The Penguin History of Britain: New Worlds, Lost Worlds:The Rule of the Tudors 1485-1630 (65 page)

John Foxe was the first to write the history of the Lollards and to collect the evidence of their trials; see
The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe
, ed. G. Townsend (8 vols., London, 1848–9), especially vol. 4. The most important study of the ‘known men and women’ is by Anne Hudson,
The Premature Reformation: Wycliffite Texts and Lollard History
(Oxford, 1988). Other revealing studies are M. Aston,
Lollards and Reformers: Images and Literacy in Late Medieval Religion
(London, 1984); A. Hope, ‘Lollardy: The Stone the Builders Rejected?’ in
Protestantism and the National Church
, ed. P. Lake and M. Dowling (London, 1987); and D. Plumb, ‘The social and economic status of the later Lollards’ and ‘A gathered church? Lollards and their society’ in
The World of Rural Dissenters, 1520–1725
, ed. M. Spufford (Cambridge, 1995). A. G. Dickens,
Lollards and Protestants in the Diocese of York, 1509–1558
(London, 1959), and J. F. Davis,
Heresy and Reformation in the South-East of England, 1520–1559
(London, 1983) suggest links between Lollardy and the new religion.

For Christian humanism and hopes for reform in the Church, see the introduction by J. H. Hexter to
Utopia
in
Complete Works of St Thomas More
, vol. 4 (New Haven and London, 1965); M. M. Phillips,
The ‘Adages’ of Erasmus: A Study with Translations
(Cambridge, 1965); J. C. Olin,
Catholic Reformation: Savonarola to Ignatius Loyola
(New York, 1969); and D. Fenlon,
Heresy and Obedience in Tridentine Italy: Cardinal Pole and the Counter-Reformation
(Cambridge, 1972). For the lives and influence of Dean Colet and St John Fisher, see J. H. Lupton,
A Life of John Colet
(London, 1887); J. B. Gleason,
John Colet
(Berkeley, 1989); and
Humanism, Reform and Reformation: The Career of Bishop John Fisher
, ed. B. Bradshaw and E. Duffy (Cambridge, 1989). Outstanding critical accounts of More’s
Utopia
are D. Baker-Smith,
More’s ‘Utopia’
(London, 1991) and S. Greenblatt,
Renaissance Self-Fashioning from More to Shakespeare
(Chicago, 1980). Key texts by Erasmus in translation are
The Sileni of Alcibiades
which is published in
Thomas More: Utopia
, ed. D. Wootton (Indianapolis, 1999);
The Education of a Christian Prince
, ed. Lisa Jardine (Cambridge, 1997);
Enchiridion Militis Christiani or The Manual of the Christian Knight
(London, 1905); and
Praise of Folly
, ed. A. H. T. Levi (Harmondsworth, 1993). See also The
‘Julius Exclusus’ of Erasmus
, tr. P. Pascal, ed. J. Kelley Sowards (Bloomington and London, 1968). For revealing studies of Erasmus, see R. J. Schoeck,
Erasmus of Europe
(Edinburgh, 1993); J. K. McConica,
Erasmus
(Oxford, 1991); and L. Jardine,
Erasmus, Man of Letters
(Princeton, 1993).

Luther, his theological discoveries, and his challenge to the Church, are explained in R. H. Bainton,
Here I Stand: a Life of Martin Luther
(London, 1951); A. McGrath,
Luther’s Theology of the Cross
(Oxford, 1985) and
Iustitia Dei: a history of the Christian Doctrine of Justification
(2 vols., Cambridge, 1986); and H. Oberman,
Masters of the Reformation
(Cambridge, 1981). For the Catholic position, and the defence against Luther in England, the following are indispensable: R. Rex,
The Theology of John Fisher
(Cambridge, 1991) and ‘The English Campaign against Luther in the 1520s’,
Transactions of the Royal Historical Society
, 5th series, 39 (1989); and
Responsio ad Lutherum
in
Complete Works of St Thomas More
, ed. J. M. Headley, vol. 5 (New Haven and London, 1969). Henry VIII’s own theology is discovered in J. J. Scarisbrick,
Henry VIII
(London, 1968) and
The Reign of Henry VIII: Politics, Policy and Piety
, ed. D. MacCulloch (Basingstoke, 1995).

