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/ b Bound
JUL 2 0 1908
l^arbarli College Itbraru
FROM THE BBqjJBST OF
JAMES WALKER, D.D., LL.D.,
(CUss of 1814)
FORMER PRESIDENT OF HARVARD COLLEGE;
*' Preference being given to works in the Intellectual and Moral Sciences."
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':j
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0 THE
REMAIN S
OP
THOMAS CRANM^ft?^D. D.
• ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.
COLLBCTSD AND ARRANGED
THE REV. HENRY JENKYNS, M. A.
FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE.
IN FOUR VOLUMES. VOL. L
OXFORD, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
MDCCCXXXIII.
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'l/
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GENERAL CONTENTS.
VOL. I.
Page.
Prefacb of the Editor. i.
List of Cranmer''s writings from Bale. cxxiii.
from Tanner. cxxvi.
fit)m Todd. cxxxi.
Facsimiles. cxxxiv.
Letters. 1.
VOL. II.
Collection of Extracts from the Canon Law. 1.
Substance of a Speech on the authority of the Pope, and of General Councils. 11.
Speech in Convocation. 16.
Queries and Answers on Confirmation. 18.
Injunctions for the diocese of Hereford. 19.
Corrections of The Institution qf a Christian Man^ by Henry VIII. 21.
Annotations on the King^s Book. 65.
Seventeen Questions and Answers on the Sacraments, &c
98.
Preface to the Bible. 104.
Speech at the Coronation of Edward VI. 118.
Notes and Authorities on Justification. 121.
Homily of Salvation. 138.
of Faith. 161.
— L — of Good Works. 164.
Queries and Answers on the Mass. 178.
Articles of Visitation for the diocese of Canterbury. 185.
Articles of Visitation for the Dean and Chapter of Can- terbury. 196.
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Page. Injunctions to the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury. ^00. Answer to the Devonshire Rebels. 202. Notes for a Sermon against Rebellion. 245. Sermon on Rebellion. 248. Defence of the True and Catholic Doctrine of the Sacra- ment, &c. 275.
VOL. III.
Answer to Rich. Smythe^s Preface. 1.
Answer to Gardyner^s Explication. 25.
Notes of Gardyner^s Errors. 555.
VOL. IV.
Declaration concerning the Mass. 1.
Disputation at Oxford with Chedsey. 4.
' ■ with Harpsfield. 67.
Condemnation, by Weston. 77.
Examination at Oxford before Brokes. 79.
Appeal to a General Council. 118. Prayer, Exhortation, and Confession of Faith at St. Mary'^s
Church. 130.
Confutation of Unwritten Verities, 145.
Appendix. 246.
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CONTENTS OF VOL, L
PREFACE.
Objsct of the publication, p. i. Craniner's Printed Works, ibid. His Manuscripts, p. ii. His Letters, p. iii. His Miscel- laneous Remains, p. vi. His Book on Henry VIII.'s marriage to Catharine of Arragon, ibid. His Opinion on the Papal Su- premacy, p. ix, on the constitution and authority of G^eral Councils, p. zi. His Speech in Convocation 1536, p. xii. Arti- cles of 1 536, p, xi V. Draft of additional Articles in the Chapter House at Westminster, p. xv. Institution of a Christian Man, p. xrii. Annotations on the King's Book, p. xriii. Conferences with the (German protestants in 1538, p. xx. Thirteen Articles supposed to have been then agreed on, p. xxiL Act of the Six Articles, p. xxv. Translations of the Bible, p. xxvii. Cranmer's Preface to the Great Bible of 1540, p. xxviii. Commission for compiling Articles of Faith in 1540, p. xxix. Seventeen Questions and Answers on the Sacraments, p. xxxii. Erroneous opinions maintained in them, p. xxxiii. Necessary Doctrine and Erudition, &c. p. xxxvii. how fjEir approved by Cranmer, p. xxxviii. English Litany, 1544, p. xl. Farther Reformation designed by Henry VIII. p. xli. Extent of that actually effected by him, p. xlii. Cran- mer's Speech at Edward VI.'s Coronation, p. xlv. Notes on Justification, p. xlvi. The Homilies, p. xlvii. their alleged in- consistency with the Necessary Doctrine, p. xlviii. Discus- sion respecting the Mass, p. 1. Order for the Communion in English, p. li. Edward VI.'s First Service Book, p. Hi. Ordination Services, p. liii. Story of Cranmer's having drawn up a more perfect Book of Prayer, ibid. His Catechism, p. liv. Con^tation of Unwritten Verities, p. Iv. Marquis of Northampton's Divorce, p. Ivi. Articles of Visitation, p. lix. Insurrections in 1549, p. Ixi. Answer to the Devon- shire rebels, p. Ixi v. Sermon on Rebellion, p. Ixvi. Con-
a2
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troversy on the Eucharist^ p. Ixvii. Reformers divided on the subject^ p. Ixviii. Caution of the English Sacramenta- ries, p. Ixix. Their persecution^ Ixx. Frith, p. Ixxi. Lam. bert, p. Ixxiii. Barber, ibid. Cranmer's Collection of Au- thorities on the Eucharist, ibid. His opinions probably at one time Lutheran, p. Ixxiv. when changed, p. Ixxvi. Pub- lication of the Defence, &c. p. Ixxxi. its plan, ibid. expo, sition of the true doctrine, ibid, refutation of Romish errors, Ixxxiii. Answered by Smjrthe, p. Ixxxvii. and by Gardyner, p. Ixxxviii. Cranmer's Reply, p. xci. answered by Grardy- ner under the name of Marcus Antonius Constantius, p. xciv. Cranmer's preparations for a second Reply, p. xcvii. inter, rupted by his death, ibid. Review of the controversy, p. xcix. Plan for a General Reformed Confession of Faith, p. civ. The Forty-Two Articles of the Church of England, p. cvi. Re- formatio Legum, p. cviii. Accession of Queen Mary, p. cxi. Cranme^s Declaration concerning the Mass, p. cxii. Dispu- tations at Oxford, 1554, p. cxi v. Examination before Bishop Brokes, 1555, p. cxvi. Appeal at his Degradation, Feb. 1566, p. cxvii. Prayer, &c. before his death, ibid. Notice of Libraries examined for the present publication, p. cxviii.
List of Cranmer's writings from Bale. p. cxxiii.
from Tanner. p. cxxvi.
^from Todd. p. cxxxi.
Facsimiles. p. cxxxiv.
LETTERS.
I. To THE Earl op Wiltshire. Hampton Court, 13 June [1531.] Account of Reginald Pole's book on Henry VIII.'s matrimony — The King and Anne Boleyn gone to Windsor.
p.l.
II. To Kino Henry VIII. R^enspurgh, 4 Sept. [1532.] Contract of merchandise between England and the Low Countries — Subsidy to the Emperor — Preparations against the Turk — The Emperor's proclamation concerning a G^ne- ral Council. p. 6.
*III. To Kino Henry VIII. Villach, 20 Oct. [1532.] Journey of Charles V. through Italy to Spain — Mutiny and excesses of the Italian troops in Germany — General discon.
* The Letters marked by ao asterisk, are now, it is bcliered, printed for the first time.
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tent at the conduct of the campaign against Solyman — Out- rages committed by the boors on the Emperor's suite — Fer- dinand unpopular — ^Appearance of a comet — The plague in the Emperor's household — ^Variance in the accounts of the Turkish losses — Report of Andrew Doria's successes in Oreece — Duke William of Bavaria — Duke Dalby — ^The French am. bassador engaged to speak to Duke Frederic concerning the King's cause. p. 8.
♦rv. To Crumwbll. Westminster, 8 Feb. [1533.1 ^ fevour of Newman. p. 16.
*V. To CRUMWBLii. Lambeth, 21 April. Concerning Mr. Benet's advowson oi Bamack. p. 17*
♦VI. To THB Abbot op St. Auoustin's, Cantbbbury. Mort- lake, 28 April. Letter of credence. p. 18.
*VIL To thb Abbot op Wbstminstbr. Mortlake, 4 May. Recommendation of John Smythe for a yie&t'n place in the College of St. Martin's, London. ibid.
♦VIIl. To Crumwbll. Mortlake, 6 May. Declines to allow Crumwell to nominate a prior of St. Ghregory's, Canterbury — The principles on which the Archbishop intended to dis- pose of such preferments— Ambition of men of the church.
p. 19.
IX. To Kino Hbnry VIII. Lambeth, 11 April [1533.] Ap- plication for license to try the King's cause of matrimony.
p. 21.
X. To Kino Hbnry VIU. Dunstable, 12 May [1533.] The Lady Catharine pronounced contufnax for non-appearance.
p. 23.
XI. To Kino Hbnry VIII. Dunstaple, 17 May [1533.] The final sentence of divorce to be given on the Friday following.
p. 24. ♦XII. To Crumwbll. Dunstaple, 17 May [1533.] Notice of the approaching sentence of divorce — Apology for not writ- ing before — Injunction to secresy. p. 25.
XIII. To Kino Hbnry VIII. Dunstaple, 23 May [1533.] Announcement of the sentence of divorce — Procuracy con- cerning the second matrimony. p. 26.
XIV. To Arohdbacon Hawkyns. Croydon, 17 June [1533.] Proceedings in the suit between Henry VIII. and Catharine — Coronation of Anne Boleyn — Time of her marriage —
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False reports respecting Cranmer — Examination and con. demnation of Frith and Andrew Hewet for denying the cor- poral presence — Ambassadors gone to France — Hawkyns' pre- ferment doubtful — Money sent to him. p. 27.
*XV. To THE Mayor of Cambridor. Croydon, 25 June. In favour of Humfry Stockewith. p. 33.
XVI. To THE Master op Jesus College Cambridge. Croy- don, 26 June. With a present of venison. p. 34.
*XVII. To . Croydon, 26 June. His house overcharged
with servants — Dr. Elyston. ibid.
*XVIII. To THE Bishop op Lincoln. Croydon, 5 July. Re- quests the Bishop of Lincoln to assist John Creke in obtain- ing a preferment in the University of Oxford. p. 35.
*XIX. To Balthasor, the King's surgeon. Croydon, 5 July. Letter of thanks for attention to his chaplain Witwell. ibid.
*XX. To THE Bishop op Lincoln. Croydon, 8 July. Vari- ance between the Warden of All Souls College Oxford and a priest, respecting a chauntry. p. 36.
*XXI. To PoTTKYNS, his Registrar. [1533.] For a collation of a benefice. p. 37-
*XXII. To HIS Chancellor. Croydon, 8 July. Variance be- tween Pery and Benbowe. ibid.
*XXIII. To . Application for the speedy determination
of a dispute. p. 38.
*XXIV. To . Otford, 18 July 1533. Warrant for a buck
from his park at Slyndon. ibid.
*XXV. To Kynoeston. Otford, 19 July. Concerning An- thony Eyngeston's suit for divorce. p. 39.
*XXVI. To CERTAIN Curates. Otford, 19 July. For con- tributions to the repairs of Mailing Church. p. 41.
*XXVII. To the Abbot op Westminster. Otford, 19 July. Application for a headman's place for John Fisher.
ibid.
*XXVIII. To HIS Chancellor. Variance of matrimony be- tween Thomas Perry and Jane Benbow. p. 42.
♦XXIX. To Crumwbll. Otford, 19 July. Preaching li- cense of a Prior at Bristol — Application for his servant to be appointed Esquire Bedel at Oxford — The office at the disposal of the King. ibid.
*XXX. To THB Prioress of St. Sbpulchrb's, Cantbrburt.
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Otford. [1533.] Summoiis to bring the Nun of Kent to Otford. p. 43.
*XXXI. To LoBD Abbboavbnnt. Otford, 19 July. De- sires Lord Abergavenny to maintain the privileges of his te- nants at Mayfield. ibid.
♦XXXII. To THE Dean op the Abchbs. Otford, 21 July. Variance of matrimony between James Bulstrode and Ed. wardes. p. 44.
*XXXIII. To THE Dean of the Abchss. Otford, 22 July. Appoints Perry and Benbowe, Bulstrode and Edwardes to ap- pear before him — ^Dr. Townsend — ^Mr. Chancellor — Pottkyns.
p. 45.
•XXXIV. To Db. Bell. Otford, 22 July. Concerning the farm of the benefice of Normanton near Southwell — Master Basset. ibid.
*XXX V. To Db. Bell. Letter of thanks. p. 46.
*XXXVI. To Db. Clatbboke and Db. Bassbtt. Letter of thanks. ibid.
*XXXVII. To THE Duchess of Nobfolk. Otford, 23 July [1533.] Concerning the permutation of the benefice of Che- vening for Curry Malet — Mr. Baschirche. p. 47-
*XXXVIII. To LoBO Abundel. Application for venison ac- cording to a composition. p. 48.
♦XXXIX. The Duke of Norfolk to Cranmer. Greenwich, 5 Sept. [1533.] Application for books and process relating to Henry VIII/s divorce. ibid.
*XL. To THB Dttkb op Nobfolk. 7 Sept. [1533.] Answer
to the foregoing application. p. 49.
*XLI. To RosBLL. Otford. Respecting the education of Ro-
sell's son^ his nephew. ibid.
*XLII. To HIS Chancbllob. To admit Dr. Cave to the
Arches. ibid.
*XLIII. To THB Dban of THB Abchbb. To the same effect
p. 50. *XLIV. To Db. Tbygonbll. Desires Trygonell to intercede
with the Lord Chancellor in behalf of Hutton. ibid.
*XL V. To Bbowoh. Otford. Summons to appear before him.
ibid. *XLVI. To—. Otford. Second summons to appear before
him. p* 51.
84
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*XLVII. To John Fleming. Otford, 17 Sept. Summons to attend him. p. 51 .
*XLVIII. To Crumwbll. Otford, 23 Sept. To hasten John Broke's suit before the Lord Chancellor — In favour of John Padley. ibid.
♦XLIX. To THE Parson op Chbvbning. Otford, 2 Oct. Ap- plication for a house for his servant, the farmer of the par- sonage, p- 52.
*L. To THE Prioress and Convent op Wilton. Concern- ing the election of an abbess. p. 53.
*LI. To . Otford, 5 Oct. His readiness to redress griev- ances, p. 54.
*LII. To Qresham. Otford, 6 Oct. Respecting his debts.
ibid.
*LIII. To Lord Rochpord. Otford, 6 Oct. Recommends P. M. to be secretary to the Duke of Richmond. p. 55.
*LIV. To CoLLMAN. 7 Oct. Authority to sell wood. ibid.
♦LV. To HIS Chancellor. Nomination to the Vicarage of Withbroke given to the Prior of Coventry. p. 56,
*LVI. To THE Curate op Sundridge. Otford. Licenses the Curate of Sundridge to solemnize a marriage without banns. ibid.
♦LVII. To THE Prior op Christ's Church, Canterbury. Thanks the Prior for a present — His debts. p. 57-
♦LVIII. To R. AsTALL, parson of Chevenyng. Otford, 8 Oct. Desires reduction of rent on behalf of his servant Abber- forde. ibid.
*LIX. To Dr. Downes. 9 Oct. In behalf of John Thorpe, farmer of Dr. Benet's prebend in Southwell. 58.
*LX. To A Park-keeper. 10 day. Authority to deliver wood to Roger Herman. p. 59.
^LXI. To THE Dean op the Arches. 11 day. Refuses a new commission in Edwardes's suit — Bedell's great business— Trygonell substituted for him in a commission on that ac- count, ibid.
*LXII. To Stapleton, P^irson of Byngham. Otford, 12 Oct. Sends his nephew, Thomas Rosell, to Stapleton's school.
p. 60.
♦LXIII. To RosELL, his brother in law. 12 [Oct.] About sending his nephew to Stapleton's school. p. 61.
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*LXIV. To Cbumwbli-. Otford, 17 Oct. Wishes to procure Benet's advowson for Newman. p. 61.
*LXV. To THB Bishop op Herbporo. Otford, 18 Oct. Dis- pute about tithes-— Desires the Bishop to see justice minis- tered, p. 62.
*LXVI. To Palloravb^ Parson of St. Dunstan's in the East. Agreement for the fruits of Pallgrave's benefice^Such mat- ters referred to Pottkyns — ^The Archbishop's want of money.
p. 63.
*LXVII. To THB Lord Chancbllob Audblby. Otford, 24 Oct. Requests the Chancellor to interfere with Dr. Cl3riF and others for the delivery of the records of Ely to his Vicar General, Dr. May. p. 64.
♦LXVIII. To . Authority to agree with Chesewryght for
the fruits of the benefice of Wysbeche. p. 65.
*LXIX. To his Chancbllob. Complaint of the vicar of Mil- ton, that he is overcharged for the King's subsidy. ibid.
*LXX. To . His inability to comply with a request in
consequence of a previous promise. p. 66.
*LXXI. To Wishes to obtain the auditorship of the
Church of Lincoln for Henry Byngham. ibid.
*LXXI1. To . Respecting the payment of the arrears of
an annuity to Jefiry Eton. p. 67*
ylLXXlII. The Earl of Essex to Cranmer. [Stansted,] 13 Oct. Reasons for not complying with Cranmer's intercession in favour of Stansbye. ibid.
>^^LXXIV. To THB Eabl op Essbx. Proposes that two indif- / ferent persons should arbitrate between the Earl and Stansbye.
p. 68. \/*LXXV. To CBBTAiN Gentlbmbn in Hbbtfobdshirb. De- sires them to inquire into the grievances of Thomas Wigg3rn- ton of Tring. p. 70.
*LXXVI. To THB Arohdbaoon of Cantbrbury. Asks for the farm of the parsonage of Hayes for John Creake. p. 71 >
LXXVII. To BoNBB. Lambeth, 22 Nov. [1533.] Concerning his appeal from the Pope to a General Council. ibid.
♦LXXVIII. To Cbumwbll. Otford, 26 Nov. Presses that Newman may have the benefice which had been promised.
p. 72.
LXXIX. To Cbumwbll. Otford, 26 Nov. Having been in-
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fonned by Goderich that the King will lend him 1000 marks^ desires 500/. to be delivered to his secretary Thomas Berthlet.
p. 74.
*LXXX. To Lord A^kroavenny. Otford, 27 Nov. Thanks him for offer of attendance at Canterbury — Applies for veni- son, p. 75.
*LXXXI. To THE Abbot op Westminster. 29 Nov. De- sires the fulfilment of his promise to make Fisher a headman.
ibid. ^*LXXXII. To Kino Henry VIII. Canterbury, 13 Dec. [1533.] The people glad that the impostures of the Nun of Kent were discovered — Intercedes for the Prior and Convent of Christ Church, who were greatly dismayed — Supposes that they will offer the K ing, as a pleasure, 300/. or 400/. — The monastery in debt. p. 76.
♦LXXXIII. To Crumwell. Ford, 16 Dec. [1533.] Applies for instructions as to the treatment of the Parson of Alding- ton, Dering the monk, and Father Lawrence. p. 78.
LXXXIV. To Archdeacon Hawkyns. Lambeth, 20 Dec. 1533. Account of the feigned revelations and detection of the Nun of Kent — New bishops — Birth of a princess — Mar- riage of the Duke of Richmond. p. 79.
