POWER

Introduction to the depth study
Introduction to the depth study
In this part of the book you will be studying the English
REFORMATION.
What was the Reformation?
In simple terms, the Reformation was a religious change.
Up to 1534, England belonged to the Roman Catholic
Church. Its leader was the pope in Rome. However, in
1534, King Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church.
England remained a Christian country but now it was
PROTESTANT, with Henry himself as head of the new
Church of England.
Why study the Reformation?
The Reformation was a hugely significant event in British
history. It shook the foundations of the Catholic Church
in England. That may not sound like a big thing today,
but in the 1500s it meant changing an institution that was
a thousand years old and was a huge part of everyone’s
daily life.
The Church was people’s link to God.
•
The Church was the centre of the social life of the
country.
•
The Church provided work for a large proportion
of the population.
•
The Church provided care for the sick and it looked
after the poor and the old.
•
The church building was people’s gateway to Heaven.
It looked heavenly, it sounded heavenly (rich people
paid for hymns to be sung) and it even smelt heavenly
(because of burning incense).
To understand the scale of change, imagine a government
today abolishing the National Health Service, ending all
welfare payments, then closing the schools, art galleries,
cinemas and pubs. Imagine the government then comes
into your home and tells you what posters to put on your
walls, what music you can listen to and who you can be
friends with. The Reformation was similarly dramatic
and overwhelming for people in the sixteenth century.
The focus of the study
The effects of the Reformation can still be seen in
many parts of England, in the form of ruined abbeys or
churches that once sparkled with decoration now plain
and whitewashed. It affected the language and culture of
England. As you have seen in the thematic study, it also
had a huge political impact, making parliament far more
important. This depth study does not focus on politics,
though, it focuses on people – how they felt about the
Reformation and the changes it brought to their lives.
Instead of the broad overview of a long period you
developed in your study of power, you are going to look
at a short period of time in detail here – just 30 years. You
are going to try and understand the people who caused
the Reformation, those who opposed it and those who
were most affected by it. To do this, you will look at
a wide range of historical sources that these people
created. Official documents, personal letters and diaries,
propaganda publications, prayer books, even church
financial accounts, all help us to build a picture of the
time and the people involved.
The big questions
Although we are looking at a small timescale and focusing
on individuals and communities, this depth study still
investigates some big questions:
Why was the English Church so powerful in the 1520s?
•
What did the reformers change and why did they want
to change it?
•
How did people in England react to the Reformation?
Assessment
You will be assessed using two main question types:
•
The first will ask you to ‘explain’ something. This
question is designed to test your knowledge and your
ability to explain an aspect of the period, such as why
the Church was wealthy, or why some people wanted
to reform the Church.
•
The second type will focus on one of the big issues.
You will be given three sources and asked whether they
convince you that a particular view is correct. You will
need to show your understanding of the sources, as well
as your ability to use them to support a viewpoint.
Uncorrected proof
4.1
FOCUS
You already know from your thematic study that the Church was very powerful
through the medieval period and into the sixteenth century. In this topic, you will
investigate:
the role the Church played in the lives of ordinary people
• how far this traditional role was changing in the 1520s.
What is William Melton worried about?
Source 1 An extract from William Melton’s Exhortation, 1510.
Everywhere throughout town and countryside there exists a crop of oafish and boorish
priests, some of whom are engaged on ignoble and servile tasks, while others abandon
themselves to tavern hunting, swilling and drunkenness. Some cannot get along without
their wenches; others pursue their amusements in dice and gambling and other such
trifling all day long. There are some who waste their time in hunting and hawking. …
This is inevitable, for since they are all completely ignorant of good literature, how can
they obtain improvement or enjoy reading and study?
We must avoid and keep far from ourselves that grasping, deadly plague of avarice for
which practically every priest is accused and held in disrepute before the people, when it is
said that we are greedy for rich promotions … and spend little or nothing on works of piety.
In 1510, the chancellor of York (one of the men who helped run the city and the
cathedral) William Melton wrote his Exhortation. Source 1 shows what he said
about the English Church. On the face of it, this source suggests that in the early
1500s the Church was not a popular organisation. In fact, you could INFER that
there was widespread criticism of the Church from his words ‘practically every
priest is accused’. However, it is important to understand why William Melton was
writing this. Melton made his career in the Church. He was also a deeply religious
man who wanted to strengthen the Catholic Church in England.
Melton was clearly outraged at the priests’ behaviour and wanted the CLERGY to
undertake more reading and learning. However, he represents only a small group
of PIOUS, educated members of the gentry who felt a personal duty to reform the
Church. They called for changes to ensure the Catholic Church remained part of
the fabric of society. In fact there is little evidence to suggest that the majority of
the population of England agreed with William Melton.
FOCUS TASK
The role and importance
of the Church in the 1500s
Why was the English Church so powerful in the 1520s?
As you read through this unit, use the information to build up a mind map
summarising the power of the Church. Start it off with two branches:
– everyday power (its influence on the daily lives of ordinary people)
– political power (its role in government).
As you add information to your mind map, find examples from the sources in
the topic.
4 Dissent and the break with Rome
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