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ACTS OF PARLIAMENT IN 1 547. 31I
It must have been obvious to all the clergy
that changes were in contemplation as regarded almost
every detail of the services of the Church ; and the
main characteristics of those alterations were unmistakably
indicated, that is to say, giving the people
the offices of the Church in the vernacular, and the
abbreviation and general simplification of all her
services.
Edward's first Parliament, which sat in November,
1547, repealed the statutes which were in existence
against the Lollards ;
got rid of that which made the
" Necessary Doctrine " obligatory ;
abrogated, in fact,
every statute relating to religion, so that the king and
his advisers might begin dc novo with their work.
Heresy, however, was still left punishable by common
law. An act was passed relating to the administration
of the Eucharist. This had two objects in view : one
to put a stop to the indecent attacks made upon it
the other to restore to the people their share in it by
adding a form in English for reception by the laity in
both kinds.
No other change was at this time made
in the mass.
An important alteration was made as to the election
of bishops. The conge d'elire was done away with, and
the Crown invested with the sole power of appointing
to bishoprics by letters patent, showing in a very
marked manner the tendency that existed to exalt the
secular power above the spiritual.
A very severe act was passed against vagabonds,
which is said to have been directed against the wandering
monks and mendicant friars.
York came in for a share of legislation. The