Church under Henry VII

Established Royal Authority
1. Henry controlled Church appointments which the Popes did not object
  1. He made John Morton the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1486
  2. During Henry's reign fewer bishops were theologians as Henry preferred civil lawyers. This was to perhaps ensure that theology did not get in the way of loyalty.
    1. Theology:the study of the nature of God and religious belief.
2. Henry was able to exploit the Statutes Provisor and Praemunire
  1. Aa medieval law which protected the King's rights against foreign and Papal interference- any attempt by the clergy to act on the Pope's behalf could be seen as a breach of their oath of allegiance to the king)
    1. The church judges and church courts could not encroach on common law
3. Benefit of Clergy was a privilege whereby churchmen accused of crimes would have a trial in a church court which was generally more lenient than a civil court
  1. Many men claimed to be clergy to avoid harsh punishements
    1. Henry altered the definition of a clergyman to restrict the numbers of people who could claim this privilege
4. Henry ruled that in treason cases no one could claim the right of sanctuary.
  1. This right meant that those accused of a crime could avoid arrest temporarily as long as they remained in a church
    1. In the Lovell Rebellion in 1486, Henry's officers apprehended the rebels in a church and the king's judges ruled that the king had acted legall
5. The Church under Hnery appreciated the powers of the king. The Church preached the message of obedience to God and to the King being one at the same
  1. The Church tended to feel that a strong monarchy was preferable to a weak monarchy and a confused policy
6. During Henry's reign there was little religious violence
  1. 73 people were put on trial for heresy during the reign, but only 3 burnt
Engenders loyalty
1. Pope Innocent proclaimed that rebels against Henry were excommunicated and Henry even recieved special gifts from the papacy in the shape of a papal sword and a Gold Rose
2. Pope Innocent VIII recognised Henry as the rightful King of England and granted a dispensation for him to marry Elizabeth of York as they were cousins
  1. Pope Julius II granted a dispensation for Catherine of Aragon to marry her brother in law Prince Henry after Prince Arthur died in 1502
3. Henry improved relations with the papacy by sending Christopher Bainbridge, the new Archbishop of York to Rome to act as a kind of resident ambassador to the Pope
4. The bishops and many of the lesser clergy were government officials at both central and local levels
  1. Men could advance for up in the clerical/political ladder, where the only qualifications needed were education and a patron, rather than birth
Increases finances
1. Henry often moved bishops around. While bishoprics remained empty, Henry could collect the revenues for himself, he also could expect to receive financial rewards from the successful new bishop or archbishop. By moving several bishops, when there was only one vacany he could maximise his profits
  1. When John Morton died in 1500, Deane was moved from Salisbury to Canterbury, Audley went from Hereford to Salisbury, and Castello to Hereford
2. Henry fined churchmen with the same enthusiam as he did laymen, and via the Council Learned in Law
  1. Bishop Fox who was a loyal churchmen; was fined £2000 in order to obtain a royal pardon
In reality it was the king not the pope who ran the church in England and he needed the church to buttress his power. Great churchmen held high offices of state. The Lord Chancellor was always a cleric. The church was always loyal to the reigning monarch and it upheld the rule of law and the sanctity of royal office. THe king appointed bishops and archbishops and the pope always confirmed them.
Church Appointments
1. Henry VII was able to use the Church to reinforce his royal power after 1485. He kept a tight control over church appointments, selecting loyal, well-educated churchmen to important state positions
  1. The Church also strengthened royal control across the realm through its administrative structure in which archbishops and bishops were responsible for running the churches in their diocese
    1. Diocese: England and Wales were divided into 21 aministrative areas, each called a diocese but also known as bishoprics
2. Henry followed a similar policy towards bishops who had supported Richard III to the policy he pursued towards any noblemen who had been loyal to the previous monarch. He allowed them to prove their allegiance to the Tudor dynasty and then entrusted them with significant responsibilites
  1. Thomas Langton had been promoted by Richard III to the bishopric of St David's in 1483, then to that of Salisbury in 1485.
    1. After Bosworth, he was temporarily deprived of his livings and excluded from both parliament and Convocations; however by 1493 he had been appointed Bishop of Winchester
      1. Convocation: offical assembly of senior clergy that usually coincided with the callings of parliament
Relations with the Papacy
1. There was no disputes between Henry VII and any of the three popes with whom he had to deal
  1. Henry was glad to receive papal support and the popes needed English support to resist French and Spanish aggression in Italy
    1. After Bosworth, Henry declared his obedience to Pope Innocent VIII who, in return, provided dispensation for the king to marry Elizabeth of York, and declared their children legitimate
      1. Henry reciprocated by contributing £4,000 in 1501 towards Pope Alexander VI's crusading levy
Humanism
1. Humanism was a distinctive culture of the social, political and intellectual elites in Renaissance Europe
2. It emerged in the 14th century Italy and spread gradually to many states, including England, releasing a wave intellectual and creative energy
3. Humanist ideas stressed the power and potential of humankind. Artists celebrated human achievement and explored ways to paint using three-dimensions to give their pictures greater expression and movement
4. Humanist scholars believed that human behaviour and knowledge could be enhanced through the power of education. They wrote on logic, rhetoric and the importance of grammar
5. Humanists were also concerned about the condition of the Roman Catholic Church. These Christian humanists did not question Catholic principles, but did criticices some practices within the Church, in particular the quality of some Catholic priests, the ostentatious wealth of the Catholic Church, and the perceieved reliance on Catholic ritual in the services rather than prayer and worship
  1. They feared that some souls were led from God by these abuses. They believed that the Church should promote prayer and knowledge of the faith to enable humans to dedicate their lives to god
    1. Humanism was a very varied, and often contradictory culture, Thomas Wolsey displayed many humanists traits yet opposed the vernacular Bible desired by other humanists

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Church under Henry VII

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