ It is perhaps a desire to preserve the few remaining fragments of a lost world that prompted builders such as Stephen Proctor, who constructed Fountains Hall in 1598, to leave the actual church largely untouched whilst taking stone from other parts of the abbey.
'... the bones of saints were dragged out from their reliquaries and destroyed.'
This is not to say that secular cathedrals were exempt from the process of change that had been unleashed by the Break with Rome. For instance, in 1541 Henry VIII visited York Minster, and as a gesture of defiance against popery, and of allegiance to the king, the dean Richard Layton smashed the shrine of St William, formerly the main focus of worship at York.
Such actions were occurring all across England, as the bones of saints were dragged out from their reliquaries and destroyed. Occasionally these efforts were thwarted, as at Durham, where the monks were able to save the body of St Cuthbert when the Commissioners opened the shrine, and later re-buried him in the cathedral.
The boy king ordered changes to the English church that were far more radical than anything his father had ever envisaged. They would leave churches plain, silent, and virtually unrecognisable as the same buildings which had once housed the vibrant ‘machines for worship’ of the late Middle Ages.
In 1547, all chantries were suppressed. At York Minster, for instance, there had been about 50 chantries centred on the altars in the side chapels around the church, but after 1547 the services at these altars ceased.
'Any remaining ornaments set with gold, silver and jewels were seized.'
Previously the Minster had been alive with the sound of a constant round of masses and prayers, but now worship was solely focused on a reduced liturgy in the choir. These services would not have been attended by lay people, who continued to worship in their local parish churches.
The Minster’s nave stood empty and unused as there were no longer any shrines to attract pilgrims. A similar pattern of silence embraced cathedrals across the land.
Any remaining ornaments set with gold, silver and jewels were seized. The great rood, the focus of lay devotion, was destroyed. The young king also seized vestments, as these were silk, embroidered with precious metals and stones. The final blow came in 1554, when biblical texts such as the Ten Commandments were required to be painted above the High Altar in place of the old images of saints that had once aided devotional worship.
'The other major change instituted by Edward was the translation of the liturgy into English ...'
The other major change instituted by Edward was the translation of the liturgy into English as the Book of Common Prayer. The medieval Latin liturgy had been understood only by a few, thus increasing the sense of the service as a secret, holy mystery performed by a specially ordained priest.
This was totally against the Protestant belief that individuals could communicate directly with God without the intervention of the priest. So, in the new Anglican Church, an English liturgy meant that everyone could participate fully in the services.
Images, including those put up during Mary's reign, were destroyed - only some stained glass was left untouched, perhaps because of the expense of re-glazing broken windows. The most symbolic change, however, was the replacement of the great rood above the screen with the Royal Arms.
'There was very little new building during the late 16th and early 17th centuries ...'
In part this was because roods had been a focus of pre-Reformation devotion, and therefore were idolatrous, but it also served to emphasise that the Church was now part of the state, with the monarch as its supreme head.
There was very little new building during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, but much money was spent on adapting older churches to the new ways. At Hereford Cathedral, for instance, more than £29 was spent in 1588 on 'seats in the bodie of the church [nave] for the more convenient hearing of sermons'. Precisely what inconvenient arrangement this replaced isn't entirely clear - presumably there were no seats at all in the nave and everyone had had to stand.
'Scotland in particular had moved towards a Presbyterian method of worship ...'
Charles strongly believed in the Divine Right of Kings, and the appointment of William Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633, saw the elevation of a man with equally authoritarian views. Laud believed that every church in England should strictly adhere to his wishes for a more ritualistic Church, with a return to the use of vestments and ornaments such as crosses and candles. But those of a more puritanical belief felt these changes were returning the Church of England to popish practices.
Scotland in particular had moved towards a Presbyterian method of worship, where the congregation had a far greater influence in the way services were conducted. However, Laud firmly believed in a hierarchical system of government, and in 1638 attempted to impose a system of dioceses and bishops onto the Church of Scotland.
The rejection of this plan, which inspired Scottish leaders to sign the National Covenant, helped to polarise factions within the English Church into ‘high’ or ‘low’ factions, depending on where they thought authority should reside - in the bishops, as Laud wanted (high church), or in the individual congregations and their ministers as the Presbyterians wanted (low church).
The sects promoted a new way of thinking, which implied rejection of state control, and which proved equally abhorrent to the new regime. But the seeds of a more secular form of worship were sown and would flourish in the later 17th century. Ecclesiastical architecture was no longer required to conduct a service, and the growth of movements dependent on meeting houses, preaching and gospel-inspired teaching can be traced to the Commonwealth installed in the aftermath of the Civil War.
'The man who typified the new Parliamentarian beliefs was the Huntingdon MP, Oliver Cromwell.'