*LXXXV. To A Prior. Ford, 25 Dec Applies for a grant of the next admission of a student to the University of Ox- ford, p. 84.
^LXXXVI. To THE Chancellor and Dean of the Arches. Ford, 27 Dec. Respecting matters at Calais. ibid.
♦LXXXVII. To THE Abbot op Reading. In behalf of a
y friend for the benefice of Aston. p. 85.
/*LXXXVIII. To . Concerning the will of Thomas Broune
of Bristol. ibid.
LXXXIX. To Crumwell. Otford, 5 Jan. Mr. Hethe well calculated to defend the King's great cause, but in want of means for his journey. p. 86.
*XC. To Crumwell. Otford, 6 Jan. [1534.] Wishes to ob- tain a book written by the monk Dering in defence of the revelations of the Nun of Kent. The book said by Dering to have been burnt ; by another, to have been delivered to Hen. Oolde. p. 88.
*XCI. To John Butler, Commissary at Calais. Otford,
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13 Jan. His Visitation at Calais — Marriage canse of Francis Hastings. p. 89.
*XCII. To THE Rbctor of Pbtworth. Lambeth^ 8 Feb. Applies for the renewal of the lease of the parsonage of Pet- worth to John Bower. p. 90.
*XCni. To . Lambeth, 8 Feb. Proposes to settle a dis-
pate about tithe. p. 91.
"^XCIV. To THB Priorjbss of Stanfbld. 14 Feb. Con. ceming the resignation of the Vicarage of Quadryng in fisi- vonr of Nic. Roberts. ibid.
♦XCV. To THE Parson of Chbvbntno. Croydon. Desires the Parson of Chevenyng to effect a reformation between '^j,' John Durmeryght and his wife. p. 92. (
♦XCVI. To THE Bishop of Rochester. Applies for a fellow- ^ ship at St. John's CoU^e, Cambridge, for Master Devenyshe.
ibid.
*XCVII. To THE Warden of All Souls College^ Ox- ford. Applies for the lease of a farm at Loys Weedon to a friend. p. 93.
XCVIII. To THE Inhabitants of Hadleigh. Lambeth, 20 March. Exhortation to charity — In favour of Thomas Ros their curate. p. 94.
*XCIX. To the Archbishop of York. [1534.] Desires the Archbishop to suspend the reading of the General Sentence.
p. 96.
♦C. To . Croydon, 4 April [1534] To the same effect.
p. 97.
CI. To A Bishop. Lambeth^ 1534. Inhibition of preaching.
Instructions to be given to all who are licensed for the future.
ibid.
*CII. To the Prioress of Stanfeld. Lambeth. Thanks
the Convent for preferring N. Roberts to the Vicarage of
Quadryng. p. 99.
*CIII. To Mr. N. Roberts. Advises him to give no vexation
to the Prioress of Stanfeld. ibid.
*CIV. To the Prioress of Sheppby. That Thos. Abberforde
may have the ^Eum of the parsonage of Gillingham. p. 100.
^CV. To THE Prioress of Sheppby. Requests the Convent
. to show favour to Thos. Abberforde in his lease. ibid.
vA:VI. To Crumwbll. Croydon, 17 April [1534] That Bi-'^
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shop Fisher and Sir Thomas More might be sworn to the Act of Succession, without the preamble. p. 101.
*CVII. To Crumwbll. Croydon, 26 April. In favour of Ro-
I bert Markeham. p. 103.
^♦CVIII. To Crumwbll. Croydon^ 28 April. Furthers an ex- change of lands between Henry Hatfilde and the prebendaries at Southwell. An end would thus be put to unquietness which had continued for an hundred years, and had caused much manslaughter — Mr. Roodd ready to conform himself to the King's contentation. ibid.
*CIX. To . In favour of John Hutton. p. 105.
*CX. To . In favour of a friend. ibid.
♦CXI. To . That an Enchiridion should be restored to
Richard S., or cause shown for withholding it. ibid.
*CXII. To THE Vicar op Charyng. Intercedes for W. S. prosecuted for defamation, and now repentant. p. 106.
CXIII. To Dr. Cocks, his Chancellor. Recommends a cha- ritable end to a tithe suit. p. 107-
♦CXIV. To . 1 May [1534.] About tithes in Romney
Marsh. ibid.
*CXV. To A Preacher at Paul's Cross. Croydon, 6 May. Reproof for changing the day for preaching. p. ] 08.
♦CXVI. To Crumwbll. Croydon, 7 May [1534.] In favour of Edward Mowll, late chaplain to Dr. Benet. ibid.
*CXVII. To . Thomas Donkester of Newesham a fit per- son to be abbot. p. 109.
♦CXVIII. To THE Convent op Newesham. Lambeth, 18 May.
I Recommends Thomas Donkester for their abbot. p. 111.
vAcXIX. To . Requests that Thomas Mounteforde, priest,
committed to the Fleet for words spoken against him, might be discharged — Inquires how those who cannot write are to subscribe the oath of succession — Other questions about the oath. ibid.
CXX. To Archdeacon Thirlby. Croydon, 24 May. A bil- let received from the King — Thirlby's negligence in not as- certaining the King's pleasure concerning some alterations in it — The billet sent back on that account — Thirlby ought to have consulted Drs. Shaxton and Buttes — The parchment copy of the articles sent to Crumwell — The Cambridge bill of preachers at Paul's Cross lost. p. 113.
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"^CXXI. To Bakbb, Recorder of London. Croydon> 25 May.
In behalf of Mrs. Pachette. p. 1 15.
^CXXII. To THB DucHBSs OF NoRFOLK. Requests her to
promote the suit of Thomas Cade to the King for an office at
Calais. p. 116.
*CXXIII. To Cbumwbll. Croydon, 3 June. His visitation
at Rochester — Thanks Crumwell in behalf of James Barnard.
p. 117.
♦CXXIV. To Crumitbll. Croydon, 6 June. That the Master of his mint at Canterbury might not be prevented by the Provost of the King's mint in the Tower from having work- men from thence. ibid.
*CXXV. To Crumwbll. Croydon, 7 June. Thanks Crum- well in behalf of Molyneux. p. 119.
*CXXVI. To Crumwbll. Croydon, 7 June. That Friar Oliver might be removed from being Prior of the Black Fri- ars at Cambridge, and Hilsey, or some other worshipful man, placed there in his room — Oliver a defender of the Pope's authority. ibid.
♦CXXVII. To Crumwbll. Otford, 10 June. Suggests that the King should send the Elector Palatine a present of grey- hounds, p. 120.
CXXVni. To Latymbb. [1534.] Directs Latymer to give the necessary injunctions to those who were licensed at his request to preach within the province o£ Canterbury, p. 121 .
*CXXIX. To Crumwbll. Knoll, 26 Dec In behalf of John Brice, who had incurred Crumwell's displeasure. p. 122.
CXXX. To Latymbr. Summons him to preadi before the King in Lent. Gives hints for his discharge of the duty.
p. 123.
CXXXI. To THB Dban op THB Chapbl Rotal. Otford. Notice of Latymer's being appointed to preach — Desires that Shaxton may preach before the King on the 3d Sunday in Lent. p. 125.
*CXXXII. To Crumwbll. KnoU, 15 Jan. That Nevell, by Crumwell's favourable letters, might be restored to his office in Wilton Abbey. p. 126.
*CXXXnL To Crumwbll. Knoll, 22 Jan. Applies for the King's letters in favour of two chaplains who were to be sent to Calais. ibid.
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*CXXX1V. To . In favour of the Prior of the Charter
House in the Isle of Axholme. p. 127.
*CXXXV. To . In behalf of Jackson, whose goods were
distrained for rent. ibid.
*CXXXVI. To . That Jackson may have a new lease.
p. 128.
♦CXXXVIl. To A Prior. Letter of introduction for Thomas Hogeson. ibid.
*CXXXVII1. To . In favour of Tho. H., his servant.
p. 129.
CXXXIX. To . Feb. [1535.] Order to a parish priest
for enforcing the due performance of penance. ibid.
*CXL. To Crumwbll. Knoll, 1 March. Requests Crumwell to take back Thomas Barthelet into his service. p. 130.
*CXLI. To Crumwell. Knoll, 14 March [1535.] Reports an information against Dr. Benger for affirming the authority of the Bishop of Rome — The King's subsidy — Valuation of the tenths and first-fruits. ibid.
♦CXLII. To . In favour of Mrs. Creke— Mr. Rix ap- pointed chaplain to Lord Wiltshire. p. 132.
*CXLIII. To Mr. Rix. Notice to meet Lord Wiltshire at Maidstone. p. 133.
*CXLIV. To Crumwell. Otford, 6 April. Desires Crumwell to suspend his judgment concerning Jesus College, Cambridge — Intends shortly to do his duty to the King and Queen, ibid.
*CXLV. To Crumwell. Otford, 30 April [1535.] Inter- cedes for Webster, Prior of Axholme, and Raynold, a monk of Syon, convicted of high treason. p. 134.
♦CXLVI. To Crumwell. Otford, 6 May. In favour of the bearer. p. 135.
CXLVIL To Crumwell. Otford, 12 May [1535.] Defends, against Gardyner, the title " Totius Anglise Primas," and his Visitation of the diocese of Winchester. ibid.
*CXLVIII. To Crumwell. Otford, 25 May [1535.] En- closes intelligence for the King — Sir John, the parish priest of Wytesham, in prison. p. 139.
♦CXLIX. To Crumwell. Otford, 27 May. In favour of Mr. Roode, having a suit in Chancery. p. 140.
^CL. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 4 June [1535.] Acknow- ledges the receipt of the King's letter touching the dedara-
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tion of his supremacy — Intends to satisfy the King's ocnn. mandment — Applies for the resolution of some doubts re-
» specting parts of the King's letter. p. 140.
yAciA. To Crumwbll. Lambeth^ 7 June. Sends a priest who
had called for vengeance on the King, and a woman who had
called for vengeance on the Queen. p. 141.
*CLII. To Cbumwell. Otford, 30 June [1535.] His serv. ant> James Arnold^ candidate for the swordbearership of London. p. 142.
*CLIII. To Crumwbll. Lambeth, 12 July. Newman taken
yinto Crumwell's service. p. 143.
^JK^UV. To Cbumwell. Otford, 15 Aug. [1535.] Sends two
letters concerning treason — Reconmiends Holbech for the
Priory of Worcester. ibid.
CLV. To Cbumwell. Otford, 8 Oct. Learned curates much wanted at Calais — ^Wishes Crumwell to move the King to give the benefices there to fit men — Recommends Ghtrret for St. Peter's^ near Calais — Intercedes for the bearer, Henry Tumey — Requests Crumwell to second his application to the Queen. p. 144.
*CLV1. To Crumwbll. Wyngham, 12 Oct. The bearer complained of by some, much lauded by others — Cranmer inclined to think well of him — ^Wishes Crumwell not to with, draw his flavour. p. 146.
*CLVII. To Cbumwell. Ford, 17 Oct. [1535.] Claims lands lately held by the Priory of Davyngton. p. 147.
*CLV1II. To Cbumwell. Ford, 26 Oct. That Dr. Thomidon may be continued in the office of Warden of the manors of Christ Church, Canterbury ; and that the Cellerar^ being cor. pulent, might have some liberty. p. 148.
*CLIX. To Cbumwell. Dover, 27 Oct. In behalf of Henry Tumey. p. 149.
♦CLX. To Cbumwell. Ford, 2 Nov. [1635. J Concerning his claim to lands and tithes lately held by the Priory of Daving- ton — Relates his proceedings for the maintenance of the King's supremacy — Had drawn up articles on that point for the guidance of the clergy, and certain doubts to be moved in the Council — Hutton — Petre. p. 150.
♦CLXI. To Cbumwell. Ford, 3 Nov. In favour of Sir John Markeham and Sir William Merynge. p. 153.
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♦CLXIl. To Cbumwbll. Canterbury, 18 Nov. [1535.] Applies for an interpretation of one of Crum well's Injunctions, p. 155.
♦CLXIII. To Crumwell. Ford, 22 Nov. Sends his chaplain Champion, whom he trusted as himself, to receive a confiden- tial communication. p. 157-
♦CLXIV. To Crumwell. KnoU, 18 Jan. [1536.] Thanks Crumwell for the preferment of Dr. Mallet to the Mastership of Michel House, Cambridge — The King's visitation of the University. p. 158.
^CLXV. To King Henry VIII. Knoll, 18 Jan. Libel on the King by Thomas Baschurche — Baschurche a predestina- rian, believing himself created to damnation. p. 159.
*CLXVI. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 25 March [1536.] That his brother-in-law might have the farm of some suppressed re- ligious house — In favour of Francis Basset. p. 161.
*CLXVn. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 29 March. Letter of credence for Champion. p. 162.
*CLXVIII. To Crumwell. Knoll, 22 April. Reminds Crum- well of the situation of Smyth of the Exchequer — Is in a heat with the cause of religion — Wishes to break his mind on the subject to Crumwell. ibid.
' CLXIX. To Kino Henry VIII. Lambeth, 3 May, [1536.] Intercedes for Queen Anne Boleyn. p. 163.
CLXX. To Crumwell. Aldington, 9 Aug. In behalf of Ham- bleton, a Scotchman, driven from his country for favouring God's word. p. 166.
- CLXXI. To Kino Henry VIII. Ford, 26 Aug. [1536.] Re- ports his sermons on the King's supremacy — The Prior of the Black Friars at Canterbury had preached against him — The contradictory statements of the Prior — Cranmer requests that provision may be made for hearing the case — Returns thanks for a stag. p. 167*
CLXXII. To Crumwell. Ford, 7 Sept. Answers Crumwell's application that Massey may have dispensation to marry his late wife's niece — Refuses it on the ground of its being con- trary to the law of God — The Act of Parliament on the sub- ject not so clear as could be wished. p. 172.
♦CLXXIll. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 5 Oct. Divers friars' bouses suppressed — ^Applies for that of the Grey Friars at Canterbury for Thomas Cobham. p. 174.
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CLXXIV. To Kino Hbnby VIII. KnoU, 18 Nov. [1636.] News from Italy — ^Assembly of prelates — R^;inald Pole much ftivoured by the Pope — Notice of a Oeneral Council sent through Christendom — Friar Denis — Emperor at G^oa — Hopes of peace — Rebels in England. p. 175.
♦CLXXV. To Crumwbll. Ford, 4 Jan. Requests Crumwell to promote James Arnold's appointment to the sword bearer, ship of London. p. 178.
♦CLXXVI. To Crumwell. Ford, 16 Jan. Sends by R. Nevell a fee of twenty pounds. p. 179.
•CLXXVII. To Crumwell. Ford, 28 Jan. [1637.] Miscon- duct of Hugh Payne, late curate of Hadley — Informations against certain monks of Christ Church, Canterbury — ^Letter from Tumey a£ Calais. p. 180.
CLXXVIU. To Crumwell. Ford, 16 Feb. [1637-] Con. ceming the monks of Christ Church — ^The King's Injunctions not observed in the monastery — The Sub.cellerar Rob. An. thony gone his ways for fear of examination — Matters at Calais. p. 182.
*CLXXIX. To Crumwell. Ford, 28 Feb. That Mr. Ham- bleton may have somewhat to live on in England. p. 184.
^CLXXX. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 13 Muxh. Concerning plate, wherein should be profit to the King. ibid.
♦CLXXXI. To Crumwell. Croydon, 31 March. That Lord Cobham might be put in the commission for Rochester.
p. 186.
♦CLXXXU. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 26 May. That Gun- thorpe, who had been molested by Dale in the diocese of Norwich, might have the King's license to preach within the realm — ^None that be of right judgment approved to preach by the Bishop of Norwich — Recommends the grant of King's licenses to supply the defect. ibid.
♦CLXXXIII. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 20 July. That Henry Stoketh might have a lease of, or be allowed to pur- chase the demesne lands of the Charter House in the Isle of Axholme. p. 187-
♦CLXXXIV. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 21 July [16370 The
Institution of a Christian Man nearly finished — ^Applies for
leave to quit Lambeth on account of the plague, and for a
license from Crumwell to visit his diocese — His exchange
VOL. I. * a
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mth the King^ and his debts — Treatment of otfenders against the King's Injunctions — The Vicar of Croydon. p. 187.
♦CLXXXV. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 22 July [1537.] That rewards for their books might be sent to Capito and Seb. Munster by Tybbold. p. 191.
*CLXXXVI. To Wolfgang Capito, [1537.1 Capito's book, with some exceptions, approved by the King — ^its merit ac- knowledged by a present of 100 crowns — The power and zeal of Crumwell — How the King formed his judgment of books — Cranmer's esteem for Capito— Apology for the smallness of his gift— Thomas Tybald. p. 192.
^>c4iXXXVII. To Joachim Vadian. Acknowledges the receipt of Vadian's work on the Eucharist — Disapproves of its attack on the Real Presence — Laments that (Ecolampadius and Zuinglius had trodden down the wheat with the tares — The au- thority of the Fathers decidedly in favour of the Real Presence — ^Deprecates the revival of so bloody a controversy, p. 193.
CLXXXVIII. To Crumwell. Ford, 4 Aug. [1537-] Sends a new translation of the Bible — Desires Crumwell to procure the King's license for its being sold and read. p. 196.
♦CLXXXIX. To Crumwell. Canterbury, 5 Aug. The in- duction of a person to St. Quintunes, stayed. p. 197-
*CXC. To Crumwell. Ford, 8 Aug. In favour of Sir Ed- ward Ryngsley. p. 198. ^ CXCI. To Crumwell. Ford, 13 Aug. [1537.] Thanks Crum- well for obtaining the King's authority for the publication of
/^the Bible in English. p. 199.
XCII. To Crumwell. Ford, 28 Aug. [1537.] Repeats his thanks for Crumwell's diligence in procuring the Bible to be set forth by the King's authority — Gives an account of his Visitation — The abrogated holydays still kept — A bad ex- ample therein set by the Court — In behalf of Wm. Gronnow.
ibid. ♦CXCIIL To Crumwell. Ford, 31 Aug. [1537.] His debts to the King — Entrusts the management of the exchanges at Maidstone and Otford to Crumwell — Is ready to prove his charges against the prior of the Black Friars at Canterbury -^Recommends Ant. Nevell to be Custos Rotulor. of Notting- hamshire— Commissions for the subsidy — Withdrawal of the Process against Mr. Chamberlain. p. 203.
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CONTENTvS.
CXCIV. To PoTKYN HIS Rboistrar. Ford, 16 Sept. DirecU Potkyn to publish the Act of Convocation for the abolishing of certain holydays. p. 204.
♦CXCV. To Crumwbll. Ford, 20 Sept. Thanks Cmmwell for his favoor to Thomas Wakefeld — ^Wishes him to be instituted to the parsonage of St. Quintyne of Spellacke. p. 205.
