Cambridge: The State and State Religion

Cambridge: The State and State Religion

Excerpt from Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park (1814, ch. 9 and 25)

Miss Crawford: At length, Miss Crawford began with, “So you are to be a clergyman, Mr. Bertram. This is rather a surprise to me. I thought that was always the lot of the youngest, where there were many to choose before him.”Mr Bertram: “Do you think the church itself never chosen, then?”Miss Crawford: Never is a black word. But yes, in the never of conversation, which means not very often, I do think it. For what is to be done in the church? … A clergyman is nothing.”Mr Bertram: “A clergyman cannot be high in state or fashion. He must not head mobs, or set the tone in dress. But I cannot call that situation nothing which has the charge of all that is of the first importance to mankind, individually or collectively considered, temporally and eternally, which has the guardianship of religion and morals [...]”Miss Crawford: You assign greater consequence to the clergyman than one has been used to hear given, or than I can quite comprehend. One does not see much of this influence and importance in society, and how can it be acquired where they are so seldom seen themselves? […] Govern the conduct and fashion the manners of a large congregation for the rest of the week? One scarcely sees a clergyman out of his pulpit.”Mr Bertram: “But a parish has wants and claims which can be known only by a clergyman constantly resident […] He knows that human nature needs more lessons than a weekly sermon can convey; and that if he does not live among his parishioners … he does very little either for their good or his own.”

Extent of the Roman Empire

Raphael – The Vision of the Cross, 1520

Extent of Roman Christianity – known as Roman Catholicism

Tellus, the Roman Mother Goddess

Early Roman Depiction of Virgin Mary

Medieval Catholic Church

Papal States in the Middle Ages

Organisation of Catholic GovernanceThe Pope

Cardinals

Archbishops

Bishop

Priest Priest

Archbishops

Bishop Bishop

Priest

Handwritten Latin Bible

Rood Screen

Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation

Lutheranism in 16th century• Authority from the Bible alone (rather from an organisation or traditions as

in the Catholic Church).• It is known as a Protestant movement, because it protests against Catholic

traditions.• Salvation from faith alone (rather than from rituals, indulgences or

absolution)• Simplified clergy • Plain, undecorated churches• Forbids worship of Saints, including Virgin Mary• Encourages reading and studying of the Bible

Catholic Church interior

Luthern Protestant Church

Jean Calvin (Geneva)

Five points of Calvinism• Like Lutheranism, this is a Protestant movement.• Unlike Lutheranism, it proposes five new ideas about humanity: • 1. Total depravity: no one can save himself from sin• 2. Unconditional election: God has already chosen who will go to heaven• 3. Limited atonement: only the elect will be forgiven for their sins.• 4. Irresistable grace: the elect will ‘irresistably’ do the will of God• 5. Perseverence of the elect: only the truly elect will follow God’s path to

the end• French Huguenots also followed the teachings of Jean Calvin.

John Knox: brings Calvinism to Scotland

Calvinist meeting house in Scotland

The Protestant Reformation of England

Catherine of Aragon

Leviticus• 18.16: “You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife, it

is his nakedness”• 20.21: “If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity, he has

uncovered his brother’s nakedness, they shall be childless”

Anne Boleyn

Love Letter (14) From Henry to Anne Boleyn (1528)MINE own SWEETHEART, this shall be to advertise you of the great elengeness that I find here since your departing ; for, I ensure youmethinketh the time longer since your departing now last, than I was wont to do a whole fortnight. I think your kindness and my fervency of lovecauseth it ; for, otherwise, I would not have thought it possible that for so little a while it should have grieved me. But now that I am coming to-wards you, methinketh my pains be half removed ; and also I am right wellcomforted in so much that my book maketh substantially for my matter;in looking whereof I have spent above four hours this day, which causeth menow to write the shorter letter to you at this time, because of some pain inmy head; wishing myself (especially an evening) in my sweetheart’s arms,whose pretty dukkys I trust shortly to kiss. Written by the hand of him that was, is, and shall be yours by his ownwill,

H.R.

William Tyndale

• “[the king] is ordained to take vengeance and hath a sword in his hand and not peacock’s feathers. Fear him therefore and look on him as thou wouldest look on a sharp sword that hanged over thy head by an [sic] hairWho gave the Pope the authority to command God to damn people?

Act of Supremacy 1534• Henry VIII establishes his own Church. It is called the Church of

England, or the Anglican Church.• Since it rejects the authority of the Catholic Church, like Lutheranism

and Calvinism, it is a Protestant movement.• All citizens must accept the king as the head of their church by law• The Church of England incorporates many of the reforms proposed by

Lutheranism and Calvinism, but also continues many Catholic traditions.• In many ways, then, it is a political rather than a religious break.

Dissolution of the Monasteries 1536-1541

The four main religions of of Britain and Ireland by the 19th century

• Catholicism: most people in Ireland remain Catholic• Anglicanism: the state religion of England, it becomes the

official religion of the King and all his subjects after Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy, 1534• Calvinism: this religious movement remains strongest in

Scotland. It rejects Catholic tradition much more strongly than Anglicanism, as well as the idea of clergy hierarchy. • Other Dissenters: Many other Protestant movements grew

up during and after the English Reformation. Their followers were known as Dissenters. These movements were most popular in the Industrial North and in Wales.

Protestant movements

Catholicism in the 19th century • Dominated most of Europe, under the authority of the Pope• Maintained traditional pre-Reformation practices: masses, pilgrimages,

transubstantiation etc.• Wealthiest and most powerful institution in Europe• Was supported by most European rulers, emperors, etc. Catholics were thus

considered a security threat in England.• Anti-Catholicism was widespread in Britain, and often reflected more general

xenophobia.• Catholicism was still the majority religion of Ireland• Also had a strong presence among the working class and the poor in England

(many of them Irish immigrants).

Catholics in Ireland before 1829 (worshipping in secret)

Anglicanism (Church of England) in the 19th century

• Rejected the authority of the Pope and Rome• Majority religion in England (and of the colonial elite in Ireland)• This was the State religion, the most powerful religious institution in Britain.• The Monarch is the symbolic head of the Anglican Church, but in reality the

religion is managed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.• Most of the upper classes belonged to the Anglican Church, as did most of

the upper middle class.• Anglicanism was a relatively new religion, and was thus often debated by

theologians in Oxford and Cambridge. Many British Anglicans, for example, felt that the religion was still too close to Catholicism.

Westminster Abbey

Anglican Clergy

Calvinism• Majority religion in Scotland• Denounced hierarchies, religious and social• Denounced all of the old traditions of the Catholic church that are not

mentioned in the Bible.• Considered Anglicanism too close to Catholicism. • Believed in predestination (only the ‘elect’ will be saved).• Rejected Church hierarchies: was governed by councils rather than

bishops.

Other Dissenting Sects in the 19th century• Many small independent movements, which grew throughout the 17th, 18th and

19th centuries.• Include: The Quakers, The Baptists, The Methodists, and the Congregationalists.• Had a strong presence in Wales and the Industrial North, and were often highly

politicised.• Many dissenters called for radical reforms in religion and society. The Quakers

called for the abolition of the slave trade, for example; Methodists established institutions of education for the working class.• Many dissenters belonged to the Middle classes.• Formed the first wave of colonists to America, and thus (still) have a strong

presence in the USA

The Political-Economic legacy of Protestantism• Individuality• Aspiration• Self-reliance• Investment (rather than philanthropy)• Pride in hard work• Belief in progress• Belief in radical social change• The ‘Protestant Work Ethic’

Bourneville Chocolate Factory

Bourneville Village