Important general works on the early Reformation in England are A. G. Dickens,
The English Reformation
(rev. edn, London, 1989), a pioneering study, and C. A. Haigh,
English Reformations: Religion, Politics and Society under the Tudors
(Oxford, 1993); and R. Rex,
Henry VIII and the English Reformation
(Basingstoke, 1993). For the evangelical ‘brethren’, see S. Brigden,
London and
the Reformation
(Oxford, 1989) and ‘Thomas Cromwell and the Brethren’ in
Law and Government under the Tudors: Essays presented to Sir Geoffrey Elton on his retirement
, ed. C. Cross, D. M. Loades and J. J. Scarisbrick (Cambridge, 1988). For More’s assault on the ‘brethren’, see especially
A Dialogue concerning Heresies
in
Complete Works
, vol. 6, ed. T. M. C. Lawler, G. Marc’hadour and R. C. Marius (New Haven and London, 1981);
Supplication of Souls
and
Letter against Frith
in
Complete Works
, vol. 7, ed. F. Manley, G. Marc’hadour, R. C. Marius and C. H. Miller (New Haven and London, 1990),
The Confutation of Tyndale’s Answer
in
Complete Works
, vol. 8, ed. L. A. Schuster, R. C. Marius, J. P. Lusardi and R. J. Schoeck (New Haven and London, 1973), and
The Apology
in
Complete Works
, vol. 9, ed. J. B. Trapp (New Haven and London, 1979).

Tyndale’s remarkable, fundamental scriptural translations from Greek and Hebrew are republished:
Tyndale’s New Testament
, ed. D. Daniell (New Haven and London, 1989) and
Tyndale’s Old Testament
, ed. D. Daniell (New Haven and London, 1992). For Tyndale’s life, see Foxe,
Acts and Monuments
, ed. G. Townsend, vol. 5 (London, 1846); and J. F. Mozley,
William Tyndale
(1937).

The best edition of Wyatt’s poems is
Sir Thomas Wyatt: the Complete Poems
, ed. R. A. Rebholz (Harmondsworth, 1978). For his life and work, see S. M. Foley,
Sir Thomas Wyatt
(Boston, Mass., 1990).

The world which Henry VIII created for himself is revealed in S. Thurley,
The Royal Palaces of Tudor England: Architecture and Court Life, 1460–1537
(New Haven and London, 1993); C. Lloyd and S. Thurley,
Henry VIII: Images of a Tudor King
(Oxford, 1990); J. N. King,
Tudor Royal Iconography
(Princeton 1989); J. Roberts,
Holbein and the Court of Henry VIII
(Edinburgh, 1993); and
Henry VIII: A European Court in England
, ed. D. Starkey (London, 1991). The political significance of the Privy Chamber is David Starkey’s discovery. He has elucidated its workings in a series of important articles: ‘Court and Government’ and ‘Representation through intimacy: A study of the symbolism of monarchy and court office in early modern England’, in
The Tudor Monarchy
, ed. J. Guy (London, 1997); and
The English Court from the Wars of the Roses to the Civil War
, ed. D. Starkey
et al
. (Harlow, 1987). The first biography of Henry VIII is still valuable: Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury,
The life and raigne of King Henry the eighth
(London, 1649); and the account of his reign by his contemporary, Edward Hall,
The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Famelies of York and Lancaster
, ed. H. Ellis (London, 1809) is indispensable. J. J. Scarisbrick,
Henry VIII
(London, 1968) is not only the best biography of the King but also the fullest political history of his reign. D. Starkey,
The Reign of Henry VIII: Personalities and Politics
(London, 1985) is a lively and perceptive account. For revealing studies of politics, war and court culture, see S. Gunn, ‘The Accession of Henry VIII’,
Historical Research
, 64 (1991) and ‘The French Wars of Henry VIII’ in
The Origins of War in Early Modern Europe
, ed. J. Black (Edinburgh, 1987); and ‘Chivalry and the Politics of the Early Tudor Court’ in
Chivalry in the Renaissance
, ed. S. Anglo (Woodbridge, 1980). Thomas Wolsey’s spectacular career in church and state is studied in P. Gwyn,
The King’s Cardinal: The rise and fall of Thomas Wolsey
(London, 1990); and
Cardinal Wolsey: Church, state and art
, ed. S. J. Gunn and P. G. Lindley (Cambridge, 1991). George Cavendish, the Cardinal’s gentleman usher, wrote an intimate biography of his master,
The Life and Death of Cardinal Wolsey
, ed. R. S. Sylvester (Early English Text Society, original series, 243, Oxford, 1959).