♦CXCVI. To A JusTicB. Ford, 2 Oct. 1537- Remonstrates with him for opposing the word of God — Warns him that ei- ther the prescribed ordinances must be obeyed, or complaint made to the King — The Institution misreported, and the men of the New Learning slandered by the Justice's servants — The people deterred by his threats from reading the Bible — His servants liable to a prosecution for heresy — Cranmer trusts that they will be better ordered in future. p. 206.
CXCVII. A Justice to Cranmer. Sandwich, 3 Oct. 1537. Pro- fesses his love to God and His word — Does not fear complaint to the King — Accuses the Archbishop of hearing the tongues of false liars — ^Repels indignantly the charge of being a papist — Will use his Majesty's authority notwithstanding the Archbishop's spies — Spoke openly of The Institution at Sessions, and will abide by his own words, and let his servants answer for theirs — Did not need to be reminded of the King's benefits — Approves of The Jfu/tVti^ion, which requires no expositor — Desires the Archbishop to convent his serv- ants for heresy, if there is sufficient cause. p. 211.
xXcXCVIII. To A Justice. Oct. 1537- Replies to the pre- ceding letter — Complains that his friendly admonition was misunderstood — The communication hitherto private, but if not so taken, must be remitted to the King and his Council.
p. 214.
^CXCIX. A Justice to Cranmer. Rainham, [7 Oct. 1537.] An Answer to the foregoing — Has done his duty, and fears not the com- plaints of Cranmer or of any other. p. '219.
*CC. To Crumwbll. Ford, 9 Oct. Hethe the bearer of news from Germany — That Wm. Gronno may be restored to his place at Calais. p- 222.
*CC1. To Crumwbll. Lambeth, 11 Nov. That Towker may have a patent of the office of physician to Christ Church, Canterbury. p. 223.
♦CCIL To Crumwbll. Lambeth, 4 Dec. Requests an order
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from the Council for the view of the pix belonging to the
mint at Canterbury. p. 223.
*CCI1I. To Crumwbll. Lambeth^ 6 Dec. Desires Crumwell
to promote the suit of Sir John Markham to the King.
p. 224. CCIV. To Crumwell. Ford, 14 Jan. [1538.] Concerning the King's Corrections of The Institution, and the late Duke of Richmond's marriage. p. 225.
-*CCV. To Crumwell. Ford, 25 Jan. [1538.] Sends his Annotations on the King's Corrections of The Institution — Reports the punishment of seditious persons — Gives a farther opinion on the Duke of Richmond's marriage. p. 227*
*CCVI. To Crumwell. Ford, 28 Jan. In favour of John Culpeper, gentleman waiter to the King. p. 230.
-- ♦CCVII. To Crumwell. Ford, 29 Jan. Reports the punish- ment of seditious persons — Praises Sir Edward Ryngisley.
ibid. *CCVIII. To Crumwell. Ford, 7 Feb. [1538.] That John Oylderde might be instituted to the benefice of Sutton I Magna, Essex, in preference to Hugh Payne. p. 231.
^CCIX. To Crumwell. Ford, 28 Feb. That John Wake- felde, who had suffered for his fidelity to the King in Lord Darcy's rebellion, might have the farm of the priory of Pom- fret, p. 233. *CCX. To Crumwbll. Ford, 7 March. That the Prior of the Charter House in the Isle of Axholme might not be de- posed, there being hope of his resignation. p. 235. *CCXI. To Crumwell. Ford, 14 March. Desires Crumwell to correct Wm. Bridges, who had carried off a woman horn sequestration, and married her without banns, license, or dis- pensation, p. 236. ♦CCXII. To Crumwbll. Canterbury, 16 March. That Wm. Chevenay, parson of Kingston, might have license for non- residence, p. 237. ♦CCXIII. To Crumwbll. Canterbury, I7 March. That Rich. Thomden might be preferred to Wm. Sandwych for the Prior's office in Christ Church, Canterbury. p. 238. ♦CCXIV. To Crumwbll. Lambeth, 6 April [1538.] Con- cerning Friar Forest. p. 239. ♦CCXV. To Crumwbll. Croydon, 8 April. Concerning a dis-
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pute between Francis Baaaett and the Earl of Shrewit- bury. p. 240.
CCXVI. To Cbumwbll. Croydon^ 11 ApriL Malet occu- pied in the affiEurs of the Church Service— Much pity that his means are smalL p. 241 .
*CCXVII. To Cbumwbll. Lambeth, 29 April. In behalf of £eivourer8 of the New Learning at Smarden and Pluckeley, who had been indicted for unlawful assemblies. p. 242.
♦CCXVIII. To Cbumwbll. Lambeth, 1 May. That Thomas Lawney might be preferred to the Vicarage of Roydon, Essex. p. 243.
^CCXIX. To Cbumwbll. Lambeth, 2 May. In favour of a kinsman. p. 244.
*CCXX. To Cbumwbll. Croydon, 29 May. Requests Crum. well to interfere in behalf of John Tamworth, who was kept out of an inheritance in Lincolnshire. ibid.
*CCXX1. To Cbumwbll. Lambeth, 5 June. Recommends John Robynson to Crumwell's service. p. 246.
♦CCXXII. To Cbumwbll. Croydon, 12 June. The Pope's name not erased from a mass book at Croydon. p. 247.
*CCXXIII. To Cbumwbll. Croydon, 13 June. Represents that he is not provided for receiving Ambassadors at Lam- beth, p. 248.
CCXXIV. To Cbumwbll. Lambeth, 22 June [1538.] Re- quest of the Duke of Saxony's Chancellor that the penance of Atkynson, a sacramentary, might be altered — The Archbishop and Bishop of Chichester being merely commissaries appointed by Crumwell, could not accede without his authority — Sir Edward Ryngelay. p. 249.
♦CCXXV. To Cbumwbll. Lambeth, 24 July [1638.] That his Commissary at Calais may have authority from Crum- well tP take away images — In fSavour of Adam Damplip.
p. 250.
♦CCXXVl. To Cbumwbll. Lambeth, 11 Aug. [1538.] Rob. Antony returned from abroad, and readmitted to Christ Church, Canterbury. That Nevell might continue in his farm of Boughton. p. 253.
♦CCXXVII. To Cbumwbll. Lambeth, 3 Aug. In favour of Wm. Swerder— -of Mr. and Mrs. Statham~-of Hutton and his wife. p. 250.
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fCCXXVIII. To Crumwbll. Lambeth, 15 Aug. [1538.]
• Intends to examine Robert Antony respecting his journey to Rome — Adam Damplip had admitted the real presence, but
, denied transubstantiation — Had withdrawn himself from fear of the law — The Archbishop proposes to send two chap- lains to Calais — Desires authority to prevent a prior, who hindered the word of God, from returning thither — In favour of Hutton. p. 257.
♦CCXXIX. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 18 Aug. [1538.] Re- specting the Prior from Calais, and Crumwell's letters to the Lord Deputy — Hutton. p. 259.
CCXXX. To Crumwbll. Lambeth, 18 Aug. [1538.] Orators of Germany unwilling to stay longer in England — Had con- sented to delay their departure for a month — Cranmer's sus- picion that the blood of St. Thomas at Canterbury was red ochre. p. 260.
CCXXXI. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 23 Aug. [1538.] The English bishops unwilling to come to terms with the Orators of Germany — The Orators badly lodged — The Abbeys of Tudberye, Rocester, Crokesdon — Francis Basset. p. 263.
♦CCXXXII. To Crumwbll. Lambeth, 25 Aug. That the bearer, though he intended to renounce his priesthood, might continue in the office of schoolmaster at Ludlow. p. 265.
♦CCXXXIII. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 28 Aug. For the preferment of Dr. Barons to the Deanery of Tamworth Col- lie, p. 266.
♦CCXXXIV. ToCRUMWELL.Lambeth,20ct.That Mr. Vaughan might be instructed to send home Mrs. Hutton. p. 267.
♦CCXXXV. To Crumwell. Inbehalfof Mrs. Hutton. p. 268.
♦CCXXXVI. To Crumwbll. Lambeth, 8 Oct. Encloses complaints from a scholar of Oxford — In favour of Mr. Bull.
ibid.
♦CCXXXVII. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 10 Oct. Thanks Crumwell for the preferment of Markham to the farm of the priory of Newsted — Two Obser^'ants had confessed high treason. p. 272.
♦CCXXX Vni. To Crumwbll. Lambeth, 23 Oct. Recom- mends Nicholas Bacon for the townclerkship of Calais.
p. 273.
♦CCXXXIX. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 14 Nov. [1538.] For
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the preferment of Dr. Champion to the Benefice of Shepton Mallet^ Somersetshire^ in the place of Crofts^ attainted of treason. p. 274.
*CCXL. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 19 Nov. Begs to be re- leased from the King's order to be at two sundry places about one time. p. 275.
*CCXLI. To Cbumwell. Lambeth. 21 Nov. That Dr. Bar. bar may be preferred to a Prebend in the King's College at Oxford, on the resignation of Dr. Cave. ibid.
♦CCXLII. To Cbumwbll. Lambeth, 28 Nov. In behalf of Henry Cortbeke, a Dutch priest. p. 276.
*CCXUII. To Crumwbll. Ford, 14 Dec. [1538.] Crumwell appointed High Steward of the Archbishop's franchises, and Master of the game— Francis Basset. p. 277-
♦CCXLIV. To Crumwbll. Ford, 11 Jan. 1539. Reports the naughty communication of Henry Totehill — Had com- mitted two priests for breaking the King's Injunctions — Sir Edw. Ringeley. p. 278.
CCXLV. To Cbumwrll. Ford, 21 Jan. Concerning Crum- well's patents for the Stewardship of the liberties and Master- ship o£ the game — L^al difficulties respecting them — Piti- able situation of the young Lord of Abergavenny and of Sir Edw. Nevell's son. p. 280.
♦CCXLVI. To Cbumwell. Ford, 31 Jan. Concerning a sermon to be preached by Dr. Cronkhome. p. 281.
♦CCXLVII. To Cbumwell. Canterbury, 6 April. Concern- ing the wardship of Thomas Wyate's son. p. 282.
♦CCXLVIII. To LoBD Lisle. Croydon, 13 July [1539.] Promises Lord Lisle to provide him, if possible, with a dis- creet parish priest, and a learned commissary — ^Directs that no one should preach out of his own cure without authority from the King or himself — That the Bible should not be read so as to interrupt the service— That if doubts arise, re- sort should be had to lawful preachers — Concerning Ralph Hare, and Broke. p. 283.
CCXLIX. To Cbumwbll. Croydon, 21 July. Returns a
Primer, corrected. p. 285.
^*CCL. To Cbumwbll. Croydon, 30 July [1539.] Concerning
a priest and a woman. p. 286.
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*CCLI. ToCbumwbll. Ford, 10 Sept. Regrets that lie cannot appoint Dr. Petre to succeed Dr. Wotton, as Master of the Faculties^ having promised the office to Dr. Nevynson. p. 287*
♦CCLII. To Crumwbll. Croydon, 7 Oct. Henry Corbett the Dutch priest in despair o£ a living. p. 288.
CCLllI. To Crumwell. Lambeth, 14 Nov. Respecting the price of the Great Bible, and an exclusive license for the printers — Wishes to know whether his Preface was approved by the King. p. 289.
f CCLIV. To Crumwell. Croydon, 29 Nov. [1539.] On the new foundation at Canterbury — Objections to Prebendaries — Students may be substituted with advantage — Recommenda- tion of Dr. Crome to be Dean. p. 291.
*CCLV. To Crumwell. Ford, 28 Dec. [1539.] Requests Crumwell to show favour to Edward Askew^ preferred to be one of the new spears. p. 295.
CCLVI. To Crumwell. Canterbury, 29 Dec. [1539.] Con- cerning the reception of Anne of Cleves at Canterbury.
p. 296.
«CCLVn. To Crumwell. Ford, 20 Jan. Sends Crumwell
20/. for his half year's fee — Concerning a compensation to
Nevell for Houghton. p. 298.
- CCLVIII. To King Henry VIII. 14 June, 1540. Intercedes
for Crumwell. ibid.
CCLIX. To Wriothesley. Lambeth, 21 Sept. 1540. Sends a Letter from Dantiscus, animadverting on proceedings in England — ^Inquires whether or not it is the King's pleasure that it should be answered. p. 299.
CCLX. To OsiANDER. Lambeth, 27 Dec. Complains of abuses of marriage among the Germans — Such irr^ularities not jus- tified by examples from the Old Testament. p. 303. . CCLXI. To Kino Henry VIII. [Nov. 1541.] Describes his interview with Queen Catharine Howard — Her disturbed state of mind — Her precontract with Derame. p. 307-
CCLXIl. To Kino Henry VIII. Lambeth, 13 Dec. [1541.] Encloses a letter from Olisl^er in favour of Anne of Cleves — Reports an overture horn the Duke's Ambassador for a re- conciliation— Applies for instructions. p. 311.
^CCLXIU. To Lord Cobham. Bekisbome, 18 ApriL Con.
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oeming a suit between John Holland and Wm. Porter — Thanks Lord Cobham for wine— Lady Baynton — Cobham Collie and Hall. p. 313.
CCLXIV. To Kino Hbnby VIII. 7 Oct. Sends the King Prayers of Procession in English for festival days— Describes the kind of music fit for them. p. 315.
CCLXV. To Prinob Edwabd. Encourages Prince Edward to persevere in his studies. p. 316.
CCLXVI. To King Hbnby VIII. Bekisboume, 24 Jan. 1646. Concerning the reform of the ecclesiastical laws — the aboli- tion of some superstitious practices— -and the alienation of church lands. Minute of a letter to be written by the King.
p. 317.
CCLXVII. To THB Chaptbb of Cantbrbubt. Croydon^ 12 Dec. 1546. Interprets a doubtful statute. p. 322.
CCLXVIII. To Bonbb. Otelands, 18 Dec. 1547. Gives di- rections for a Sermon^ a Procession in English^ and Te Deum^ at St. Paul's, for the victory of Pinkey. p. 323.
CCLXIX. To BoNBB. Lambeth, 27 Jan. 1548. Directs the bearing of candles on Candlemas day, and the use of ashes and palms to be discontinued. p. 324
*CCLXX. To Matthbw Pabkbb. Lambeth, 5 May [154a] Gives Parker notice of his appointment to preach at Paul's Cross. p. 325.
CCLXXI. To Kino Edwabd VI. 1548. Letter of Dedica- tion prefixed to the translation of Justus Jonas's Catechism.
p. 326.
CCLXXII. To John a Lasco. London, 4 July, 1548. Invites John a Lasco to come to England, and if possible to bring Melancthon, to assist in drawing up a Formulary of Faith.
p. 329.
*CCLXXIII. To Axbbbt Habdbnbbbo. Cambridge, 28 July, 1548. Requests Hardenberg to persuade Melancthon to come to England. p. 331.
CCLXXIV. To Mabtin Buobb. London, 2 Oct 154a Invites Bucer to England. p. 335.
*CCLXXV. To Matthbw Pabkbb. Lambeth, 17 Feb. 1549. Gives Parker notice to preach before the King in Lent.
p. 336.
*CCLXXVI. To Mblanothon. London, 10 Feb. 1549. Invites VOL.1. **a
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Melancthon to England — The Germans desirous that he should be accompanied by Hardenberg. p. 337*
♦CCLXXVII. To Martin BucBR. Lambeth, 30 Nov. [1549.] Letter of condolence on the death of Fagius — Sends money to his widow. p. 338.
CCLXXVIIL To VoYSBY, Bishop op Exbter. Lambeth, 20 April, 1550. Requires a return of impropriated Benefices.
p. 340.
CCLXXIX. To Martin Bucbr. Lambeth, 2 Dec. 1550. Asks two Questions on the use of the habits. p. 341.
CCLXXX. To Matt. Parker. Lambeth, 12 Feb. 1551. Gives Parker notice to preach before the King in Lent.
p. 342.
*CCLXXXI. To Cecil. Croydon, 23 Aug. 1552. That Co- verdale might be enabled to depart to his diocese. ibid.
CCLXXXII. To Cecil, or Cheke. Croydon, 29 Sept. 1551. That Wolf might be licensed to print and sell the Answer to Gardyner, p. 343.
♦CCLXXXIII. To Bullinoer. Lambeth, 20 March, 1552. Informs Bullinger that there was no intention of sending an English representative to the Council of Trent — Proposes to hold a Synod of reformers in England for drawing up a De- claration of doctrine — Had written to Melancthon and Calvin on the subject — The controversy respecting the habits be- tween Ridley and Hoper terminated. p. 344.
CCLXXXIV. To Calvin. Lambeth, 20 March, 1552. Pro- poses a Synod of reformers in England, to draw up a Decla- ration of doctrine, and in particular to settle the controversy on the Eucharist. p. 346.
*CCLXXXV, To Melancthon. Lambeth, 27 March, 1552. Proposes a Synod of reformers — George Major. p. 348.
♦CCLXXXVI. To King Edward VI. 1552. Recommends Rodolphus Chevalferus. p. 349.
CCLXXXVII. To Cecil. Croydon, 21 July [1552.] The Pacification — The Bishop of Cologne — ^Mr. Mowse — ^Answers the charge of covetousness. p. 351.
CCLXXXVIII. To Cecil. Croydon, 26 Aug. 1552. Nomi- nates persons for Archbishoprics in Ireland — His health.
p. 352.
CCLXXXIX. To Cecil. 26 Aug. 1552. Concerning the
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King's healdir— The peace in Cknnan j— The tnmaUtion of the Book of Common Prayer into Frendi. p. 354.
CCXC. To Cecil. Croydon, 19 Sept [1662.] Tumw un- willing to be Archbishop of Armagh — The Book of Artiolea — Rayner Wolfe. p. 356.
CCXCI. To Ckoil. Ford, xx Not. 1552. His reason for not proceeding in a commission — Reflection on wars abroad.
p. 356.
CCXCII. To THB Lords op the Council. Ford, 24 Nov. [1552.] That the bishops might have the King's authority to cause their clergy to subscribe the Book of Articles.
p. 357.
CCXCIII. To Cecil. Ford, 30 Nov. [1552.] His unwilling, ness to be in contention with the Lord Warden his nei^. hour. p. 358.
CCXCIV. To Cecil. Lambeth, 14 Aug. [1553.] Wishes to know the grounds of Cheke's indictment — ^Anxious that ef- forts should be made for him and Lord Russel — Would gladly confer with Cecil. p. 359.
CCXCV. To Queen Mary. Expresses his sorrow for having consented to the will of Edward VI. — Had subscribed un- willingly, in compliance with the opinion of the judges, and the personal request of the King — Had held no private com. munication with the Duke of Northumberland — ^Asks per. mission to write his mind on religion to her Majesty — Ac- knowledges it to be the Queen's office to see the reforma- tion of things amiss. p. 360.
CCXC VI. To Mbs. Wilkinson. Advises her to withdraw from persecution. p. 363.
CCXCVIL To THE Lords op the Council. 23 April, 1554. Concerning his consent to Edward VI.'s will — Complains of the confused and hurried Disputation at Oxford — Ridley, Latymer, and himself condemned for heresy. p. 365.
