The Reformation and the English people

by J.J. Scarisbrick

The complex web of events which we call the Reformation had a profound and lasting effect on English life. This book is a new attempt to understand how it 'happened' and how English men and women responded to it. Using the evidence of wills and account-books, examining late medieval church building and, above all, the striking popularity of the lay fraternity, Professor Scarisbrick argues that there was little violent discontent with the old Church on the eve of the Reformation - that, on the whole, English layfolk had been able to fashion a Church which suited their needs well enough. The main thrust for the ensuring changes came from 'above' and was rarely accompanied by the fierce anticlericialism and iconoclasm that was often a feature of the continental Reformation. Professor Scarisbrick examines the unparalleled spoliation of religious houses, shrines, colleges, chantries, guilds and parish churches in the years 1536 to 1553, and lay attitudes to it. He argues that the changes encountered more resistance than has often been supposed. The story of what happened to schools and hospitals in Edward VI's reign and the survival and revival of the old faith under (and after) Mary add weight to his arguments. He shows clearly that to describe the Reformation as a victory of layman over cleric is far too simple, and that many of our common assumptions about the Reformation need to be reconsidered.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Religion, Church History

214 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

John Joseph Scarisbrick MBE FRHistS (often shortened to J.J. Scarisbrick) is an historian of Tudor England. Scarisbrick was educated at The John Fisher School and later Christ's College, Cambridge, after spending two years in the Royal Air Force. He taught at Warwick University and is the founder of British pro-life charity, LIFE.

Reviews

[Glen O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the earliest of the revisionist accounts of the English Reformation. It helpfully states its central thesis in its second sentence: "On the whole, English men and women did not want the Reformation and most of them were slow to accept it when it came," a contention confirmed and built upon by others since, most notably Christopher Haigh, Eamon Dufy and Diarmaid MacCulloch. Instead of the traditional account of a disgruntled laity, sick and tired of "priestcraft" and superstition calling for reform, we have instead a picture of a thriving late-medieval Catholic piety among a laity, having enforced upon it an unwelcome reform from Protestant-minded bishops and statesmen. Scarisbrick's work is thoroughly researched and his findings now entering the mainstream of opinion. Contrary to the view that Luther's doctrine of the "priesthood of all believers" gave rise to a literate, liberated laity, Scarisbrick argues that the loss of the medieval lay fraternities left lay people with less self-determination and less of a role to play in their religion. The English Reformation led to "a marked shift in the balance of power in favour of the clergy...The new Protestant minister, if he was a zealous servant of the Gospel, was a disciplining, preaching authority-figure. He may not have had the sacramental powers of the old priest, but he expected rank-and-file lay people to be more passive..." (p. 39) Balancing this is the massive transfer of ecclesiastical lands into the hands of the laity through the loss of religious houses with the dissolution of the monasteries. An incident recounted on p. 108 serves as something of a metaphor for the reluctance of some English Christians of the sixteenth century to embrace the iconoclasm of Protestant worship. In 1569 at Durham as a high altar stone was being hidden in a rubbish heap to be recovered when things swung back to conditions more favourable to Catholic worship, one of the ringleaders was heard to address the stone "Domnius vobiscum (The Lord be with you)." In such ways did English Catholic laity of the period come to terms with the new order.

[Jennifer Plummer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scarisbrick presents a very detailed look at the reactions and interactions between the laity, the Church and the Crown. He talks extensively of the religious side, presenting the clergy and lay peoples, but I found it a little lacking in the discussion of the Crown and their reasonings.

[Jeremy Canipe · Rating 4 out of 5]

"To some extent the comparatively tolerant and easy-going character of the Anglican Church reminds one of the pre-Reformation Church in England. A wheel had come full circle.".

J.J. Scarisbrick, The Reformation and the English People, p. 186

Interesting book. Early revisionist account arguing prior historians overemphasized popular English support for the Reformation and that broad swathes of the English people didn't become actively Protestant in this era, and the Church of England would reflect their rejection of the demands of repentance, belief, and life which Puritanism and indeed any Biblical Christianity demands.

I'm going to suggest that's because most people don't wish to believe that each of us are sinners under God's wrath and can only be saved by faith in Jesus. The problem is, that's the only gospel.

[Ricky Balas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scarisbrick does a nice job offering a revisionist history of the English Reformation. At times he makes assertions that are more assumptions than fact. For example, when he mentions Lollardy in chapter 3, he implies that it played an insignifant role and that we cannot know how many people agreed with Erasmus and More's desire for a vernacular Bible, but then follows up that statement with "probably not many." Historians expose themselves to bias when making assumptions like this to simply fit their thesis. Nevertheless, this work is well researched and while a bit dry at times, does a nice job organizing information and presenting a coherent product.

[AskHistorians]

Another attack on A G Dickens, showing again, that the Catholic church was well loved by the Tudor lay-folk, and that the impetus for the Reformation came from above.