The nature of Henrician politics is discussed in G. R. Elton, ‘Tudor Government: The points of contact, Part 3, The Court’ in his
Studies in Tudor and Stuart Politics and Government
, Vol. 3 (Cambridge, 1974). The extent to which Henry’s court was dominated by faction has occasioned much debate. My own interpretation follows those of David Starkey and Eric Ives. See E. W. Ives,
Faction in Tudor England
(2nd edn, London, 1986). Eric Ives’s thrilling biography of Anne Boleyn is important for the politics, religion and culture of the court:
Anne Boleyn
(Oxford, 1986); see also J. S. Block,
Factional Politics and the English Reformation, 1520–1540
(Woodbridge, 1993). For the political culture of the court, see D. Starkey, ‘The Court: Castiglione’s ideal and Tudor reality’,
Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes
, 45 (1982); and F. W. Conrad, ‘The problem of counsel reconsidered: The case of Sir Thomas Elyot’, in
Political Thought and the Tudor Commonwealth
, ed. P. A. Fideler and T. F. Mayer (London, 1992). For women at court, see B. J. Harris, ‘Women and politics in early Tudor England’,
Historical Journal
, xxxiii (1990). Court entertainments and spectacles are studied in S. Anglo,
Spectacle, Pageantry and Early Tudor Policy
(Oxford, 1969).

The starting point for study of Henry’s ‘Great Matter’ remains J. J. Scarisbrick,
Henry VIII
(London, 1968). Virginia Murphy, ‘The literature and propaganda of Henry VIII’s first divorce’ in
The Reign of Henry VIII: Politics, Policy and Piety
, ed. D. MacCulloch (Harlow, 1995), and H. A. Kelly,
The Matrimonial Trials of Henry VIII
(Stanford, CA, 1976) are also important. For Anne Boleyn as an evangelical, see Ives,
Anne Boleyn
, and M. Dowling, ‘Anne Boleyn and Reform’,
Journal of Ecclesiastical History
, xxxv (1984). Wolsey’s fall is explained by E. W. Ives, ‘The fall of Wolsey’ in
Cardinal Wolsey: Church, state and art
, ed. S. J. Gunn and P. G. Lindley (Cambridge, 1991). For Thomas More as Lord Chancellor and opponent of reform, see J. A. Guy,
The Public Career of Sir Thomas More
(Brighton, 1980).

The authoritative account of the making of the political Reformation is G. R. Elton,
Reform and Reformation
(London, 1977). For Cranmer, see Diarmaid MacCulloch’s commanding biography,
Thomas Cranmer
(New Haven and London, 1996). Thomas Cromwell’s vision of a reformed commonwealth is studied in G. R. Elton,
Reform and Renewal: Thomas Cromwell and the Common Weal
(Cambridge, 1973). Fisher’s stand is discussed in J. J. Scarisbrick, ‘Fisher, Henry VIII and the Reformation Crisis’ in
Humanism, Reform and the Reformation: The Career of Bishop John Fisher
, ed. B. Bradshaw and E. Duffy (Cambridge, 1989). The passage of the legislation through Parliament is studied in S. E. Lehmberg,
The Reformation Parliament, 1529–1536
(Cambridge, 1970). For the law of treason and its working, see G. R. Elton,
Policy and Police: The enforcement of the Reformation in the Age of Thomas Cromwell
(Cambridge, 1972) and R. Rex, ‘The execution of the Holy Maid of Kent’,
Historical Research
, 114 (1991).