CCXC VIII. To Mabtyn and Story. Sept. 1555. Encloses letters to the Queen— complains of not having been allowed to correct his answers according to their promise. p. 367*
CCXCIX. To Queen Mabt. Sept. 1565. Relates the pro- ceedings before Brokes — ^Details his reasons for refusing the . Pope's authority — The matter not fully opened in the Parlia- ment house — ^Brokes twice perjured. p. 369.
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GCC. To QuBBN Mary. Sept. 1555. The Queen's oath to the Pope inconsistent with her oath to the reahn — ^The strict- ness of his imprisonment — His readiness to appear at Rome if the Queen permits. p. 383.
CCCI. To A Lawyer. Nov. 1555. Concerning his appeal '^ from the Pope to a (General CounciL p. 384.
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It is the object of the present publication to bring toge- ther all that is extant from the pen of Archbishop Cranmer. The utility of such an undertaking was pointed out more than a century ago by Strype. " As the Archbishop,^ says that diligent antiquary, << had been an hard student, so he " was a very great writer, both in respect of the number of ^^ books and treatises he compiled, as of the Jeaming, judg- ^* ment, and moment of them.*^ He then proceeds, after enumerating them at considerable length, to remark : <^ If '^ somebody of Idsure, and that had opportunity of libra- ** ries, would take the pains to collect together all these ** books and writings of this Archbishop, and publish them, '^ it would be a worthy work, as bothi- retrieving the me- ** mory of this extraordinary man, who deserved so well of ^* this Church, and serving also much to illustrate the his- ^* tory of the Reformation*.'" But notwithstanding this Cnmmer't suggestion, no comjdete edition^ of Cranmer^s Works haswc^i. ever appeared. And yet many even of those which have
• Strype, Cranmer, pp. 304. 398.
t> The nearest approach to such a publication is the Selection from Cranmer*s Works, which forms tlie third volume of The Fathers of ike English Churchy London, 1809. This contains the Prologue to the Bible, The Annotations on the King's Book, The Catechism of 1548, The Defence of the True and Catholic Doctrine cf the Sacrament, The Amwer to R, Smythe, The three Homilies of Salvation, Faith and Works, A Letter to Mrs, Wilkinson, and some Extracts from the Answer to G rdyner. Another Selection on a similar plan, but of an inferior description, has issued firom the press more recently under the direction of the Religious Tract Society.
VOL, I. b
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been published, cannot now be consulted without difficulty. His most elaborate production, the controversy with Gar- dyner on the Eucharist, has not been reprinted entire ^ since 1580, and the greater part of his minor compositions are only to be found by an irksome search in the pages of our ecclesiastical historians. Curiosity too is naturally ex- cited by the expressions of Slrype*^, respecting the contents CraDmer*8 of the Archbishop's unpublished manuscripts. It is how- scHpts. ®^^^ ^^ ^ feared, that the expectations which may be enter- tained on this point, will in great measure be disappointed. Though the principal repositories of such documents have been examined, no very extensive discoveries can be an- nounced. It is true indeed, that a large number of MSS. ^
* The Defence, &c. besides being inserted in The Fathers of the English Church, was reprinted in 1825, by Mr. Todd, with an Histo- rical and Critical Introduction : but all that has been lately published of the Answer to Gardyner are the Extracts mentioned in the preced- ing note.
d Strype, Cranmer, p. 395—899.
® Many of these manuscripts are scattered papers of no great length, but the following are of some bulk.
In the Lambeth lAhrary. No. 1107. Archbishop Cranroer's Collections of Law. No. 1108. Archbishop Cranmer's Collections of Divinity. For an account of the contents of these volumes, see Strype, Cran^- mevj Oxf. 1812. Addenda, No. 1.
In the State Paper Office, A large bundle entitled. Archbishop Cranmer's Papers.
In the British Museum. Royal MSS. 7 B. xi. xii. Two manuscript volumes folio, entitled, T. Cranmer. C. A. CoUectiones ex S. Scriptur. et Patribus.
In the Chapter House at Westminster. Cranmer's Correspondence witli Crumwell.
For a description of the numerous manuscripts relating to Cranmer in the Uhrary of Corpus Christi College^ Cambridge, see Nasmyth's Catalogue.
It does not appear what is become of the bundle of books seen by
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are in existence, connected with the name of Cranmer ; but few only contain any thing, which can fairly be classed among his Works. Some of them consist wholly of quota- tions from various sources; many were obviously tracts drawn up by others for his perusal ; and several of the rest, which may posubly, with more reason, claim him as their author, cannot be ascribed to him with any satisfactory degree of confidence. The search however has not been altogether fiiiitless. Though the importance of these papers may have been overrated, they yet possess much interest, and have fur- nished for the present Collection some valuable materials ^ not before generally known. But even if no new matter had been procured, and nothing could have been attained, beyond presenting what was already published in a more convenient form, an acceptable service would still, it is believed, have been rendered both to the divine and the historian.
A considerable portion of Cranmer'*s Uemains consists of Letters. Many of these were long since published in the Cranmer^s works of Coverdale, Foxe, Burnet, and Strype ; others have been only recently given to the world in the State Papers, or in Mr. Todd'^s Life of Cranmer ; and a large number has, down to the present time, still continued in manuscript. All these Letters have been now brought together, and form the first of the following volumes. An attempt has been made to arrange them in chronological order, "but the mate- rials for fixing their dates are frequently so very imperfect, as scarcely to afford a foundation even for the most vague conjecture.
Ant. Wood in the Palace Treasurj at Weitrainsier, and " written, as " was supposed, hy Dr. Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Dr. " Clark, Bishop of Bath and Wells. Which books contain a defence ** of the King's title of sopreme head, and of the divorce from his first ^ wife, Queen Catharine, and several matters ag^nst Cardinal Pole.'' Wood, Athena Oxm, p. 676.
f The extent of these additions may be seen by referring to the Table of Contents, where they are distinguished by asterisks.
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The Correspondence commences in 1581, and closes in 1556, a short time only before the Archbishop^s martyr- dom. It is most copious during the years s which elapsed between his elevation to the see of Canterbury in Feb. 1533- 1540. 1533, and the death of Crumwell in July 1540. And the greater part of what belongs to this period, was ad« dressed to that powerful minister. Much of it will be found to relate to the most interesting occurrences of the day : but much also is on very trifling subjects, and per- haps may be deemed scarcely worthy of publication. But it is hazardous to condemn as unimportant, any genuine re- lics of a man who bore so leading a part at such an eventful crisis. Dates may be determined, local history illustrated, the temper of the times discovered, and slight shades of character distingubhed, by what may appear, at first sight and without reference to other circumstances, altogether un- deserving of attention. The very trifles for instance, on I which Cranmer thought it necessary to consult the Eing'^s '; Vicar General, prove the extensive power of that favourite, and the perfect subjection of the ecclesiastical authorities to the newly acknowledged supremacy of the Crown. Again, the numerous solicitations of the Archbishop in behalf of his friends and dependents, display in a strong light that bene- volence of heart, which few even of his bitterest enemies have ventured to deny. And in another case, a very brief, and apparently immaterial remark, is of essential service, when taken in connexion with its date, towards overthrow- ing the credit of an improbable tale, that has been too hastily admitted by several protestant writers ^. For these reasons it has been thought best to err on the side of
s The numerous Letters of this period, which have come down to us, are preserved chiefly, either in a book of copies in the Harleian Col- lection, (No. 6148.) or among Crum well's papers in the Chapter House at Westminster.
*» See Letter ccxxx.
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tediousnesB, rather than suppression, and to withhold no- thing.
The objection to the publication of unimportant matter does not apply with equal force to the other periods of Cranmer^s life; his correspondence being in general more scanty, but on weightier topics. Three Letters only have been preserved of an earlier date than his appcnntment to the Primacy : but one of these gives almost the only particulars known respecting a book presented to Hen. VIII. by Reg. Pole on the validity of Queen Catharine^s marriage ; and the others, being CranmeFs dispatches to the King, during his embassy to the Emperor Charles V, are curious memo- rials of his diplomatic transactions. There are also but 1540-1547* few of his Letters extant from the death of Crumwell in 1540, to that of Henry VIII. in 1547; but these few con- tain a very remarkable narrative of an interview with Queen Catharine Howard after the discovery of her incontinence, an account of a singular overture for a reconciliation on the part of Anne of Cleves, and some authentic details of the deagns entertained during the latter years of Henry ^s reign, for the reformation of the public worship, and the more complete abolition of superstitious practices K Nor are the remains of his correspondence under Edw. VI. much more 1547-1553. copious : yet they furnish, besides several other interesting records, some valuable fragments of his negotiations with foreign Protestants for forming a general union of the Re- formed Churches k. And lastly^ his Letters after the acces- 155.1- >55^« sion of Mary, though very limited in number, not only de- rive a peculiar interest from his altered circumstances, but also give us an insight into the principles, by which he had been guided as Primate during the preceding reigns. The
' See Letters cclxi. cclxii. cclxiv. cclxvi.
k Most of the Letters on this subject are now printed for the first time from manuscripts at Zurich. See Letters cclxxiii. cclxxvi.
CCLXXXIIX. CCLXXXV.
bS
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long Letter' addressed- to the Queen in Sept. 1555, is in fact a formal vindication of the English Church, for throw- ing off the papal dominion, and for removing the corrup- tions, doctrinal and practical, by which it had been attended. However trivial therefore some parts of this correspondence may appear, it is yet hoped, that when viewed as a whole, it will be found to supply a rich fund of curious and au- thentic information on a most important period of our history. Cranmer's The first volume beinff occupied by Cranmer's Corre-
Miscella. ^ li^jj.
neons Re- spondence, the subsequent ones are devoted to the re- '"**°^' mainder of his writings. These also, with a few exceptions, have been arranged chronologically. They are very mis- cellaneous in their character, and some of them probably will seem of too inconsiderable value to deserve a place in the Collection. But, as has been already observed, it is scarcely prudent to reject any thing that fell from the chief director of the English Reformation. Papers, intrinsically of little moment, may derive importance from the events with which they are connected, or from the light which they may throw on the Confession of Faith and the Form of Prayer still in use. Such fragments then may surely be published with advantage : but they often will not explain themselves. Sometimes, indeed, they will be hardly intelligible, without a knowledge of the circumstances in which they originated. It may therefore be useful, without entering on the Arch- bishop^s life in general, to prefix some account of his literary labours. QuecQ Ca- Cranmer is recorded to have first employed his pen on divorce. ^^^ memorable question respecting the validity of King Henry VIII.'s marriage with Catharine of Arragon ™. Ac-
* Letter ccxcix.
^ Although this appears to have been the first occasion on which Cranmer came forward as a writer, he had long enjoyed at Cambridge a high reputation for ability and learning ; and he had probably before
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cording to the well-known narrative of Foxe, he was the person at whose suggestion the King appealed to the Uni- versities, when indignant at the unexpected adjournment of 1539. the trial by Cardinal Campegio, and the subsequent re- moval of the cause to Rome ^, But thb statement has with reason been disputed ^ : there can be no doubt however of his having expressed an opinion on the case at a very early stage of the proceedings, and of his having afterwards been specially commissioned by Henry P to explain his views in writing. This was the origin of his Book on the Divorce. The pdnts which it was his chief object to establish in it were, that marriage with a brother^s widow was contrary to
this time formed some of those extensive Collections of authorities on theological subjects, which are described by Strype and Burnet, and of which several are still preserved. See Strype, Cranmer, p. 395 — 399.
'^ The following is Foxe's account of Cranmer*s answer to the ques- tions of Gardyner and Fox. " Dr. Cranmer answered, that he could ** say little to the matter, for that he had not studied nor looked for it. ^' Notwithstanding he said to them, that in his opinion they made more <' ado in prosecuting the law ecclesiastical than needed. ' It were ^ better, as I suppose,' quoth Doctor Cranmer, ' that the question^ ** whether a man may marry a brother's wife or no, were decided and ** discussed by the divines, and by the authority of the word of God, ** whereby the conscience of the Prince might be better satisfied and " quieted, than thus from year to year, by frustrotory delays, to prolong " the time, leaving the very truth of the matter unbolted out by the ** word of God. There is but one truth in it, which the Scripture will ** soon declare, make open, and manifest, being by learned men well ** bandied, (and that may be as well done in England in the Universi- '* ties here, as at Rome, or elsewhere in any foreign nation,) the autho- ** rity whereof will compel any judge soon to come to a definitive sen- *' tence : and therefore, as I take it, you might this way have made an ^ end of the matter long since.*' Foxe, Acts and Monuments, vol. iii. p. 634. Burnet, Reformat, vol. i. p. 155. The editions referred to, here and elsewhere, unless there is a notice to the contrary, are that of Foxe printed at London, 1641, and that of Burnet printed at Oxford, 1899.
<» Fiddes, Life of WoUey, p. 444 ; Collier, Eccle$. Hist, vol. ii. p. 52 ; Wordsworth, Eccles, Biogr. vol, iii. p. 437.
P Burnet, Reformat, vol. i. p. 171.
b4
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the law of God, and was consequently incapable of being legalized by a papal dispensation. He maintained farther, that if these propositions were controverted, their truth ought to be determined, not by the Pope, who was a party interested, but by the judgment of Universities and learned men. The work is said to have been executed with ability, and seems at the time to have excited much attention. It was not only laid before the two English Universities, and the House of Commons % but was presented by its author at a formal embassy to the Pope, with a profesMon of his readiness to defend it in open disputation against ail im- pugners^ Yet it appears, notwithstanding the publi- dty thus acquired, to be now lost': and it happens sin- gularly enough, that his only extant composition ^ on the
^ Strype, Cranmer^ pp. 7. 13 ; Todd, lAfe of Cranmer^ vol. i. p. 25; Lord Herbert, Life of Hen, VIIL p. 352.
'' Foie» Jets and Monuments, vol. iii. p. 636.
' Its loss may perhaps have been occasioned by the incorporation of its arguments into a Summary of the reasons for the divorce, which was published shortly afterwards by the King's printer, Berthelet, with the judgmeuts of the Universities prefixed. The contents of this Summary are described by Burnet, "Reformat, vol. i. p. 195. See also Strype, Memorials, vol. i. p. 141 ; Ames, Typogr, Antiq, ed. Dibdin, art. 1133.
< It is scarcely necessary to qualify this asseition by the mention of CranmePs final Sentence of Divorce, printed in Burnet; (Reformat. vol. i. A pp. b. ii. no. 47.) this being merely an official instrument. It is material however to notice the contradictory statement of Strype, tliat <' there is a short account of Archbishop Cranmer's judgment of the '< unlawfulness of this marriage, digested under twelve articles, with *' his own name written by himself on the top of the paper; which << Bishop Burnet transcribed from a Cotton manuscript." Strype, Cranmer, p. 29. This, it must be admitted, is wholly irreconcileable with what has been said above. But Strype is neither accurate in his description of the muuuscript, nor justified in attributing it to Cranmer. The volume referred to, contains not only the twelve articles of which he speaks, but also a formal demonstration of each. And although it is true that it bears the Archbishop's name in his own handwriting, yet this was obviously inserted for no other reason than because the book belonged to him. There arc no grounds whatever for concluding,
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question is of a directly opposite tendency, being a long Letter to the Earl of Wiltshire, in which he details, with much commendation the arguments used by Re^nald Pole in support of Queen Catharine^s marriage, and brings no- thing against them on his own side, beyond a brief expres- ^on of dissent.
After the part which Cranmer had taken against this Papal Su- marriage as a private individual, he was not likely in d^gl^'^™*^* official character to hesitate about pronouncing the sentence of its nullity. This sentence was delivered in 1589, and led almost immediately to the great question of the Papal Supremacy. For all hope of procuring a confirmation of his decision from the Court of Rome soon vanished. The Pope on the contrary, without regarding the appeals of Henry and Cranmer to a General Council, declared the marriage valid, and commanded the King to return to his wife on pain of excommunication. The result of this com- mand was an inquiry into the authority by which it was issued. The right of the Bishop of Rome to exercise juris- diction in England was openly debated both in the Council and the Parliament ; and, according to Strype, ^^ the chief ^* burden of this weighty cause was laid on the shoulders of " the Archbishop.'' His Speeches on the subject have not come down to us, but their general tendency may be easily gathered from the public instruments to which he was a
that be was the author as well as the owner of it : uor indeed is such a supposition in any way countenanced by Burnett See his History of the Reformaliony vol. i. p. 195.
A note in the late Oxford editions of Buroet would lead us to ap- prehend that this document is now lost. ** This article,'' it is there stated, ** cannot be found. Either the MS. here copied has a wrong ** reference, or the article was lost firom it in the fire which damaged ^* the Cotton Library. The MS. is much burnt.'' Burnet, Reformat. Oxford,^ 1816, and 1829. vol. i. App. b. ii. no. 36. But there must havejbeen some mistake here. For tlie manuscript in question may still be seen in the Cotton Library, exactly according to Burnet's reference, in Vespasian, B. ▼. and is in most excellent condition.
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party, from a Collection of Extracts from the Canon Law % formed probably to supply materials for this discussion, and from several of his later writings. Upon the evidence of these documents he may be believed to have maintained, that the papal dominion was incompatible with the royal ; and that consequently, a King who acknowledged the su- premacy of the Pope, was not sovereign in his own realm. It may be said perhaps, that this line of argument, though well calculated to gratify the arbitrary temper of his mas- ter, in no degree affected the real merits of the case. Even if this be granted, it still cannot be inferred, that Cranmer was actuated in his choice of it by a corrupt motive ; since he urged it no less strenuously under Maiy, when she was occupied in restoring the papal power, than he had done under Henry, when that monarch was meditating its over- throw. But in truth his reasoning was by no means devoid of force. It will scarcely be denied, that the collision of authorities which he pointed out, established at least the necessity of inquiry. If this inquiry had ended in demon- strating, that universal dominion was given to the Pope by the word of God, the inconveniences of such an appcnnt- ment, however great, must of course have been endured as inevitable. But a very different result was anticipated by the Archbishop. He was confident that the Papal Supre- macy would be found to depend on human institutions alone ; and then, the same evils which had suggested the examination into its origin, would also show the expediency of its abolition. And the right to abolish it would clearly reside in the party by whom it had been created, namely, the English nation ".
' See vol. ii. p. 1.
