Daily Life During The Reformation (16 page)

Elizabeth followed Mary on the throne, and an uneasy
compromise was reached which veered between extreme Calvinism on the one hand
and Catholicism on the other; but it remained relatively successful until the
seventeenth century. England became Protestant in doctrine but retained much of
the Catholic ritual. For example, the Church had officiating bishops, but at
its head was the state.

Elizabeth’s response to the religious divisions resulted in
1559 in two acts of the English parliament: another Act of Supremacy reaffirmed
the Church of England’s independence from Rome with Elizabeth at its head, and
the Act of Uniformity set out the rules now governing the English Church
including the use of the Book of Common Prayer, published in 1549, that was not
popular. Conservatives disliked the changes, and Protestants believed it
contained too much Roman Catholic usage. Everyone subject to the queen was
required to attend divine services on Sundays and holy days under penalty
imposed by the Protestant bishops and justices. Injunctions called for the
removal from churches of Catholic shrines, tables, candlesticks, and all other
decorations with the exception of the crucifix. In 1570 the pope excommunicated
Elizabeth and absolved all Catholics from their allegiance to her.

During her reign, the detection and arrest of Catholic
priests in England was hampered by upper class women who often sheltered them.
Craftsmen constructed what were called priest holes in the mansions of the
country estates for hiding priests and the paraphernalia required for Mass. The
chambers were well disguised in the walls, and often a thorough search of the
premises did not reveal them. Life for the hunted priest was a nightmare. He
often suffered after days of confinement in the cramped hole with little or
nothing to eat or drink while he listened to his pursuers knocking on walls and
ripping away boards. Sometimes he had to sleep in a sitting position with no
room to stand. Many were caught and taken off to prison along with the owners
of the house in which they were sheltered. If visitors were staying there, the
priest might have to spend weeks or months in the same clothes, vermin swarming
on the straw-covered floor, and the open bucket for excrement emitting a
nauseating stench.

Allegorical group of eighty men
and one woman, Elizabeth I, who were prominent in the Protestant Reformation.
Engraving by Fredrich E. Eichens.

Puritans

The early Puritan movement of Calvinist inclination sought
reform in the Church of England so that it would resemble more closely the
Protestant churches of Europe, especially Geneva. They enlarged the Geneva
Bible and demanded change, wanting to purge all vestiges of the Catholic faith
from the island. They also felt that the Church of England was incapable of
true reform. Too many pastors were scarcely literate and not worthy of their
office. About all they could do was to read passages from the Book of Common
Prayer, but they failed to inspire people with dynamic orations. Puritans were
also unhappy with the fact that bishops were chosen by the crown and not by the
body of worshipers.

Convinced that ornaments and ritual, including music and
genuflection in the churches, was idolatrous, Puritans opposed the wearing of
the surplice as too reminiscent of Catholic priests. In addition, they wanted
to do away with ecclesiastical courts and refused the Book of Common Prayer.
They also objected to the imposition of its liturgy by force of law. Queen
Elizabeth considered them subversive.

Preparations for the Sabbath began the night before when
all food had to be cooked and clothes made ready. That evening they retired
after supper for family devotions after which they would read the Bible for
some time before going to bed. No labor at all was tolerated on the day itself,
which began at sundown the night before.

A normal Puritan service began with a prayer, then reading
of the scripture, a sermon, another prayer along with the Lord’s Prayer, the
creed, a psalm, and finally, the benediction. Reading of the scriptures
continued at home after the service. This simple act of worship was extended
throughout the whole of the Sabbath, which was not considered to be a day for
idleness or sport.

Puritans were rigorously opposed to the state interfering
with Church affairs and refused to do military service. They were often
referred to as dissenters or nonconformists. Their movement eventually led to
the formation of various reformed denominations.

They had a reputation for extreme piety, believing they
were chosen by God for a special purpose, and their lives should be lived in a
God-fearing manner. They were accused of believing sex was a sin, being opposed
to any kind of enjoyment including sports and recreation, and of wearing drab
clothes to demonstrate holiness.

During the seventeenth century, legal action was instigated
against the Puritans because they refused to follow the Act of Uniformity that
demanded preachers read from the official prayer book during services, wear
Anglican vestments, and support the Anglican ceremonies. At this time, the
Church of England also demanded that young men hoping to become teachers and
working toward a degree from the universities of Oxford or Cambridge, be
compelled to sign the Act before they could earn such a degree. The Puritans
were forcefully persecuted and could expect anything from being imprisoned
indefinitely to being burned alive. They wanted to purify the Church of
England. They did not seek full separation from it but rather a reformation of
it directing the Church back to the Bible.

They constantly strove for the holiness they imagined could
be found in saintly living, and religious education was heavily emphasized and
played a fundamental part in their lives. Preachers focused on reading the
Bible, expounding on the meaning of the texts, discussing key points of
doctrine as well as applying it to their lives.