Henry’s own theology and his intentions for his Church are penetrated by D. MacCulloch, ‘Henry VIII and the Reform of the Church’ in
The Reign of Henry VIII
, ed. MacCulloch (Basingstoke, 1995). See also G. W. Bernard, ‘The Making of Religious Policy, 1533–1546: Henry VIII and the search for the middle way’,
Historical Journal
, xli (1998). For the connections between political Reformation and Reformation in religion, see S. Brigden,
London and the Reformation
(Oxford, 1989). The fall of Anne Boleyn is studied authoritatively in E. W. Ives,
Anne Boleyn
, and ‘Anne Boleyn and the early Reformation in England: the contemporary evidence’,
Historical Journal
, xxxvii (1994).

The magisterial and best account of the dissolution of the monasteries is D. Knowles,
The Religious Orders in England
, vol. 3 (Cambridge, 1959). J. Youings,
The Dissolution of the Monasteries
(London, 1971) is useful. On the Pilgrimage of Grace, the standard account remains M. H. and R. Dodds,
The Pilgrimage of Grace and the Exeter Conspiracy
(Cambridge, 1915). See also M. L. Bush,
The Pilgrimage of Grace: A study of the Rebel Armies of October 1536
(Manchester, 1996). C. A. Haigh,
The Last Days of the Lancashire Monasteries and the Pilgrimage of Grace
(Chetham Society, 3rd series, 17, 1969) and S. M. Harrison,
The Pilgrimage of Grace in the Lake Counties, 1536–7
(London, 1981) are important local studies. For a persuasive account of the revolt’s causes, see C. S. L. Davies, ‘Popular Religion and the Pilgrimage of Grace’ in
Order and Disorder in early modern England
, ed. A. Fletcher and J. Stevenson (Cambridge, 1985).

For the evangelical animus and official campaign against images, see Margaret Aston’s profound study,
England’s Iconoclasts
, vol. 1,
Laws against Images
(Oxford, 1988). A revealing study is P. Marshall, ‘The Rood of Boxley, the Blood of Hailes and the defence of the Henrician Church’,
Journal of Ecclesiastical History
, xlvi (1995). For the reformers’ own letters, see
Original Letters
relative to the English Reformation
, ed. H. Robinson (2 vols., Parker Society, Cambridge, 1847). Theological developments and divisions among the reformers are examined in MacCulloch,
Thomas Cranmer
and C. W. Dugmore,
The Mass and the English Reformers
(New York, 1958). For the Act of Six Articles and Cromwell’s fall, see G. R. Elton, ‘Thomas Cromwell’s Decline and Fall’ in his
Studies in Tudor Politics and Government
, vol. 1 (Cambridge, 1974); S. Brigden, ‘Popular Disturbance and the Fall of Thomas Cromwell and the Reformers, 1539–40’,
Historical Journal
, xxiv (1981); and
The Examinations of Anne Askew
, ed. E. V. Beilin (New York, 1996). For Henry’s last months, see S. Brigden, ‘Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and the “conjured league”,
Historical Journal
, xxxvii (1994); and G. Redworth,
In Defence of the Church Catholic: The life of Stephen Gardiner
(Oxford, 1990). The subversion of Henry’s plans for the regency and the rewriting of his will are discussed in Starkey,
The Reign of Henry VIII
; and E. W. Ives, ‘Henry VIII’s will – a forensic conundrum’,
Historical Journal
, xxxv (1992).