** The Protestation made in 1537, bj the King, the Council, and the Clergj of England, against the Council of Mantua, states the argament thns : ''That which [the Pope] hath osnrped against God*s law, and ez- " torted by violence, we bj p>od right take from him again. But he
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The discussion on the Supremacy of the Pope was speedily General followed by another respecting Greneral Councils. This was the tribunal to which both the King and the Archbishop appealed, when a rupture with the Court of Rome became inevitable. But there were many doubts respecting its con- stitution and its authority. It was very important but far from easy to determine, what constituted a General Council; and supposing this point to have been settled, another question would arise as to the extent of its power. Both these subjects were handled by Cranmer, in a Speech of which an abstract has been preserved by Burnet. He as- serted ^, that, strictly speaking, no truly General Council was ever held, but that some had been so called, ^^ because ^^ the Emperor summoned them, and all Christendom did ^^ agree to their definitions.'^ And thus ^^ it was not the '^ number nor authority of the bishops, but the matter of *' thnr dedaons,^ upon which the universal submission to their decrees, and their consequent title of " General'' de- pended. With regard to their jurisdiction, it was hb opinion, that ^* it did not extend to princes' dominions or ** secular matters, but only to pcunts of faith i" and even on these ^< he had much doubting with himself,'' and con- sidered it a very ^^ tender point, how much ought to be de- " ferred to a Council.". . . " The word of God was the rule of ^< faith in all controversies of religion ;" and on this and on *< those expositions of it which had been agreed on by the ^< doctors of the Church," Councils, he thought, ^^ should
<* and his will say, we gave them a primacy. We hear them well ; we <' gave it you indeed. If you have authority as long as our consent ** giveth it you, and you evermore will make your plea upon our con- ** sent, then let it have even an end where it began; we consent no " longer, your authority must needs begone.*^ Foxe^ Acts and Monwnentif vol. ii. p. 375. See also Strype, Memorials, vol. i. App. no. 72; Burnet, Reformat, vol. i. p. 441. « Vol. ii.p. 11.
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<* found their decisions.'" If reference be also made to two public instruments x which he subscribed shortly afterwards, and in the compo^tion of which he probably assisted, he will be found to have held moreover, that neither the Pope nor any other individual sovereign, now possessed the pri- vilege of calling General Councils, and that ^^ Christian ^' Princes ought to foresee and provide, lest the most noble ** wholesome institutions of our elders in this behalf, be " perverted to a most contrary and most wicked end and " effect ^.'^ Speech in The Speech just described, exists only in an abstract, but tion^ mV6 *^'^ot'^^'* delivered about two years later, on a question of equal if not greater moment, has been preserved entire by Foxe. It was addressed to the Convocation in one of the important debates which preceded the publication of the Articles of 1536. The attention of this assembly had been already directed to the increasing appetite for religious controversy, and the Lower House had presented a formal complaint, divided into sixty-seven heads ^, against the new and erro- neous doctrines that were "commonly preached, taught, ** and spoken,*" when Crumwell came to the Upper House, as Vicar Genera], with a message from the King^. His Majesty, he said, " studied day and night to set a quiets " ness in the Church,*" and he was himself well able " by his ^* excellent learning*" to settle the prevailing disputes, yet he would " suffer no common alteration but by the consent of
y 7%« Judgment of the Convocation concerning General Councilsy vol. iv. App. no. V ; and The opinion of certain of the Bishops and Clergy touching the General Councily Ibid. no. viii. See also the Protestations against the Councils of Mantua and Vicenza, in Foxe, Acts and Mo- numents, vol. ii. pp. 372. 437. In the former of these it is declared, that *' they that be wisest do despair of a General Council : wherefore " we think it best, that every prince call a provincial Council, and " every prince to redress his own realm." Foxe, vol. ii. p. 375.
' Judgment of Convocation, vol. iv. App. p. 359.
* Fuller, Church Hist. b. v ; Wilkins, Concilia, vol. iii. p. 804.
b Foxe, Acts and Monuments, vol. ii. p. 503.
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" them, and of his whole Parliament ;*" and he therefore re- quired them ** friendly and lovingly to dispute among them- ^^ selves of the controversies moved in the Church, and to « conclude all things by the word of God."" These contro- veraes, as we learn from the Archbishop's Speech % were of ^^ no light matters, but even the principal points of the " Christian reli^on {^ namely, " of the true understanding of *< the Law and the Gospel ; of the manner and way how '^ sins be forgiven ;^ of the means by which doubtful con- sciences ** may be cerufied that they please God ;^ ^' of the " true use of the sacraments, whether the outward work of " them doth justify man, or whether we receive our justifi- ** cation by faith f* and also, ** which be the good works *^ which please God,^ and what were the ceremonies which ought truly to be called sacraments. All these points were proposed for consideration, but the Archbishop recom- mended that the sacmments should be examined first ; and according to his advice, an inquiry into their nature and number formed the business of the present sitting.
It may be collected from Foxe, that Cranmer himself took a leading part in the debate, but the short Speech we possess, does little more than state the question, and lay down the authority, namely, that of the Scriptures, by which it was to be determined. Other addresses however have been re* ported, which enter more fully into the subject. Alexander Alesse^ a Scotch refugee, who was introduced and com- manded to speak by Crumwell, laid down a definition of a sacrament very similar to that of our Church Catechism, and argued from thence, that the only ceremonies entitled to the name, were Baptism and the Lord'^s Supper. And Fox, Bishop of Hereford, on the same side, enlarged on the folly of attempting by sophistical subtleties to steal away from the people, that light which had now broken in on them from the reading of the Scriptures. The chief speaker
c Vol. ii. p. 16.
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of the opposite party was Stokesley, Bishop of London, who defended the seven sacraments by an appeal to anti- quity. The Bible indeed, he admitted^ was the only Written Word of Grod ; but he asserted, that many traditions^ inas- much as they are mentioned by the old doctors of the Church, might be presumed to have been received from the Apostles, and being therefore of like authority with the Scripture, might " worthily be called the Word of God ** Unwritten <*." The discussion was carried on with much freedom of speech, but led to no decision : and it seems to have been felt, that the Convocation was so much divided in opinion, as to render it very doubtful, whether, if left to their own deliberations, they would draw up any form of Articles of doctrine at all. To obviate this difficulty, a Book of Articles which had been previously prepared, was brought down by Crumwell. It gave rise to warm debates ; but was at length subscribed by a large proportion of the members of both Houses, and was published shortly afterwards with the foU lowing title : Articles devised by the Kingee Highnee Ma* jeetie^ to stdbtyshe Christen quietnes and unitie amonge usj and to avoyde contentious opinions : which Articles be also approved by the conseni and determination of the hole Clergie qfthis realme. These were the Articles of 1586, the first Formulary of Faith agreed on by the Church of Eng- land after its separation from that of Rome, and the foun* dation on which the more copious expositions of doctrine subsequently set forth by Hen. VIII. were constructed.
Tliis Formulary has been attributed, on the evidence <^ the above title, wholly to the pen of the King, but the Introduc- tion prefixed to it does not support thb conclusion. It is more likely that it was drawn up by a committee ; and there is much probability in Strype's conjecture, that " a great " share therein'' belonged to the Archbishop «. This view
<* Foxe, Acti and Monuments, vol. ii. p. 506. « Strype, Cranmer, p. 40.
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is confinned by a draft for the Articles on images and on praying to saints, preserved at Lambeth, on which correc- tions in the handwriting of Cranroer and Tunstal may still be seen ^ But there is reason to believe, that although this Formulary was not originally composed by Hen. VIII, it was yet revised by him, before it was submitted to the Convocation. For he speaks in his Preface to it, of having ^' in his own person many times taken great pain, study, <^ labour, and travailssT and Burnet states, that he had seen copies of several parts of it, with alterations by the Eing^s own hand ^.
It has been often assumed, that the Reformers gained a ms. Fr»g- great point by the omisaon in these Articles of four out of ™^*j^JJ^ the seven sacraments; and that they lost ground in the^S^^' following year, by the restoration of them to their former rank in The Instiiutian of a Christian Man, But a do- cument > in the Chapter House at Westminster proves
^Lambeth Library, No. 1107. Archbishop Cranmer*s Collection of LaWy p. 125^132. One of these corrections is very characteristic of the sentiments of the two prelates. Tunstal inserted a sanction of the practice of praying to saints, upon which Cranmer added a quali6ca- tioo, that it must ^ be done without any vain superstition.'' Both clauses are retained in the printed copies.
S Formularies of Faith, p. xv. Oifbrd, 1835.
^ Hist, of Reformat, vol. iii. p. 237. Some manuscripts answering Burnet's description still exist among the Theological Tracts in the Chapter House at Westminster.
' The document alluded to, is an imperfect copy of the Articles on Matrimony, Confirmation, Orders, and Extreme Unction, subscribed by Crumwell, Cranmer, and thirty-three others. (Chapter House, Thec^ogical Tracts, vol. viii. p. 11 — 33.) It opens with a declaration of the inferior dignity and necessity of these four sacraments, agreeing in substance, and partly in expression, with a similar distinction at the end of the exposition of them in The Institution. Then follow the Articles on Confirmation and Orders, which are perfect, and which, like the three published Articles, were incorporated without much change into The Institution in the following year. Those ou Matiimony and Extreme Unction are missing. As this fragment does not appear
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such a suppontion to be erroneous. From this it appears, that, whatever doubts may have been entertained by some of the New Learning, (as it was called,) their leaders on the present occa^on not only allowed Matrimony, Confirma- tion, Orders, and Extreme Unction, to be styled Sacra- ments, but actually subscribed the Articles drawn up to explain them. And it may be suspected that the objection to the publication of the Articles thus subscribed, proceeded from the opposite party. The advocates for the Old licam- ing would be much dissatisfied with the broad line of dis- tinction, by which the above-named rites were to be sepa- rated from Baptism, Penance, and the Lord'^s Supper, and by which in fact little was left to them beyond the name of sacraments. They might also have been unwilling to give their sanction to the Article on Orders, as it was finally arranged. For a dispute arose, as we learn from a note on one of the manuscripts ^, respecting a clause originally contained in it, asserting the power of priests and bbhops to take examinations and judge crimes. And the dispute was
to liave been hitherto noticed, the signatures affixed to it are sub- joined.
T. Cantuarien. Joannes London. Joannes Bathoniens. Johannes Bangor. Edwardus Herefordens.
Tliomas Cnimwell. Edouarde Ebor. Cuthbertus Dunelm. Thomas Elien. Nicolaus Sarum.
Joannes Lincoln.
Rich. Cicester. Hago Wygom.
R. Woleman. Joannes Skyppe. Nicholaus Heyth. Galfridus Downes Simon Matthew. Robertus Oking. Richardiis Ewer.
Robert Aldrige. Edwardus Crome. Cuthbertus Marshall. Marmaduke Waldeby. Nicolaus Wotton. Thomas Robertson. Mauritius Griffyth.
Joannes Bell. Edmund us Boner. Gulietmus Bockm^ Johannes Barbar. Gulielmus Maye. Jo. Hase. Ricardus Cox. Thomas Garrarde. ^ Chapter House, Westminster, Theological Tracts, vol. viii. p. 59.
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settled^ as appears from the finished copy, by expunging the obnoxious sentence. This may possibly have induced the staunch supporters of eccleaastical authority to prefer a total silence on the subject, to the circulation of an expo- sition which in their judgment robbed the clergy of one of their most valued privileges.
It has been long believed, that the Reformers were mainly institution indebted to Cranmer for the larger Formulary of Doctrine ^j^* j^^ above alluded to, entitled The histitution of a Christian ^5^7- Man. And this fact is now established beyond dispute, by the recent publication in the State Papers of some letters to Crumwell from Bishops Latymer and Fox ^. These two prelates were members of the Commission to which the pre- paration of t\e work was entrusted. They had therefore abundant opportunities of being well informed : and from their testimony we learn "^, among several other curious particulars, that the judgments of the Commissioners were *^ of such diversity,^ as to cause great difficulty in coming to an agreement ; and that ^^ much of the credit of what^ « ever was praiseworthy in their doings, was due to the ** Archbishop.'* The plan pursued by these divines in their deliberations cannot be ascertained on unexceptionable evidence; but Strype's conjecture «* is highly probable, that the matter was reduced to questions, which were proposed separately to each Commissioner and answered in writing. Certain it is, that many papers of this description, and of about this date, are still preserved <>. The book at last compiled by them, may truly be pronounced one of the most valuable productions of this reign. The Articles of 15S6 were its foundation, but they were much enlarged and improved. Besides the Exposition of the four sa-
1 S(aie Papers, London, 1831, vol. i. part ii. N*». 90. 95, 96. m See some extracts from their letters, Vol. i. p. 188. ° Strype, MemariaU, vol. i. p. 315.
** Among these is a brief judgment by Cranmer on Confirmation. See Vol. ii. p. 18.
VOL. I. c
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craments, which had been already prepared but sup- pressed, it was further increased by long and useful notes on the Apostles^ Creed, on the Ten Commandments, and on the Pater Noater and Ave Maria, Thus the new Formu- lary contained copious materials for practical instruction, as well as a rule of faith. And since it was drawn up for the most part according to the views of the Reformers, it was better calculated to advance their cause than that by which it had been preceded P. But though superior in its contents, it was inferior in authority <l; being neither approved by Convocation, nor set forth by the King. It was published indeed by his printer, but was not, like the former book, provided with a Preface by his Majesty, com- manding it to be received by his subjects, as agreeable to God's word. Its only introduction was a Letter to him from the Commissioners, announcing its completion, and praying him to issue orders for its general use. Annota- Closely connected with The Institution of a Christian
The King's Mon^ are Cranmer^s Annotations on The Kings Book, By ^^^' some writers indeed, they are supposed to have been occa- sioned by it J while by others they are believed to relate to a work of later date, A Necessary Doctrine and Erudi- tion Jbr any Christian Man'. But there is a fatal objec- tion to both suppositions; namely, that neither of these publications contains the precise expressions criticised in the Annotations. Most of these, however, are found in some manuscript Notes, written chiefly by Henry VIII.^s own hand in an edition of The Institution preserved in the Bodleian Library : whence it may be fairly inferred, that
P It was, however, differently interpreted according to the diffierent views of its readers. See a curious discussion on this point in the cor- respondence between Cranmer and a Kentish Justice, now first printed from manuscripts in the Chapter House at Westminster. Vol. i. p. 208.
^ See Letter clxxxiv ; Collier, Eccki. Hist, vol. ii. p. 142; Strype, Cranm, p. 54.
' See Vol. ii. p. 21. note.
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either this identical volume, or some more perfect copy taken from it, was " The King's Book,^ on which Cranmer commented. The history of the matter appears to be, that, at the commencement of 1538, a plan was entertained for supplying the above-mentioned defect in the authority of The Institution, by a republication of it in the name of the S3ng. Thb new edition being contemplated, Henry was probably induced, by his confidence in his theological ac- quirements, and by his unwillingness to sanction tenets which he had not fully examined, to take the pains of re- vising the work throughout. Vain however as he was of Hen.Vlll.'s his own learning, he condescended to submit his revisions ^JJ^^^^"*' to the judgment of Cranmer. The task thus imposed an'^^^*^- the Archbishop, will be readily admitted to have been of a very delicate nature. But those who are strongly impressed with the current accounts of his pliability, will have no dif- ficulty in foretdling the course pursued by him. They will anticipate, that he approved the corrections without hesita- tion, and accompanied his approbation with many compli- ments to the King's superior wisdom. Such anticipations, however, will be altogether disappointed. It will be found on the contrary, that he criticised both the grammar and die theology of his master with a caustic freedom, which might have given ofience to an author of far humbler pre- tensions than a sovereign who had entered the lists Midth Luther, and who prided himself on his titles of Defender of the Faith and Supreme Head of the National Church. It is true^ that he softened the severity of his criticisms by an apology for his presumption, in being ^^ so scrupulous and " as it were a picker of quarrels to his Grace's book'.*" But even when these excuses have been allowed their full weight, there will sUll remain enough of boldness to surprise those, who have no other idea of Henry, than that he was a dog-
* Letter ccv. c2
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matical tyrant, or of Cranmer, than that he was a cowardly timeserver.
These Annotations^ as they were entitled by their author, though they have been long known to be in existence, were not generally accessible before 1809, when they were printed for the first time in The Fathers of the English Church. And they were still but imperfectly understood in the ab- sence of the book, on which they were professedly com- ments. This deficiency has been now supplied by the dis- covery of Henry VIII/s Notes in the Bodleian Library. And it is presumed that no apology is needed for inserting these specimens of Royal theology in the present Collec- tion ^ Though they cannot in strict right, claim a place among Cranmer'^s Works, they are yet most necessary for the clear understanding of his remarks. They will also tend to illustrate the much contested character and opinions of Henry himself. They will, for instance, prove on the one hand, that his temper, however imperious, could yet bear with patience the free remonstrances of an honest servant ; and on the other, they will betray manifest indications of a rooted love of arbitrary power, of a lingering attachment to astrology and the like superstitions, and of an unscrupulous disposition to bend Scripture, even by alteration, into an accordance with his own views and passions.
The united endeavours of the King and the Archbishop to improve The Institution, were not followed by a new edition. It was left untouched till 1543 ; when it appeared with far more considerable changes than were now contem- plated, under the title of A Necessary Doctrine and Eru- Confer. ditiofijbr any Christian Ma/n, The abandonment of the ScGeftnan P'^"^ ^^^ ^^^ immediate republication was probably occasioned ^*"'^*" by a project of a more comprehensive nature. Negotiations had now been on foot for some years between Henry and the German Protestants, for the double purpose of con- » Vol. ii. p.2i.
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eluding a treaty of alliance, and of drawing up a joint Con- fesfflon of Futh. Some progress in the bunness had been made by English embassies oh the continent, particularly by one conducted by Fox and Hethe in the winter of 1585. Seckendorf " relates that several Articles of Religion were then agreed on by the two parties, and he recites the precise terms, in which they expressed their judgment of the Lord's Supper. But Henry was not satisfied with these delibera- tions at a distance: he was desirous that they should be transferred to his own dominions, and continually pressed the German princes to send ambassadors for the purpose. And his wishes were at length gratified ; a mission being dispatched to En^nd in the spring of 1538. It consisted of Francis Burcard, Vice-chancellor to the Elector of Sax- ony ; George k Boyneburg, a nobleman of Hesse ; and Frederic Myconius, Superintendent of the Reformed Church at Gotha. On their arrival in London, Cranmer, with some other bishops and divines, was immediately directed to open conferences with them. The course of the present discus- aons, as well as of those which had been previously held in Grermany, seems to have been regulated by the Confession of Augsburgh. According to the order of that Formulary it was arranged, that the representatives of the two nations should first settle the chief articles of faith, and should then proceed to inquire into the abuses and corruptions al- leged to have crept into the Church. They are known, from a letter by Myconius, to have brought the first divi- sion of their consultations to a happy issue ; having decided on a form 'for declaring the principal points of Christian doctrine^. But this concord was broken when they came
" Seckendorf, Comment, de Lutheran, lib. iii. §. xxxix. Add. (f.)
