Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/119

* ENGLAND, CHURCH OF. 97 ENGLAND, CHURCH OF. acquiesce in the Pope's decision favoring Lang- ton's election to the Bee, and defied the Papal envoys sent to adjust the differences between Pontiff and sovereign. The Pope in consequence laid an interdict upon the whole Kingdom, which lasted more than six years, and John only yielded under threat of deposition. Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 1228), stood with the barons a^;:i inst both monarch and Pontiff in the demand for Magna Charta. For the Magna Charta, extorted from King John, England is more indebted to the Church than to any other agency. Indeed, it i- doubtful whether without its aid any such guar- anty of liberties would then have been obtained. Translated into English, its first clause runs: "The Church of England shall be free, and hold its right entire, and its liberties inviolate." During the reigns of the thirteenth century there was much controversy over, and protest against, the frequent levies of tallage, an eccle- siastical tax for the support of the Papal See. The popes resorted to this tax at large to re- plenish their exhausted coffers. So frequent were these calls that the English clergy found them very burdensome, and protested vigorously, but to very little effect. Numerous protests also arose in England over the Papal nominations of for- eigners to English benefices, which had resulted in many abuses. The clergy, as a rule, were treated harshly by Edward I., whose pecuniary exactions from them led to continued irritation. Under Edward II., the limits between the ecclesiastical and civil jurisdictions were defined by the statute called Articuli Cleri. By the statute of Praemunire, passed in the reign of Edward III. (in 1351), the nationality of the Church of England was for the first time recognized and guaranteed by civil law. To this period belong Wiclif and the Lollards, whose influence upon the Reformation is will known. Throughout the fourteenth century, the popes continued to assert their authority in various ways, but the great schism of the West, which divided Christendom over the claims of rival popes, greatly weakened the prestige and author- ity of the Roman Pontiffs in England as well as elsewhere in Europe. In England the duration of the schism had allowed the statutes of prae- munire to be executed with but little opposition. The ecclesiastical confusions resulting from this schism contributed much to prepare the way for the religious changes of the sixteenth century. In treating of that period technically styled the Reformation (q.v.). one must not confine the review to the reign of Henry VIII. The movement extended also over the three subse- quent reigns of Edward VI.. Mary, and Elizabeth. That some kind of reformation was greatly needed, in the interests of both Church and State, was generally admitted. There was, however, much difference of opinion as to how it could best be accomplished. Where so many were in- terested in the work, and with such a variety of motives, it is not surprising that the results should have had about them a mixture of good and bad. Among the chief points to which the reformers took exception were the Papal su- premacy, enforced clerical celibacy, worship of images, invocation of saints, indulgences, com- pulsory auricular confession, and transubstan- tiation. When Henry VIII. became wearied of the delaj on the pari of tin' Pope (Clement VII.) in granting him a divorce from Catharine of Aragon, his brother's widow, he appealed to Cranmer, the newh appointed -Archbishop of Canterbury, u ho, in concurrence with many divines and casuists ami several European universities, declared lie marriage null and void (1533). His opinion was also approved by the English Convocation. Henry then mar ried Anne Boleyn, and presently the Pope pronounced his first marii: lawful, ami excommunicated him for adultery. The King now turned a deaf ear to Rome's anathema, and Parliament proceeded, under royal command, to enact laws formally renouncing the Papal supremacy. Convocation (which then met simultaneously with the Parliament, that ec- clesiastical laws might receive the joint sanc- tion of the two bodies) concurred in this action. An appeal was made from the Pope to a General Council, and in its course the assertion was made that "the Bishop of Rome hath not any more authority conferred upon him by God in Holy Scripture, in the realm of Eng- land, than any other foreign bishop." Doubtless, many of the clergy were moved to this action not so much by their real sentiments as by dread of death if they demurred. L'nder the auspices of Cranmer, and with the King's approval, an English version of the Bible was published. The monarch's worse side was shown in his dis- solution of the monasteries, and the squandering upon himself, the nobles, and the gentry of the larger part of the wealth which thus fell under his control. Hence, under bereavement of so many sources of charity, came those formidable risings of the people which more than once threatened the royal armies with defeat. Indeed, the Reformation was hindered more by the selfishness and treachery of its pretended friends than by the opposition of its enemies. The reign of the youthful and pious Edward VI. (1547-53) was long enough to allow a vast amount of sacrilegious plunder. The first book of Homilies was set forth in 1547. and the next year an Order for the Communion in English. This was followed by the first English Liturgy, which was used for the first time on Whit-Sunday. 1540. The second book of Edward was issued in 1552. In the same year the Forty-two Articles of Religion were set forth, but they were not sanctioned by Convocation until 1563, when they were reduced, with some modifications, to thirty-nine. Parliament revoked the Six Articles of Henry, authorizing clerical mar- riage, enjoining communion in both kinds, prohibiting solitary masses, and abolishing divers usages and ceremonies which were then believed to foster superstition and idolatry. The death of Edward, in 1553. put both the Reforma tion and the reformers to a severe test. Under Mary the Pope was once more acknowledged, and the peculiar doctrines of Rome were reinstated. Cranmer, Latimer, Ridley, and many others sealed their convictions with their blood. Upon -Eliza- beth's accession (1558) this work of reconstruc- tion was continued under more favorable circum- stances. The new Queen and her Parliament showed clearly enough their determination not to push ecclesiastical changes to the lengths some of the reformers demanded. She had no sym- pathy with the eccentric course of the foreign reformations. ruder their influence, some of