Usually a small, plain building, the Puritan church would
be for many months of the year a place where people suffered in unbearable
cold. Sometimes women carried small foot stoves of hot coals to warm their feet
during the lengthy services. The men sat on one side, women on the other, all
in assigned seats. Children separated from their parents were expected to
remain still and in absolute silence. Music was not considered appropriate;
instead, the Puritans listened intently to dire warnings of sin and punishment
if they did not follow the strict orders of the denomination.

Those Puritans, who found the persecution orchestrated by
both Catholics and Protestants intolerable, left England. Some went to the
Netherlands and various other parts of Europe, and some settled in the New
World.

Martyrs

The pendulum in England swung back and forth between the
Church and reformers, and uprisings and martyrs were inevitable. William
Tyndale, for example, a nonconformist student seeing the writing on the wall
escaped from England. He was betrayed and captured in Antwerp and clapped into
prison for heresy. From his cell, he wrote the following letter (originally in
Latin) to the governor in 1535:

I
believe, right worshipful, that you are not ignorant of what has been
determined concerning me [by the Council of Brabant]; therefore I entreat your
Lordship, and that by the Lord Jesus, that if I am to remain here [in
Vilvoorde] during the winter, you will request the Procurer to be kind enough
to send me from my goods, which he has in his possession, a warmer cap, for I suffer
extremely from cold in the head, being afflicted with a perpetual catarrh,
which is considerably increased in the cell.

A warmer coat also, for that which I have is very thin; also
a piece of cloth to patch my leggings: my overcoat has been worn out; my shirts
are also worn out. He has a woolen shirt of mine, if he will be kind enough to
send it. I have also with him leggings of thicker cloth for the putting on
above; he also has warmer caps for wearing at night. I wish also his permission
to have a candle in the evening, for it is wearisome to sit alone in the dark.

But above all, I entreat and beseech your clemency to be
urgent with the Procurer that he may kindly permit me to have my Hebrew Bible,
Hebrew Grammar, and Hebrew Dictionary, that I may spend my time with that
study. And in return, may you obtain your dearest wish, provided always it be
consistent with the salvation of your soul. But if any other resolutions have
been come to concerning me, before the conclusion of the winter, I shall be patient,
abiding the will of God to the glory of the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ,
whose spirit, I pray, may ever direct your heart. Amen.

W. Tindalus

After being confined in prison for a year,
he was burned.

Lawbreakers and Prisons

Tudor towns were dangerous at night, and every man carried
a sword or dagger. Some travelers carried a 12-foot or 13-foot pike on their
shoulders when on the road; others a brace of pistols on their saddles.

In London, as elsewhere, there were not only professional
robbers but also discharged, penniless soldiers and laborers with wages so low
they could not buy a new shirt. In spite of savage punishments, criminals
operated wherever victims could be found. Here, too, innkeepers were often in
cahoots with thieves for a share of the booty when a likely man of means
appeared at the door.

Criminals in the hundreds were caught and executed every
year, but most escaped justice. If the offense exceeded the theft in value of
over two shillings, the penalty was hanging, being taken down alive, and
quartered.

People in prison for lesser offenses or debt, depended on
the good nature of the jailer or the charity of friends and the public. In some
places in England, they were secured for the night, fettered and chained
together in groups of five or more. Stocks in the market place were also used
to confine rowdy drunkards and even those who had spoken disrespectfully
against public officials. Some had their ears nailed to the pillory (afterwards
cut off). English justice was also severe for women. Those who abused their
neighbors, even verbally, were publicly whipped or tied to a stool and dunked
in a pond. More persistent offenders were banished after being paraded through
the town in a cart.

Constables were harassed by the people at large, especially
by students who were permitted a degree of toleration. Apprentices, too, were
generally ready for a fight and brought their clubs into the streets. On one
occasion, the police were no match for them, and the army had to be called in.

SCOTLAND

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the northern
country of Scotland seemed wild and primitive to the rest of Europe. The Stuart
kings were dominated by the nobles who warred with one another and, along with
the Church, exacted heavy taxes from the people, many of whom had lives fraught
with extreme poverty.

Scotland’s foreign relations focused on ancient hostility
with England and on a long-standing alliance with France. Economically and
politically the country was in bad condition—even the soil was poor and
difficult to cultivate. There was no industry, and the few cities were small.
The country people were extremely poor and superstitious, and the Church was
content to keep them that way.

Although Scotland was independent, it was far from united.
The northern Gaelic-speaking clans had little to do with the government in
Edinburgh. Based on family ties, allegiance was primarily to the clan and its
chief and not to any central authority. The king was irrelevant. Only in the
central lowlands did the king’s government rule, but there, too, power was
mostly in the hands of a few nobles.

Protestant influence began to make headway in Scotland,
entering the country via merchants from northern German towns. The first
evidence of this is a law passed by the Scottish Parliament in 1525, banning
Lutheranism. The spread of the Reformation in Scotland was accompanied by
barbarous acts of cruelty and treachery, but it generally found a sympathetic
audience throughout society.

The powerful Archbishop James Beaton of St. Andrews and his
nephew, Cardinal David Beaton, were staunch supporters of Rome. Archbishop
Beaton despised Protestant beliefs and went to great lengths to prevent them
from spreading.