▼ *' In articulis et in summa doctrinae Christians eousque progressi
^ sumus, ut de pnecipuis jam conveniat : et quod de abusibas est reli-
'< quum, cum in eis rebus tarn verbo quam scripto, nostrorum Princi-
** pum, Doctorum, Ecclesiarum, et nostram sententiam eiplicaveri-
c3
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to examine the abuses : here Henry, who himself interfered in the proceedings, differed so widely from the Germans, as to cut ofFall hope of a satisfactory arrangement. The ambas- sadors perfflsted in asserting, that the three main corruptioas of the Church of Rome were the denial of the cup to the laity in the administration of the Lord'^s Supper, the custom of private propitiatory Masses, and the prohibition of mar- riage to the clergy. The King was no less stiff in main- taining all these practices to be good and lawful ; and either from his own strong feeling on these questions, or at the instigation of counsellors desirous of a rupture, he announced his resolution to undertake this part of the controversy in person ^. The tract written by him in consequence, as well as the letter of the Germans to which it was a reply, is preserved in the Cotton Library, and has been printed by Burnet *. But the Confession of Faith previously settled, has not hitherto been given to the world. Yet it seems strange, that while the memorials of their disunion have reached us, the Articles on which they agreed, should have MS. Book perished. And probably this is not the case. For a ma- in the state ""5^"P^ among Archbishop Cranmer's papers in the State P^r Paper Office, may be reasonably conjectured to be a copy of them. It is a thin folio, entitled, *^ A boke conteyning " dyvers Articles De Unitate Dei et Trinitate personarum, " De peccato originali,*" &c. The documents tied up in the same bundle, relate chiefly to these negotiations with the foreign Reformers ; and the " boke^ itself is manifestly founded on the Confession of Augsburgh, often following
" musy et Episcopi atque Doctoresjam sententiam nostrara teneant, *^ poterunt etiam nobis absentibus ilia expeDdere.** Myconius to Crum- well, in Strype, Memorials, vol. i. App. N<*. 95. See also Cranmer's Letters, Vol. i. pp. 261. 263.
^ This however must be understood with some allowance; for in the elaborate answer addressed iu his name to the Germans, be was most materially assisted by Tunstal.
« Burnet, Hist, of Reformat, vol. i. Add. N««. r, 8.
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it very closely, and departing from it exactly in those in- stances, where the mixture of English with German theo- logy might have been expected to cause a variation. It is also in Latin, and this circumstance adds to the probability of its having been composed in concert with foreigners : for such other Formularies of this reign as were designed for domestic use, are in English. And lastly, the only Article, namely that on the Lord'*s Supper, which there is an op- portunity of comparing with the conclusions approved by Fox and Hethe in Germany, is word for word the sameT. There seems therefore to be a fair presumption, that this *^ boke^ is a copy of the Articles of Faith arranged at Lon- don by the English and German Reformers in the summer of 1638.
But whatever may be the value of this conjecture, there can be no doubt, either that this Book of Articles was con- sidered at that time of great importance, or that Cranmer was concerned in framing it. This is clear from the number of rough drafts for different parts of it still existing in the State Paper OflBce and the Cotton Library '; one of which is corrected in the handwriting of the King, and several in that of the Archbishop. This document is interesting also in another point of view : it appears to have been the groundwork of Edward VI.^s Articles of 1552, and conso- le Seckendorfy Comment, de Lutheran, lib. iii. §. xxxix. Add. (f). * Six of these Articles have been printed from the drafts in the Cot- ton Library by Strype, who considered them to be part of a Formulary composed in 1540 by Commissioners then appointed under the author- ity of an Act of Parliament. This opinion, which has been adopted by Mr. Todd, and with some reserve by Archbishop Laurence, is in no respect inconsistent with the supposition advanced above. But no evidence has been adduced in support of it; and the Articles of 1540, even if they were ever completed, (which is doubtful,) being intended for the exclusive use of the English Church, were in all probability not drawn up in Latin. See below, p. xxx ; Strype, MemoriaUf vol. i. p. 357. and App. N^. 11 S; Todd, Declarations of Reformerst &c. Iii- trod. p. vi; Laurence, Bamptcn Lectures^ p. 195.
c4
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quently of the Thirty-nine, still in use. It is not meant to dispute the common statement, that the Formulary of Ed- ward VI. owes much of its materials to the Confession of Augsburgh. But it is suggested, that it was probably taken more immediately from the Book of Articles just described, that this was the channel, through which the language of the German Confession was introduced into the English. At least such an inference is supported by the fact, that the expressions in Edward VI. 's Formulary, usually ad- duced to prove its connexion with the Confession of Augs- burgh, are also found in this Book of Articles; while it contains others, which can be traced as far as the Book of Articles, but which will be sought for in vain in the Confession of Augsburgh. And to this Book, if it was in truth the result of the conferences of 1538, the framers of Edward VI. ""s Articles would be likely to have re- course. They would naturally be anxious, in the execu- tion of their undertaking, to meet, if possible, the views of their brethren on the continent, as well as of their coun- trymen at home; and they could scarcely pursue a surer method of attaining this object, than by borrowing from a form of doctrine already approved by both. Under these circumstances the reader probably will not be dis- pleased at finding this Book of Articles printed in the Ap- pendix *.
Tlie failure of these negotiations^ with the German princes, was one of the heaviest blows sustained by the English Reformation during the reign of Henry VIII. It both removed the salutary restraint hitherto imposed on the King^s caprices by an unwillingness to break with those who were embarked in the same cause, and it also enlisted
* Vol. iv. Appendix, N®. xiii.
^ Respecting some subsequent negotiations with the German princes, see Burnet, Hitt, cfRef. vol.lii. pp. 277. 295. 311 ; Strjrpe, Memorials, vol. i. pp. 339. 343. 367 ; State Papers, vol. i. p. 860.
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his personal feelings on the side of the tenets he had so zealously pledged himself to defend. It thus probably con- tributed materially to the success of the great measure, by which, in the following year, the men of the Old Learning endeavoured to stifle the growth of the New, the memora- ble Act of the Six Articles <:. In this example of theological Act of the l^;islation, the dogmas lately upheld by Henry against theciet. 1539. objections of the Grermans, occupied a conspicuous place. Cranmer however, timid as he is often represented to have been, now combated his Sovereign's errors in public, no less 6nnly and honestly than he had formerly done in private. Though desired by a Royal message to absent himself, he attended resolutely in his place in the House of Lords, and exposed the bill ^* with great reasons and authorities ^l."" As
« The Six Articles were: ^ First, That in the most blessed Sacrament ** of the Altar, bj the strengtli and efficacy of Christ's mighty word, it ** being spoken by the priest, is present really, ander the form of bread ** and wine, the natural body and blood of our Saviour Jesu Christ, << conceived of the Virgin Mary ; and that after the consecration there ^^ remaineth no substance of bread or wine, nor any other substance ^ bat the substance of Christ, God and man ; Secondly, That commu- ** nion in both kinds is not necessary ad salutem by the law of God to " all persons; and that it is to be believed, and not doubted of, but ** that in the flesh, under form of bread, is the very blood ; and with ** the blood, under form of wine, is the very flesh, as well apart as ** though they were both together; Thirdly, That the priests after the ** order of priesthood received as afore may not marry by the law of ** God ; Fourthly, That vows of chastity or widowhood by man or ** woman, made to God advisedly, ought to be observed by the law of ** God, and that it exempteth them from other liberties of Christian '* people, which without that they might enjoy ; Fifthly, That it is ** meet and necessary that private masses be continued and admitted *' in this the King's English Church and Congregation, as whereby good ** Christian people, ordering themselves accordingly, do receive both « godly and goodly consolations and benefits, and it is agreeable to '' God's law ; Sixthly, That auricular confession is expedient and ne- ** cessary to be retained and continued, used and frequented, in the << Church of God." Statute of the Realm, 31 Hen. VIII. c. 14.
^ Foxe, Acti and Monuments^ vol. ii. pp. 443. 608; Burnet, Reformat, vol. i. pp. 515. 518. vol. iii. p. 579; Strype, Cranmer, p. 73.
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the Speech delivered by him was afterwards, at the King'^s request, reduced to writing, its preservation might have been fairly anticipated. We learn too from an amusing story in FoxeS that though it encountered sundry perils in crossing the Thames, it was at last safely deposited in the hands of Crumwell. But the mart}n*olo^st failed in all his endeavours to recover it ; nor can it be discovered among Crumweirs papers in the Chapter House at Westminster : so that there is reason to fear that it has utterly perished. The loss indeed may in some measure be supplied. Cran- mer^s opinions on all the points discussed are known, and several of them he has treated at length elsewhere. But still we are precluded from the opportunity of marking his skill, in tempering the production of '^ allegations and rea- " sons so strong that they could not be refuted,*" with " such modesty and obedience in word towards his prince," that his *' enterprize was not misliked'^ by him f.
For, notwithstanding his firmness in opposing the King, he yet, to the surprise both of his contemporaries and of posterity, retained the Royal favour. He was still, as be- fore, constantly consulted on religious matters. Within a short period afterwards, he was applied to by Crumwell to correct a Primer s, was employed to prefix a Prologue or Preface to the Bible, and was placed at the head of a Com- mission for drawing up a declaration of the principal arti- cles of the Christian belief. The edition of the Bible for which he wrote a Preface, is that of 1540, known by the names of " CranmerV and " The Great Bible."" The same
^ Acts and Monuments, vol. ii. p. 508.
^ Foxe, Acts and Monuments, vol. ii. p. 443.
8 See Letter ccxlix. Strype conjectured that Crunmer " had a '' considerable hand*' in the Primer published in 1535, and attributed to Cuthbert Marshall. But the only reason assigned by him, is one which woM appropriate to the Archbishop all the best virorks of that day, namely, that the book " had a strain of truth and serious piety " in it."
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titles have also been given, though, as it should seem, on less sufficient grounds, to a Bible of 1639 : but neither of these was the first that the Archbiriiop was concerned in publidiing. The translation and free circulation of the'T'^*''' Scriptures had long been objects of his anxiety and at- Bible, tention. As early as 1634 he prevailed oq the Convoca- tion to petition the King, ^ that the Bible might be trans- ^'lated by some learned men (^ his Highness^ nominations."*^ And he soon afterwards distributed portions of an old ver- sion of the New Testament to several of the leading clergy to be corrected. But Stokesley having positively refused his asfflstance, and being probably supported in his opposi- tion by others of his party >, the design seems to have mis- carried. The whole Bible in English was however pub- lished by Coverdale in 1636 *'; and from its being dedicated to Henry VIII, is supposed by Lewis to have been circu- lated by his authority. But this appears to be a mistake ; since, in June 1636, the Convocation again prayed the ** King, that he would indulge unto his subjects of the laity ^' the reading of the Bible in the English tongue, and that ** a new translation of it might be forthwith made for that *^ end and purpose ^^ And in 1687 Cranmer presented to his Majesty, through Crumwell, an English Bible ** of a *' new translation and a new print ;^ and on permission being obtained for it to be *< bought and sold within the *< realm, ^ he expressed his gratitude in terms far too warm to admit of the belief that the general use of the English Scriptures was already allowed ".
*• Strype, Cranmer, p. 34.
^ AJI the other divines, however, who were employed, completed their parts, and sent them to Lambeth on the day appointed. Strype, Cranmer, p. 48. Among the rest, Gardyner corrected the translation of St. Luke and St. John, " wherein," as he assured Crumwell, " he " spent a great labour." State Papers, vol. i. p. 430.
k Lewis, Hut. of EngL Translations of the Bible, p. 91.
^ Heylyn, in Lewis, EngL Translations of the Bible, p. 10$.
" See Letters cxci. cxcii.
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The earliest translation therefore which received the pub- lic approbation of Henry VIII, may be concluded to be the Version recommended to him by the Archbishop in 1537". And this not only enjoyed a formal license, but was also farther sanctioned by CrumwelPs Injunctions o, and by a Royal Declaration P. Yet it was not secured from attack. The edition contained a prologue and notes, which, since they reflected on some of the Romish errors, were com- plained of as ^^ scandalous and defamatory ;^ and it was in consequence revised^. This revision produced the two editions of 1539 and 1540 ; both, as has been said, known by the names of " CranraerV and " The Great Bible.*" Preface to The latter of these, besides being superior in size and ty- 1540/ * pography, had also the advantage of a Preface by Cranmer^, designed, as he himself expressed it, *^ both to encourage ^^ slow readers, and also to stay the rash judgments of them " that read therein »."" With this view, he on the one hand urged the expediency of allowing the Scriptures to be read in the vernacular tongue by " all sorts and kinds of people;*" and on the other, he laid down some rules for preventing this liberty from being abused. ^^ And to the intent that his " words might be the more regarded,"^ he used, as far as possible, the reasonings of Chrysostom and Gregory Nazi- anzen, rather than his own. Such a Preface was well cal- culated to disarm the hostility with which former transla- tions had been pursued, and may perhaps have inclined the King, to whom it was submitted before publication % to be- stow peculiar marks of favour on the edition which pos- sessed it. For the title-page announced, that it was the Bible
" This is usually called << Matthew's Bible^" being published in the name of Thomas Matthew; but it was in reality the work of Tyodale, Coverdale, and Rogers. See Letter clxxxviii.
• Burnet, Reformat, vol. i. App. b. iii. N°. 11.
P Appendix, N«. xii. 1 Lewis, p. 120.
^ Vol. ii. p. 104. • See Letter ccliii.
* See Letter ccliii.
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appointed to be set in churches ; and a proclamation was issued in May 1541 ^, ordering, under penalty of a fine for neglect, a copy to be provided for every parish before the ensuing 1st of November. And although complaints were still made of its incorrectness x, yet Henry seems to have thought with Cranmer, that the bishops were not likely to " set forth a better translation till a day after doomsday r,"*^ and to have therefore permitted it to be used, under certain restrictions ', as the authorized version during the remainder of his reign*.
But to return to 1640. The Archbishop was asso- Commis- ciated in that year with others ^^of the best learned, ho- drawing up *^ nestest, and most virtuous sort of the doctors of divi-p^ " nity,'' for the purpose of " declaring by writing the *S4o. *^ principal articles of faith ^J*^ It is remarkable that the mode of proceeding now adopted, was difierent from that which had been pursued on two similar occanons. The Articles of 1536 were subscribed by Convocation, and con- firmed by the authority of the King. The Institution of a Christian Man emanated from an assembly of bishops and divines, called together for the task by Royal command.
" Wilkins, Concilia, vol. iii. p. 856 ; Strype, Cranmer, p. 84. A simi- lar order respecting Matthew^s Bible had been given in Crumwell's Injunctions of 1538; but no penalty was then named for disregard of it, and it probably had not been duly obeyed.
' Wilkinsy Ccncilia, vol. iii. p. 860 ; Lewis, Hist, of Tranilations, p. 144.
y Letter clxxxviii.
' See the ''Act for the advancement of true Religion, and the ^ abolishment of the contrary,'' in Statutes of the Realm, 34 and 35 Hen. VIII. c. 1 ; and the Proclamation for the abolishing of English Books, 1546, in Wilkins, Ccncilia, vol. iv. p. 1.
* Though several smaller editions were published for general use, Cranmer's Bible continued to be *^ the Bible of the largest volume ap- " pointed to be read in churches,'' till the completion of Archbishop Parker's or the Bishops' Bible in 1568. Lewis, pp. 139. 175. 181—235.
b Stat. 32 Hen. VIII. c. «6.
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But in the present instance, recourse was had to Parlia- ment. Crumwell, as the King**s Vicegerent, informed the Lords S that his Majesty, anxious to terminate the reli^ous dissensions of his subjects, had nominated two Commissions, one " to draw up an exposition of those things which are " necessary for the institution of a Christian man,^ and the other ^^ to examine what ceremonies should be retained, and " what was the true use of them.*" The Lords having ap- proved the nomination, the two Commissions seem to have applied themselves to their work. And it may be collected from an interesting scene described by Foxe<*, that the mem-
' Burnet, Reformat, vol. i. p. 549.
<* " After the apprehension of the Lord Cromwell, when the adver- ** saries of the Gospel thought all things sure now on their side, it was << so appointed amongst them, that ten or twelve bishops and other '^ learned men, joined together in commission, came to the said Arch- " bishop of Canterbury for the establishing of certain Articles of our << religion, which the papists then thought to win to their purpose ** against the said Archbishop. For having now the Lord Cromwell << fast and sure, they thought all had been safe and sure for ever : as ** indeed to all men's reasonable consideration that time appeared so *' dangerous, that there was no manner of hope that religion reformed '^ should any one week longer stand, such account was then made of the " King's untowardness thereunto. Insomuch that of all those Com- " missioners there was not one left to stay on the Archbishop's part, ^' but he alone, against them ail, stood in the defence of the truth : and " those that he most trusted to, namely, 6p. Heath and Bp. Skip, left ** him in the plain field ; who then so turned against him, that they took ^< upon them to persuade him to their purpose : and having him down ** from the rest of the Commissioners into his garden at Lambeth, there ^* by all manner of effectual persuasions entreated him to leave off his " over much constancy, and to incline unto the King's intent, who was *' fully set to have it otherwise than he then had penned, or meant to *^ have set abroad. When those two his familiars, with one or two '* others his friends, had used all their eloquence and policy, he, little ** regarding their inconstancy and remissness in God's cause or quarrel, ** said unto tliem right notably :
** ' You make much ado to have me come to your purpose, alleging ** * that it is the King's pleasure to have the Articles, in that sort you ** * have devised them, to proceed : and now that you do perceive his '< ' Highness by sinister information to be bent that way, you think it a
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bers of the former, after much discussion, in which the King, as usual, interfered, assented at last to a Formulary of Doctrine, in accordance with the views of Cranmer. But this Formulary is not now to be found c, and was probably never sanctioned by any regular authority. Gar- dyner and his party, though they could not induce the King to withhold his approbation from it^ may be conjectured to have had suflBdent influence to prevent its publication. It certainly was not set forth before the rising of Parliament, (though the scene recorded by Foxe was probably prior to that date ^) for an Act was passed, declaring it to be inex-
** < convenient thing to apply unto his Highness' mind. You be my '* ' friends both, especially the one of you I did put to his Majesty as of ** * trust. Beware, I say, what you do. There is but one truth in our ** * Articles to be concluded upon, which if you do hide from his High- ^ ' ness by consenting unto a contrary doctrine, and then after, in pro- ** < cess of time, when the truth cannot be hidden from him, his Higln ^ ^ ness shall perceive how that you have dealt colourably with him, I " ' know his Grace's nature so well,* quoth the Archbishop, ' that he " * will never after trust and credit you, or put any good confidence in '< * you. And as you are both my friends, so therefore I will you to " ' beware thereof in time, and discharge your consciences in main- ** ' tenance of the truth.'
*' But all this would not serve, for they still swerved ; and in discharge " ing of his conscience and declaring the truth unto the King, God so « wrought with the King, that his Highness joined with him against the ^ rest; so that the Book of Articles passing on his side, he wan the '' goal from them all, contrary to all their expectations, when many ^ wagers would have been laid in London, that he should have been ** laid up with Cromwell at that time in the Tower for his stiff stand- '' ing to his tackle." Foxe, Acts and Monuments^ vol. iii. p. 641. See also Morice*s Statement in Strype, Cranmer, p. 430.
^ Strype indeed has printed from a Cotton MS, Six Articles, which he assumes to have formed a part of it : but the assumption does not rest on any sufficient grounds. See above, p.xxiii; Strype, MemoriaU, vol. i. p. 357. and App. N". 112.
^ It manifestly took place before Crumwell's execution, which was on the S8th of July, 1540. The Parliament sat till the 24tli. Buniet, for what reason it does not appear, refers the whole transaction to 1543. Reformat, vol. i. p. 643.
