The English Reformation Today: Episode Eight

The last five episodes of "The English Reformation" cover highlights from four centuries of English religious history, as the attention on the Tudors and all the religious changes have ben my focus thus far. With the new dynasty in power, I'll begin with the reign of James VI and I of Scotland and England and start telling the story of George Calvert, Lord Baltimore and Maryland:

The Stuarts of Scotland come to England: James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England--his religious background in Scotland and expectations in England. The Authorized Version of the Holy Bible: The King James Version and its impact. The Gunpowder Plot: Catholic reaction to James I's treatment of Catholics and the government's reaction to the Plot--the Fifth of November. Highlight the story of George Calvert, Lord Baltimore--his service to King James I; his reversion to Catholicism; his establishment of the Maryland Colony in New England and his great experiment in religious freedom and tolerance.

James I saw that the Elizabethan persecution of Catholics in England was not really a matter of punishing treason, but an attempt to enforce the orthodoxy of the Church of England: it was religious persecution. He thought that religious persecution was a sign of weakness of the Church of England and he wished to reduce the number of executions--while he was definitely ready to collect the fines and seize the property of those who refused to attend Church of England services. There are still martyrs during his reign, but the pattern of execution is more irregular. As I've discussed before:

James VI of Scotland and I of England and Ireland executed fewer priests and laity under his predecessor's treason and felony laws. Although terrified after the near miss, James was really rather restrained in his reaction to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. At least, he was restrained if you compare the numbers of Catholics executed for their faith in the years after the November 5, 1605 discovery of the plot to the brutal reaction of Elizabeth I's government after the failed Spanish Armada in 1588. In 1606, there were three martyrs (including Nicholas Owen by torture); one in 1607; three in 1608 (including Thomas Garnet, SJ); none in 1609. Compare that to the executions of 1588 alone: eight on August 28; six on August 30; seven more on October 1 and three on October 5--and the martyrdoms continued through the end of Elizabeth I's reign.

In 1610, however, in reaction to the assassination of King Henry IV of France by Francois Ravillac in May, James' fears were revived. The Oath of Allegiance, which he thought perfectly reasonable and limited to temporal loyalties, had not been accepted by Catholics as well as he hoped, and thus there was a slight uptick in executions--still only four (the others were Roger Cadwallador and George Napper, the latter in Oxford).

In 1611, George Abbott became Archbishop of Canterbury--he was more zealous in his suppression of Catholicism, but still only two martyrs in 1612; none from 1613 to 1615 (one that year, Robert Edmonds); six in 1616 and one in 1618. So that's 21 martyrs from 1606 to 1618 compared to 24 martyrs from August 28 to October 5, 1588!

Then things settled down again until the reign of Charles I.

I welcome all listeners of Radio Maria US to my blog, whether you're listening on one of their radio stations or on line or through one of their apps. I invite you to call in with questions and comments toll-free at 866-333-MARY(6279). Just a reminder, too, that podcasts of previous episodes of The English Reformation Today are available on the Radio Maria US website. Next week: Charles I and Cromwell!

The Word of the Lord (and the English Reformation)

Another Vatican exhibit: Verbum Domini. From the website:

Take a walk through the history of the Bible in this private collection of rare biblical texts and objects of enormous importance. Set in a highly contextual, interactive format, this exhibit celebrates the dramatic story of the Catholic contribution to the most-banned, most-debated, best selling book of all time.

Verbum Domini Highlights:
152 rare biblical texts and artifacts showcase the common biblical history of the Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and Jewish faiths and the tens of thousands of believers who have died to access, preserve, translate and read them throughout the centuries, including:

~Codex Climaci Rescriptus—one of the earliest-surviving, near-complete Bibles containing the most extensive early biblical texts in Jesus’ household language of Palestinian Aramaic
~The Jeselsohn Stone or Gabriel’s revelation, a three foot tall, 150 pound sandstone tablet discovered near the Dead Sea in Jordan containing 87 lines of first century BCE Hebrew text
~The Blood and Body of Christ Being Real and Present in the Sacrament, a manuscript ascribed to Thomas More from 1534—written in Latin and containing numerous references to Scripture and the Roman Catholic teaching of transubstantiation
~Richard Rolle’s Psalms, Canticles and Commentary—the earliest, most extensive surviving manuscript of the translation and commentary of Psalms and the Canticles in Middle English, composed 40 years before Wycliffe’s vernacular translation of Scripture
~Hagia Sophia Lectionary, a mid-11th century manuscript that contains Scripture readings alongside a list of ceremonies from the great Church of Hagia Sophia, the seat of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the place where the emperor worshiped

The exhibit also includes:
Contextually-designed rooms transport visitors to historical settings of biblical and archaeological fame:
~A recreation of one of the caves at Qumran, Israel, which yielded the single-largest cache of Dead Sea Scrolls in 1954
~An inner room at Wartburg Castle where Martin Luther worked in exile on his translation of the Bible into German
~An excavation scene of an ancient Roman garbage city, Oxyrhynchus, in Egypt
~A scaled replication of Westminster Abbey’s Jerusalem Chamber, where the King James translation committee worked on the New Testament of the King James Bible
~A reproduction of Gutenberg’s print shop complete with a working replica of the Gutenberg press
~A scene from St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai, where the earliest, near-complete Bible, Codex Sinaiticus, was found
~A Monastic Scriptorium, where manuscripts of the medieval period would have been copied, including one of the most influential translations of the Bible of all times—the Latin Vulgate
~A scaled replica of a mid-third century synagogue discovered in Syria
~A Middle Ages village highlighting the early translation of the Bible into common languages

And the exhibit is accompanied by a series of lectures.

The English Reformation connection shows up in a few of the galleries. Gallery Seven, focused on "The Bible and Reform", contains St. Thomas More's treatise on the Real Presence, written while he was in the Tower of London awaiting trial and execution. The same gallery contains works by St. John Fisher and William Tyndale, one of More's debate opponents. Gallery Eight, focused on the King James Bible, the Authorized Version, notes the influence of the Douai-Rheims translation of the Old and New Testament by English Catholics in exile on that incredibly popular and influential translation.

The National Catholic Register has this story with more detail. Between the Capitoline exhibition of archive materials and this exhibit--how many more excuses does one need for a trip to Rome!?

November 2, 1610: Richard Bancroft Dies

Richard Bancroft was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1604 to 1610, when he died. He was also Chancellor of Oxford from 1608 until his death. He succeeded John Whitgift in the Canterbury office and he pleased King James I and VI very much in his opposition to Puritanism. He also supervised the Authorized Translation of the Holy Bible into English.

Bancroft pursued a policy of toleration to some Catholics, believing that if they were loyal to England and did not favor or support Spanish and Papal aggression against England, they should be allowed to practice their faith. Of course, Parliament did not support him in this, just as they did not support his efforts to enforce conformity with the Thirty-Nine Articles and the Book of Common Prayer, nor his efforts to ensure that the Church of England received the tithes and fees due to its lands and holdings.

Bancroft was succeeded as Archbishop of Canterbury by George Abbott, who was a Calvinist, opposed completely to the moderation Bancroft proposed regarding Catholics. Abbott urged the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth to Frederick, the Elector Palatine and was against the marriage of the Prince of Wales, Charles to the Infanta of Spain. William Laud would succeed Abbott, returning in some ways to Bancroft's policies of Anglican conformity.