The man who typified the new Parliamentarian beliefs was the Huntingdon MP, Oliver Cromwell. His organisation of the New Model Army, with its strict drills and discipline, coupled with prayer and worship, was responsible for winning the war and bringing King Charles I to trial. He naturally occupied a powerful position in the Army Council, the effective rulers of England after the purging of Parliament, and was in a key position to shape the religious future of the ensuing Commonwealth and Protectorate.
The rejection of monarchy and an Episcopal system of Church government after the execution of the king in January 1649 opened the floodgates for religious reform. A new wave of desecration followed, as images and relics that had escaped the Dissolution now found themselves without protection.
A parliamentary commission, led by William Dowsing, saw to it that English churches were cleansed of ‘superstitious’ pictures. The ornate interior of St George’s Chapel at Windsor, one of the finest examples of 15th-century architecture, was stripped bare and:
'The whole chapel so dismantled that, at the burial of Charles I, the former arrangement could not be recognised’. Annals of Windsor, RR Tighe.
The Governor of the Castle, Colonel Whitchott, was later forced to appeal to the House of Lords to raise money to make necessary repairs.
A new way of designing churches that was Anglican, rather than Catholic or Presbyterian, also began to develop out of this compromise. Christopher Wren's rebuilding of St Paul's after the Great Fire of London is a good example of this new flexibility.
'The Baroque style of the architecture looked back to classical Greece and Rome ...'
Wren initially proposed several radical plans that got rid of the nave and placed both congregation and clergy in the choir. This was too radical for the Dean and Chapter, who felt the plan was too much like a Presbyterian meeting house and ‘not enough of a cathedral fashion’. So, Wren came up with the present design.
The Baroque style of the architecture looked back to classical Greece and Rome, not to the Catholic Middle Ages. While the cruciform ground plan is similar to a traditional Gothic cathedral, there is a huge Italian-influenced dome over the central crossing.
Despite a screen between nave and choir, the dome improved the acoustics so that people standing in the nave could hear the services in the choir. Thus the new St Paul’s made the building suitable for English-language Anglican worship, while still preserving the grandeur of a traditional cathedral.
'... cathedrals after the Restoration were mainly about civic pride and state events ...'
Despite Wren’s new ideas, cathedrals after the Restoration were mainly about civic pride and state events, not congregational worship. Services were infrequent, and it was difficult to secure a seat, as the choir pews were mostly reserved for the cathedral staff and their families.
Hereford was unusual in having seats in its nave for a time, and also adding a gallery to the choir so that more people could come to choir services. In the early years of the 18th century, Hereford - along with Gloucester and Tewkesbury - also began one of the first lay choir festivals, the Three Choirs festival. This gathering, where both men and women participated, anticipated the way in which cathedrals have become cultural centres, especially for music, as well as places of worship.
The screens enclosing the choir and restricting access to services were removed. Seats were put in the nave so that more people could attend services, and artificial lighting (gas first, and later electric) allowed cathedrals to be used at night. All this work clearly had an impact, as church attendance rose in the 19th century.
'... a number of major new churches were built during the 20th century.'
Despite the Church’s increased religious vigour, its role in society was being diminished. A series of early 19th-century parliamentary acts allowed non-Conformists, Roman Catholics and other non-Anglicans to vote and to become Members of Parliament.
State or civil registration of births, marriages and deaths was introduced in the 1830s (the origins of the modern registry office wedding). This removed from the Church its former role in charting the progress of people’s lives. These changes have accelerated into the 21st century, as more and more people have chosen civil weddings and funerals, and church attendance has slowly fallen.
Nonetheless, a number of major new churches were built during the 20th century. Sir Basil Spence's Coventry Cathedral (1956-62) is perhaps the best known 20th-century English church. The ruins of the old cathedral, bombed by the Nazis, stand beside the powerful, almost brutal-looking new church as a potent symbol of resurrection.
Frederick Gibberd used an even more innovative design for the Roman Catholic cathedral in Liverpool (1960-67). His circular nave with its tall, central lantern placed the altar at the heart of the building and reflected the 1960 Vatican II reforms of the Catholic liturgy which brought the mass closer to the people.
In the early 19th century, there were many traditionalists who believed that giving greater civil rights to non-Anglicans would lead to the collapse of English society and the death of the Anglican Church. In the event, British society has not collapsed – it has thrived as non-Anglicans, and indeed many non-Christians, have taken an important role in public British public life.
The Church of England has fared rather less well. It remains the established Church, with the British monarch at its head, but church attendance is falling all the time, and there are calls for the remaining vestiges of a State role for the Church to be abolished. For now the system established by Henry VIII remains in place, but how much longer it will continue remains to be seen.
Published on 麻豆官网首页入口 History: 2005-02-04
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