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pedient ^< for a thing of that weight to be rashly done, or *< to be hasted through in this session of Parliament,^ and enacting, that "whatsoever was determined by the arch- " bishops and others now commissionated for that effect, or " by any others appointed by the King, or by the whole " clergy of England, and published by the King^s authority, " concerning the Christian fidth, or the ceremonies of the " Church, should be believed and obeyed by all the King^s " subjects, as well as if the particulars so set forth had been " enumerated in this Act i.^ Answento The Commissioners were thus empowered to continue Questions their deliberations after the close of the session, and accord- crameobT' ^^S^Y ^^^Y ^^^ *^ h&ve resumed them in the following au- &c. 1540. tumn. Some remains of their proceedings still exist in the Cotton Library and at Lambeth. These consist of Seven- teen Questions^, chiefly on the sacraments, with Answers by the different Commissioners, and a Summary at the end, of their agreement and disagreement. Cranmer, though he pro- bably drew up the Questions, was required also to answer them in the same form with the rest. The opinions thus elicited from him, afford a curious evidence of the fluctua- tions of a mind, which in escaping from the errors of Rome, did not immediately arrive at the truth : for several of them are wholly untenable, and have consequently, though he afterwards abandoned them, exposed him to no little anim- adversion. He at this time scarcely recognised any distinc- tion between civil and ecclesiastical authority, asserting the Christian prince to be the sole fountain of both. To him, he said S was " committed immediately of God the whole " cure of all his subjects, as well concerning the administrar-
f Stat. 32 Heu. VIII. c. 26.
^ Cotton Library, Cleopatra, £. v. Lambeth Library, 1108. Stil- lingfleet, in his Irenicum, erroneously assigns these Questions to the year 1547. See Vol. ii. p. 98.
* Vol. ii. p. 101, &c.
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*^ tion of Code's word for the cure of souls^ as concerning the ** ministration of things political and civil governance :^ and as the Lord Chancellor and other civil magistrates were ap- pointed by the Sovereign to discharge one part of this office, so were the Archbishop of Canterbury and the rest of the clergy appointed to discharge another. The Apostles indeed, he did not deny, nominated ministers of God'^s word, but they did so, as he argued, not by virtue of any " supremity, " impery, or dominion,^ but merely in the way of recom- mendation and advice, which the people, as they chose, might accept or reject, and because there were then no Christian princes by whose authority such appointment could be made. He pronounced also, that ** bishops and priests were not two ^ things, but both one office in the beginning of Christ'^s re- ** ligion ;^ and that they " needed no consecration by the ** Scripture, for election or appointing thereto is sufficient.*** He seems indeed to have approved ** certain comely cere- ** monies and solemnities^ used at their admis^on, but he maintained, that ^* if such offices and ministrations were ** committed without such solemnity, they were nevertheless ** truly committed.**^
Thus extreme were the opinions into which the abuses of ecclesiastical power had driven him. But even at the moment of expressing them^ he seems to have had some mis^vings respecting their soundness^: and as he had but lately adopted, so he very quickly saw reason to for- sake them. Shortly before, in 1687, he had held, " that << Christ and his Apostles did institute and ordain in the " New Testament, that beades the dvil powers and govem-
** ance of Kings and Princes there should also be
^ continually in the Church militant certain other ministers ** and officers, which should have special power, authority,
^ ** This,*' be said, '< is mine opinion and sentence at this present, ^* which nevertheless, I do not temerariously define, but refer the '< judgment thereof wholly unto your M^esty.^ Vol. ii. p. 103.
VOL. I. d
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" and commission under Christ, to preach and teach the " word of God unto his people C^ that " the said power " and office hath annexed unto it assured promises of ex- " cellent and inestimable things;" and that it " was com- *^ mitted and given by Christ and his Apostles unto certain " persons only, that is to say, unto priests or bishops, whom " they did elect, call, and admit thereunto by their prayer " and imposition of their hands^"" And shortly after- wards, in 1643, he had returned in a great degree to these earlier opinions. For in the Necessary Docti-ine^ to which he then assented, it is laid down, that " Order is a gift or ** grace of ministration in Christ's Church, given of God to ^^ Christian men by the consecration and imposition of the *^ bishop**s hands upon them n^." This later Formulary however is throughout much less favourable than The In- stitution to the authority of the Church : and it is positive in declaring, that the nomination of ecclesiastical ministers and the limitations under which they execute their office, must depend on the ordinances and laws of each particular Christian I'ealm.
The doctrine here taught, namely, that the priesthood, though of divine origin, is subject in its exercise to hu- man regulations, appears to be that in which Cranmer finally acquiesced. It is at least in unison both with the public documents " approved by him under Edw. VI, and also with his conduct, which was uniformly marked by a feeling of subordination to the civil magistrate °. Col- lier however, as might have been anticipated, is by no means satisfied with this method of reconciling the two
1 Institution of a Christian Man^ pp. 101. 104. Oxford 1825. See also Henry's VIIl.'s Corrections of the Institution, Vol. ii. p. 41, &c.
" Necessary Doctrine, p. 277, Oxford, 1825.
" See the Articles of 1552, the Ordination Services, and the Refor- matio Legum.
^ Cranmer having acted as Archbishop under a commission from Henry VIII, considered on that King's death, that his authority was at
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powers, and infers from the language of what is commonly called Cranmer^s Catechism, that the Archbishop not only relinquished his erroneous views respecting the derivation of the ecclesiastical office from the civil, but eventually went the length of asserting its absolute independence. This in- ference however is scarcely warranted by the work on which it rests. The Instruction of the Keys there given, undoubt- edly insists strongly on the divine commission, the uninter- rupted succession, and the sacred character of the priest- hood : but all this is perfectly consistent with its being to a certain extent subject to the civil power. And it is not credible, that Cranmer, in sanctioning its publication, could intend tojclaim an independent jurisdiction for the clergy, when he had just before P surrendered all such pretensions by declining to exerdse his own functions as Archbishop, ^ until he was empowered to do so by a commission from his sovereign.
Such appears to have been Cranmer^s final determination respecting ecclesiastical authority. His sentiments on the necessity of consecration, and on the gradations of rank in the Christian ministry, underwent a corresponding change. As to the former, he fully admitted it, by allowing Orders to be classed among the sacraments, in the Necessary Doc- trine which followed, as well as in The Institution which preceded his Seventeen Answers of 1540. With r^^ard to the latter, it must indeed be confessed, that these Formu-
an end, and applied to Edward VI. for its renewal. A fresh commission was accordingly granted for this purpose, in which the supremacy of the civil power b thus asserted. *« Quandoquidem omnis juris dicendi *' autoritas, atque etiam jurisdictio oronimoda, tarn ilia qus Ecclesi- " astica dicitur quam Saecularis, a regia potestate, velut a supremo ca- ** pite, ac omnium magistratuum infra reguum nostrum fonte et scatu- " rigine, primitus emanaverit," &c. Burnet, Reformat, vol. ii. App. b. i. N°. «; Strype, Cranmer, p. 141. See also Letters ccxcv. ccxcix. P The Catechism was published in 1548. The Commission exer- cising tlie Archiepiscopal office was dated 7 Feb. 1547.
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lanes do not clearly show the distinction between the bishop and the priest, and perhaps that they do not recognise it at all. But upon both points the opinions ultimately adopted by Cranmer are sufficiently manifest from the Preface to the Ordination Services, which if not written, as has been sometimes supposed, was cei*tainly approved by him. It is there declared to be ^^ evident unto all men diligently ** reading holy Scripture and ancient authors, that from " the Apostles^ time there hath been these orders of minis- " ters in Christ'^s Church, bishops, priests, and deacons : ** which offices were evermore had in such reverent estima- " tion, that no man by his own private authority, might " presume to execute any of them, except he were first ^^ called, tried, examined, and known to have such qualities ** as were requisite for the same ; and also by public pi'ayer, " with imposition of hands, were approved and admitted " thereunto^.'^
The consultations of 1540, of which the Archbishop'^s Answers just discussed form a part, were not brought to a satisfactory termination. It may be fairly concluded that no authorized Confession of Faith resulted from them : for Boner, in his Injunctions of 1542 % directed his clergy to procure and study The Institution of a Christian Man^ as if it were still the only work invested with any degree of authority; and in the spring of 1543, the ^Act For the advancement of true religion and the abolishment of the contrary^ declared it to be expedient to " ordain and esta- *^ blish a certain form of pure and sincere teaching, agree- " able to God's word and the true doctrine of the catholic " and apostolical Church.'" It was in pursuance of this Act that the last Formulary of Henry VIII.''s reign was framed. It was entitled, A Necessary Doctrine and Erudition Jbr
1 See the remainder of this Preface in Appendix, No. xxxvi. 3. ' Burnet, Reformat, vol. i. App. b. iii. no. 26. * Stat. 34 and 35 Hen. VIII. c. 1.
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any Christian Man^ and was intended to b^ a guide in the Necessary interpretation of the Scriptures to the clergy, and a sort of ^nd Erudi- substitute for them to the people ; their free circulation ^®°> ^*^* being greatly restrained by the same law. It seems in the first instance to have been agreed on by several select com- mittees of bishops % and then to have been submitted to Convocation for its approval. This having been obtained, it was " set forth by the King's Majesty,^ " with the advice,^ as he stated in his prefatory letter, " of our clergy,"' and after ^^ the lords both spiritual and temporal with the nether " house of our Parliament had both seen and liked it very « well.''
The bishops named as having been employed in preparing it, are Cranmer, Gardyner, Hethe, Thirlby, Skyp, and Sal- cot. They did not profess to produce a new work, but merely to improve that which was already in use, The In- stiiution of a Christian Man. This they altered consider- ably both in style and doctrine, abridging it in some parts, enlarging it in others, and adding much that was wholly new. The changes were on the whole in favour of the Old Learning. This was particularly the case with regard to the sacrament of the altar. Communion in one kind, which had not been noticed in The Institution^ was now elabo- rately defended ; and the effect of the words of consecra- tion was described in terms, not indeed amounting to the explicit assertion of transubstantiation contained in the Six Articles, but yet such as were likely to be understood in the Romish sense *. There were also some variations in the mode of expressing the second commandment, and some erasures in the exposition of it, tending to encourage the use, if not the worship of images *. But on several other points there was much real improvement, not only in the
' Wilkins, Concilia^ vol. iii. p. 868.
" See Institution, p. 100 ; Necetsary Doctrine, p. 262 ; and the Six Articles, in a note above, p. 25. * See Institution, pp. 130. 134; Nee. Doctr. p. 299.
dS
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style, which was rendered more concise and perspicuous, but also in the matter. The practice of praying to saints was cleared of much superstition ; penance was indeed al- lowed to remain on the list of sacraments, but more stress was Isid on the inward sorrow of the heart, and less on the outward acts of confession and absolution ; justification was treated more distinctly, as well as more copiously ; and the difficult and controverted subjects of faith, freewill, and good works, were handled with great ability and success in three additional articles.
It has been asserted that the arrangement of this cor- rected Formulary was chiefly managed by GardynerX; and it has even found a place on some lists of his works ^. But it is difficult to conceive that its luminous and precise lan- guage could have flowed from the same pen as the dark and confused sentences of Gardyner's acknowledged tract. The Eocplication^ &c ; and perhaps there is more theological knowledge in it than could have been supplied by a prelate, who, great as were his talents, was in such matters not un-> justly called by Cranmer an " ignorant lawyer.*" It is far more probable that large contributions to it were furnished by Hethe, Bishop of Rochester, a man undoubtedly of high attainments both as a scholar and divine. But the principal director seems to have been Cranmer himself*: he is named in the minutes of the proceedings in Convocation b, as a member of all the select committees appointed to examine
y The Fathers of the English Church, vol. iii. p. 75.
* Tanner, Bibliotheca, art. Gardiner. Chalmers, Biogr. Diet.
* He is said by Winchester to have added the three chapters on Free-wiU, Justification, and Good Works. Winchester on the XVIIth Article, p. 33. See also Strype, Cranmer, p. 77.
•> Wilkins, Concilia, vol. iii. p. 868. Three select committees are mentioned. Cranmer, Hethe, and Tliirlby were on all these; Gardyner on two of tliem; Skyp and Salcot on one only. Respecting the Article on Freewill, it is merely said that the Archbishop delivered it to the Prolocutor of the Lower House to be read there, without any notice of the persons by whom it had been prepared.
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its several divisions ; and be is proved also to have been an efficient member^ by the fact of his carrying some of the amendments which he had suggested three years before, even though they were opposed to those of Henry VIII ^. His influence however was not paramount : Gardyner, it may be suspected, often thwarted, and sometimes, by the support of the King, defeated him<^; and thus a Formulary was pro- duced which was not altogether such as he could have desired. And this must almost always be the case in deliberations of this nature. No single individual can expect to settle every point according to his own wishes. The same thing, as we know from his own words, had already happened to the Archbishop in the compilation of The Institution. He then acquiesced in what he confesses he ^^ never well '^ understood.'" And he did so, because there was ^^ no ** evil doctrine therein contained e.*^ And now also he was doubtless guided by the same motives. Though he as- sented to expositions, which if he had been acting alone, he would have expressed otherwise : he yet may be supposed^ never to have surrendered what he held to be of vital im- portance, nor to have admitted what he considered a funda- mental error. There is indeed every reason to believe, that upon the whole he thought the Necessary Doctrine a useful and seasonable publication. He gave it his support in Con- vocation ; he took pains to uphold it in his diocese^; and in a draft of a letter prepared for the King in 1546, he made Henry refer to it as "his (the Archbishop^s) own books.^ Few men would give these public and decided marks of approbation to a work from which they in private dissented ; and such refined dis^mulation was wholly alien from the principles and practice of Cranmer. His principles, as he stated them in a letter to Queen Mary **, were ** to show his sovereign
« See Vol. ii. p. 96. note. ** See below, p. xlviii.
« Vol. ii. p. 74. ' Strype, Cranmer^ p. 100.
R Vol. i. p. 322. ^ Vol. i. p. 363.
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^' his mind in things appertaining to God ;^ and if his repre- sentations failed, to submit patiently, ^^ thinking himself *' discharged.^ For " to private subjects,'^ as he wrote, " it " appertaineth not to reform things, but tjuietly to suffer " that they cannot amend.*" And his practice, as we learn from his conduct on the Act of the Six Articles, was in strict conformity to these principles. On that occasion he both '^ uttered his mind^ to the King, and spoke against the measure in Parliament. When it had passed, he, as in duty bound, obeyed the law as a subject, though he had opposed the bill as a legislator. But he did not, as in the case of the Necessary Doctrine^ either exert himself to enforce it, or appeal to its authority : he on the contrary devised means almost immediately for preventing its rigor* ous execution ^, and succeeded at no very distant period in procuring its partial repeal k.
The same influence which was employed against Cranmer in the compilation of the Necessary Doctrine ^ continued to impede his progress during the remainder of this reign. It did not however prevent him from carrying some measures EDgiish of considerable importance. In 1644 the first step was '544. taken towards the introduction of English into the pub- lic worship, by an order from Henry for the use of a Prayer of Procession or Litany, in " our native tongue*,'' differing but little from that which still forms a part of our service. Other prayers of the same description for festival days were also translated by Cranmer in pursuance of the King's command"™, but were probably never published. The principle however, that the people ought to follow the devo- tions of the priest, had been already admitted by the protec-
* See Bumet, vol. i. p. 534; CoUier, vol. ii. p. 201.
^ It '* continued in his force/' as Craniner himself informs us, (vol. ii. p. 212.) " little above the space of one year :" but it was not wholly repealed till the first year of Edw. VI. Burnet, Reformat, vol. ii. p. 82.
* See Appendix, No. xxii. and Strype, Cranmer y p. 128. *" See Letter cclxiv.
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lion given to the sale of Primers, in the Act" of 1548, For the advancement of true religion^; and it was still more fully established in 1545, by the appearance of one of these useful English compendiums under the sanction of royal authority. For 1545. Hen. VIII.^s Primer was much more than a collection of prayers for private use. Besides an English Litany,it contain- ed also translations from the Matins, Vespers, and other parts of the Breviary ; and thus supplied the means of joining in some portion at least of the public worship with the under- standing as well as with the spirit. And this point of the congr^ation ^^ knowing both what they pray and also with ** what words/* was much insisted on in the excellent pre- face P to it, which, though it runs in Henry'^s name, was probably prepared under the direction of Cranmer. The Eling there declares, that ^^ the party that understandeth << not the pith and effectualness of the talk that he frankly *^ maketh with God, may be as an harp or pipe having a ^^ sound, but not understanding the noise that itself hath *< made C and he proceeds to state, that he hath ^' given to ^* his subjects a determinate form of prapng in their own ^ mother-tongue, to the intent that such as are ignorant of ** any strange speech, may have what to pray in their own *^ acquainted and familiar language with fruit and under- ** standing 4.'^
But besides these improvements which were actually ac- Farther Re- complished, others were designed. It was proposed, as we designed by learn from unquestionable authority ^y to revise the service y^Y^
n Stat. 34 and 35 Hen. VIII. c. 1.
o See also the King's patent to Grafton and Whitchurch for printing the Primer of Sarum Use both in Latin and English, in Ames, Tf^pogr, Antiq. ed. Dibdin, vol. iii. p. 4S9.
P This Preface is quoted on the authority of Wilkins, Concilia^ vol. iii. p. 873. It does not occur in the reprint of the Primer, nor in any of tlie earlier copies which the editor has seen.
^ See also Neceuary Doctrine, p. 335.
' See Letters ccxvi. cclxvi.
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books^ to digest a new code of ecclesiastical law, and to abolish several superstitious customs which had hitherto kept their ground s. In all these plans Cranmer was doubtless a prime mover, and as they had been approved by the King, and were in a state of forwardness, there seemed to be a fair prospect of success. But they were frustrated for a time by the intrigues of Gardyner ^ It was however only for a time ; for the death of Henry VIII. and the accession of Edward VI. in January 1647, opened the way to their being resumed, and for the most part happily completed. And perhaps the issue might have been the same, if Henry ''s life had been prolonged. He is known to have been greatly displeased with Gardyner in 1546, and he about the same time declared in such strong terms his resolution to go forward in " the establishing of ancere re- ** ligion,^ that " a man,*" as the Archbishop states, " would ** hardly have believed it ".'^ Extent of But perhaps the progress which Henry had already mationun- "^ade, is not always duly appreciated. It is not an un- vTii^^" common notion, that his ideas of reformation were limited to the rejection of the papal supremacy for the sake of eflTecting his marriage with Anne Boleyn, and to the dis- solution of the monasteries for the sake of enriching him- self with their spoils. But writers who lived nearer his times, take a very different view of the matter. " What organ of " Christ's glory ,^ asks Foxe *, " did more good in the
* The superstitions named, were the Vigil on All Hallows day, the covering of images in churches, the veiling of the cross, and the kneel- ing and creeping to it on Palm Sunday. Strype asserts that the King, though much attached to some of these, was brought o£f from them at length by the Archbishop's " seasonable inculcation." Strype, Cranmer, p. 136. See Wilkins, Concilia, vol. iii. pp. 84T. 861. 863.
' Strype, Cranmer, p. 136»
" See Cranmer's remarkable conversation with his secretary Morice, in note (o) to Letter cclxvi ; and the translator's Preface to the Confutation of Unwritten Verities, (Vol. iv. p. 164.)
' Acts and Monuments, vol. ii. p. 604. See also Letter cculxi.
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<^ Church than he, in setting up the Bible in the
^^ church, in exploding the Pope with his vile pardons, in " removing divers superstitious ceremonies, in bringing into ^^ order the inordinate orders of friars and sects, in putting *^ chantry priests to their pensions, in permitting white meat ^* in Lent, in destroying jHlgrimage worship, in abrogating ^' idle and superfluous holydays ?^ The good deeds here recounted are of -very unequal merit, and some of them perhaps may excite a smile; but when combined, they must be allowed, both to have wrought a great change, and to have prepared the way for a still greater. For he not only shook off the yoke of Rome, but he broke the power of that ^^ papal militia,*" as the religious orders have been called, which might otherwise have replaced it. While too he thus asserted the right of the National Church to reform itself, he laid down also the rule by which that reformation was to be conducted, namely, the written word of God. And he followed up this appeal to the Scriptures, ^^ as the only touchstone of true learning x,*" by encouraging their translation and general use. These surely were mea- sures of sufficient importance to rescue him from the charge of effecting nothing. It may be admitted, that though he at one time favoured the circulation of the Bible, he at another restricted it % that he pressed his own interpreta-
y " We willy that socb doctrine as we following the Scripture do pro- ** fess, be rightly examined, discussed, and brought to the Scripture, as
" to the only touchstone of true learning. As there is no
"jot in Scripture but we will defend it, though it were with jeopardy <^ of our life, and peril of this our realm: so is there nothing that doth '' oppress this doctrine or obscure it, but we will be at continual war '< therewith." Protestatwn agairut the Council qf Vicenzay in Foxe, Actt and Monuments, vol. ii. p. 438.
^ Notwithstanding these restrictions, many of the laity, as well as all the clergy, were still suflfered both to study the Bible themselves and to explain it to others. And although no one was permitted to read or expound it publicly in the Church, without being duly em- powered, it does nut appear that the copies placed there for general perusal were removed. Upon the whole, though lieu. VIII. occti-
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tions of it on his subjects to the violation of all liberty of conscience, that he retained doctrines and practices % which could not stand the test that he had himself set up, — it may be admitted in short, that though he began, he did not per- fect the Reformation : yet the value of his services may still be incalculable. For it was precisely one of those cases, where the beginning was at least half of the work ; where it was not less laborious to clear the ground and lay a firm foundation, than to raise a goodly building thereon. It may indeed be doubted, whether the feeble efforts of a minor could ever have removed those formidable obstacles, which were not swept away without difficulty even by the mature and vigorous arm of Henry VIII. 1547. But however this may be, it will not be disputed, that
his energy in freeing the kingdom from papal usurpation, materially lightened the task devolved on his successor. Yet Cranmer felt it to be still too heavy for the strength of a youthful sovereign. It is evident from the remarkable con- versation already referred to, that he considered the ex- change from the long established and absolute sway of Henry, to the new and unsettled authority of Edward, as a loss rather than a gain to the cause of reformation ^. He may perhaps have been mistaken in this view : the flex- ibility of the son may in truth have been no less favourable
sionnlly wavereH, for which some gross abuses may have given sufficient cause, Nic. Udars statement is probably correct, that he was really anxious for " his people to be reduced to the sincerity of Christ's re- " ligion by knowing of God's word.** See Strype, Cranmer, pp. 84, 85. 99 ; Stat. 34 and 35 Hen. VIII. c. 1 ; Wilkins, Concilia^ vol. iii. pp. 811 . 856, vol. iv. p. 1 ; Lewis, HUt, of Translations, &c. ; Foxe, Acts and Monuments, vol. ii. p. 872 ; Preface to the Necessary Doctrine.
* It must not be forgotten, in estimating the progress which had been made, that the English Church under Hen. VIII, was more re- formed in reality than in appearance; many doctrines and ceremonies being so interpreted and explained away, as to be given up in fact, though retained in name. See Preface to Formularies of Faith, Ox- ford, 1825.
^ " It was better,*' said Cranmer to his secretary in 1547, " to at-
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to the construction of a new system , than the obstinacy of the father to the demolition of the old one. But the inference is almost unavoidable, that the difficulties of his situation under Henry were less, and under Edward greater, than is usually supposed. And if we reflect on the youth of the King, on the struggles of ambitious nobles for power, and on the unremitting exertions of an able and active religious party to baffle him, it may well be imagined, that the position in which Cranmer stood was most embarrassing. To his wisdom and moderation under these critical circum- stances, we are mainly indebted, as is well known, for. our present Church establishment. In spite of all impediments, he succeeded in founding it on so firm a basis as to be proof ag£unst the persecutions of the following reign. He re- ceived, it is true, in this great undertaking, valuable assist- ance both from his own countrymen and from foreigners : but his was the presiding judgment which directed the whole ; he was the master builder, to whom the symmetry and beauty of the structure are chiefly due. He may there- fore to a certain extent be held responsible for whatever was done at this period for the reformation of the English Church. But of course it is not intended to enter into an examination of all the documents composed for this purpose under his superintendence. An inquiry so extensive would lead to little less than a complete ecclesiastical history of Edw. VI.'s reign. Such writings only will be noticed, as can be connected with his name by some positive evidence.
The first of this class which demands attention is his Speech at
aI-j^ ^^^ji nil win.
Speech at the Coronation <^. Instead of the sermon usual ^^Q^f on that occasion, the Archbishop is said to have delivered a^^*^'* short address to the young King, explaining concisely yet
** tempt such reformation in King Henry the Eight his days than at *' this time, the King being in his infancy. For if the King's father had '^ set forth any thing for the reformation of abuses, who was he that " durst gainsay it ?" &c. Vol. i. p. 320. « Vol. ii. p. 118.
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dearly, the uses of the ceremony, and the duties incumbent on the sovereign; but at the same time declaring that though these might be neglected, neither he nor the Bishop of Rome had any commission to call him to account and to pronounce his deprivation. This Speech was first published in 1682, by Robert Ware, son of Sir James Ware, in the second part of Foxes and Firebrands^ and has been copied from thence into the present Collection. With a view to authenticate it, inquiries have been made for the ori^nal manuscript, but unfortunately without success. Homilies, The next production which comes under the above de- '547- scription is the first Book of Homilies. The whole of this work may undoubtedly be attributed to the counsels of Cranmer : but there are good grounds for believing, that he was himself the author of the three doctrinal discourses, on Salvation, Faith, and Works. These grounds being stated in a note to Vol. ii. p. 138, it may be sufficient to remark here, that some additional evidence in confirmation of the uniform tradition on the subject, is furnished by the Notes Notes on and Authorities on Justification <^, now first printed from a don. ^' manuscript at Lambeth. That these were collected by Cranmer may be inferred from their being in his hand- writing, and that they were the materials from which the above-named Homilies, or at least that Of Salvation^ was composed, will hardly be doubted by any one who will take the pains to compare them. The Notes consist of several brief propositions, each supported by numerous authorities from the Scriptures, the Fathers, and the Schoolmen. The propositions are exactly those which are most insisted on in the Homilies, and they are sometimes expressed nearly in the very same terms. Many also of the authorities appear in the finished work ; but, as might be expected from its po- pular character, some that are cited at length in the manu- script, are there merely referred to, and others are omitted
altogether.
d Vol. ii. p. 121.
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This plan of publishing practical discourses for the in- Homilies, struction of the people, had been already brought forward in the late reign. Gardyner, in one of his letters ^ to Pro- tector Somerset against the new book, admits that ^^ the ^^ Bishops in the Convocation holden A. D. 1542^ agreed to *^ make certain Homilies for stay of such errors as were then " by ignorant preachers sparkeled among the people ;^ and it appears from the minutes of that assembly, that some Ho- milies were actually composed by certain prelates, and pre- sented to the House 6. But they were probably superseded by the Necessary ^Doctrine ; and thus the matter, as Gar- dyner says *», " took none effect then,'' and for " five years " rested without any business, and the people well done *^ th^r duties, I trust to God in heaven, and I know well " to their Sovereign in earth K^ Notwithstanding this flattering account of the public morals, Cranmer thought them susceptible of still farther improvement, and revived the scheme of setting forth a book of Homilies. He may pofisibly in preparing it, have availed himself of those al- ready written. If however this was the case, he also ad- mitted additions, for he requested Gardyner to contribute to it. But here he met with a refusal. Nor was this all : that prelate also attacked the book with the utmost vehe- mence, and, as must be allowed, with great acuteness ^. He
* Foxe, Aci$ and Monuments, vol. ii. p. i. Several of Gardyner's letters, which were inserted in the first edition of Foxe, were omitted in the subsequent ones. They were however again printed, though not in their proper place, in the edition of 1641. See Acti and Monumentg, 1641. vol. ii. p. 1.
f Gardyner perhaps gives the date according to the old style. If so, the vote for the composition of Homilies, and their presentation to the House, took place in the same Convocation : for they were presented on the 16th of Feb. 1543. Wilkins, Concilia.
f Wilkins, ConciUoy vol. iii. p. 863.
*» Foxe, ibid.
* Letter from Gardyner to Cranmer in Strype, Cranm, App. No. 35. ^ Gardyner*s Letters in Foxe, Acts and Monuments, vol. ii. p. 1 ; and
Strype, Cranm. App. N". 35 and 36.
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complained of its being at variance both with the Para- phrase qfEra^smus^ by which it was accompanied, and with the Necessary DoctrinCy which had received the Archbi- shop^s sanction in 1543. It is to be regretted that the an- swer to this attack has perished. As Strype observes 1, " if *^ the Archbishop^s own arguments and replies to these ^' barkings of Winchester could have been retrieved, they " would have left to the world a full vindication of Cranmer " and his doctrine.*" Some surmises however respecting them may be formed from the letters of Gardyner. From them it may be inferred, that Cranmer admitted on some points the contradiction between the Necessary Doctrine and the Homilies. He for instance could not but confess, that the hallowed bread, the palms, and the candles, which in the latter work are classed among papistical supersti- tions™, had, in the earlier Formulary, been declared to be " things good and laudable, and very expedient to excite " and stir up men'*s devotion ".'^ Nor does he seem to have rested his defence on a change of opinion in the interval. He appears rather to have reminded his adversary, that he had endeavoured in 1643 to procure the Eing^s consent to a purer worship, but had been baffled by the intrigues of more influential advisers ^.
But there were other parts of Gardyner's attack, which Cranmer may be presumed to have met in a difi^erent man- ner. When accused of teaching now, in contradiction to his
* Strype, Cranmer y p. 151.
™ Homily of Good Works, (vol. ii. p. 176.) Strype, Cranm, App. p. 78.
" Necessary Doctrine. Exposition of the fourth commandment.
^ " It grieveth me much to read written from your Grace in the be- " ginning of your letters, how the King, our late sovereign, was seduced, ** and in that he knew by whom he was compassed in that 1 call the " ' King's Majesty's Book.'" Gardyner to Cranmer, in Strype, Cranmer, App. p. 74. See also Gardyner to the Protector Somerset, in Foxe, Acts, &c. vol. ii. pp. 9. and 720.
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former professions^ that ^' faith excludeth charity from the ^* office of justifying P,*" he does not seem to have admitted the truth of the charge. For, as Gardyner himself relates, he explained it to have been his intent ^' only to set out the *' freedom of God'^s mercy %^ an explanation, apparently designed both to disclmm the inference drawn from his words, and to assert the agreement on this subject between the Necessary Doctrine and the Homilies ; since the former work, no less explicitly than the latter, attributes our justifi- cation to the " free mercy and grace of God '.'*' It may therefore be conjectured, that in his written vindication, though he may not have denied even on this head some minor differences, he yet maintained the general consistency of the two treatises. And in essentials they may furly be said to agree. They both teach, that we are not " justified ** by our own acts, works, and deeds *,'^ but by the merits and precious bloodshedding of our Saviour Christ ; that ^' by " faith given us of God we embrace the promise of God's ^< mercy and of the remission of our ans < ;^' and that this justifying faith is not ^^ alone in man without true repent- '* ance, hope, charity, dread, and the fear of God at any '* time or season ".*" And it was Cranmer^s object to incul- cate plainly and practically these fundamental truths, rather than to enter upon what Burnet calls " the niceties which " have since been so much inquired into about the instru- " mentality of faith in justification *.*"
P Foxe, ActSy Sfc. vol. ii. p. 6. Strype, Cranm. A pp. p. 77.
*i <* My Lord of Canterbury told me his intent is only to set out the ** freedom of God's mercy." Gardyner to Protector Somerset, in Foxe, Acts, Sfc. vol. ii. p. 6.
' Necessary DoctrinCy p. 368.
* Homily qf Salvation, (Vol. ii. p. 139.) Necessary Doctrine, p. 368. ' Homily qf Salvation. (Vol. ii. p. 147.) Necessary Doctrine, p. S65,
" Homily qf Salvation. (Vol. ii. p. 143.) Necessary Doctrine, p. 368. See also Notes and Authorities on Justification, (Vol. ii. p. 121, &c.)
* Burnet y Reformat, vol i. p. 576. VOL. I . e
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The Book of Homilies was published in the summer of
Meeting of 1547. In the November of the same year full occupation
aodConvo-was given to the Archbishop by the meeting both of the
catiou. Parliament and the Convocation. His Speech x delivered 1547* . ...
in the latter assembly, respecting teaching religion to the
people in the pure form in which it was established by Christ, and eradicating what still remmned of popish cor- ruption, is unfortunately lost. But neither here, nor in the House of Lords, were his exertions fruitless. In both places several important questions were agitated, " chiefly by his " motion and direction 2.*" One of these was the celebra- tion of the Mass. According to a design, which as Cranmer informed his secretary Morice % had been entertained by the late King, it was now resolved to '* change the Mass " into a Communion,^"* that is, to substitute the general par- ticipation in the sacred elements by the people, for the soli- tary oblation of them by the priest. To give effect to this resolution, an Act of Parliament ^ was passed, providing punishment for contempt and reviling of the sacrament, and ordaining that it should in future be administered in both kinds, and to all who chose to receive it. It was also thought advisable for facilitating the execution of these enactments, that a New Order for the Lord's Supper should be framed ; and a Commission was accordingly appointed for this purpose ^. Discassion The opinions of the Commissioners appear to have been Mass. ascertained according to the method pursued in the late reign, by the circulation of Queries. The Answers to these by Boner and his adherents, provoked a fresh set of
y Archbishop Parker, Jn^t^. Brit. p. 507.
* Strype, Cranmer , p. 157.
* Foxe, ActSy Sfc, vol. ii. p. 586. See Vol. i. p. 321.
^ Stat. 1. Eklw. VI. cap. 1. Strype conjectures, that this Act was not only " procured," but " drawn up" by Cranmer. Memorials^ voL ii. p.'61.
* Strype, Cranmery p. 158.
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THE EDITOR. li
Queries from Cranmer, and thus led to a curious though brief debate on paper between the opposing parties ^. The chief points considered, were the benefit which the receiving of the sacrament by one man might confer on another ; the nature of the sacrifice offered in the Mass ; the propriety of its b^g celebrated by the priest alone ; and the expediency of using in it ^' such speech as the people may understand.*^ And the judgment of Cranmer was, that the act performed by one man was of no avail to any other ; that there was no true sacrifice in the Mass, but only the " memory and repre- ** sentation^ of a sacrifice ; that private masses ought to be abolished ; and that, except in '^ certain secret mysteries,^ whereof he doubted, " it was convenient to use the vulgar ** tongue.'' With regard to private Masses, Boner and his friends admitted them to be less desirable than general com- munion, and argued only, that in the absence of people to receive with the priest, they were " lawful and convenient.*" On the remaining points they differed from the Archbishop more widely. They were in particular very poutive in main- taining, that <' to have the whole Mass in English was neither " expedient neither convenient c.*" Here, as has been seen, Cranmer also was not without his doubts, and was therefore perhaps not unwilling to concede so far to their objections, as to leave for the present the old Latin Office untouched, and to limit the change to the addition of an English Order for the Communion, according to which the priest, after re- ceiving the sacrament himself, was to administer it to the people f. This Order, with a Royal Proclamation prefixed. Order for was published on the 8th of March 1548, and was trans- munion in mitted to the bishops on the 16th, together with a letter ,^°^* * from the Council, attributed by Collier to the Archbishop K,
«* Vol. ii. p. 178. « Vol. ii. p. 181.
^ Collier, Ecdes. Hist, vol. ii. p. 245. Sparrow, Collection of Re- cords,
s Collier, ibid. p. 246. See Appendix, N°. xxxii.
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enjoining them to take measures to secure its general use at the ensuing Easter.
Edw. Vl.'s This partial improvement soon led to farther reformation.
vice Book. lo ^^^ following September, " a number of the best learned men *»" met at Windsor for the purpose of examining all the Offices of the Church. Such a measure was not altogether new. A review of tlie Service Books had been directed by Henry VIII \ and probably some progress had been made in the work : for in the first year of Edward, the Lower House of Convocation petitioned the Archbishop, that " the works of the bishops and others who had laboured *^ in examining, reforming, and publishing the divine ser- " vice, might be produced and laid before the House''.'* What was the extent of the alterations then projected, and whether or not it was contemplated to adopt the English lan- guage in the corrected ritual, does not appear. At present however, the divines who were assembled at Windsor, had no hesitation in determining that the worship of God should be conducted in the vernacular tongue ' ; and proceeding on this principle, they within a few months arranged that Form of Common Prayer which is usually known by the name of King Edw. VI.'s first Service Book "". It has always been believed, that the excellence of this compilation is in great
^ See Letter ccxcix. p. 375.
' See above, p. xli, and Letters ccxvi. cclxvi.
^ Strype, Cranmery p. 155.
1 «« When I was in office, all thtit were esteemed learned in God*s " word agreed this to be a trutli in God*s word written, that the com- " mon prayer of the Church should be had in the common tongue. " You know I have conferred with many, and I ensure you I never " found man, so for as I do remember, neither old nor new, gospeller '< nor papist, of what judgment soever he was, in this thing to be of a " contrary opinion." Ridley to West, in Lettert of the MartyrSy fol. 42. See also Cranmer's Letter to Queen Mary. (Vol. i. p. 375.)
°' It was printed by Edw. Whitchurch, in June 1549. The second Service Book appeared in 1552.
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THE EDITOR. liii
measure due to the piety and judgment of Cranmer. By his contemporary Bale indeed^ it is placed, together with the Ordination Services published in the next year, upon Ordiu«tion the list of his works. But it could scarcely keep its position there, consisting, as it does, chiefly of translations from the older Liturgies, even if the Archbishop were known to have been the only individual employed on it. Still less can it do so, when we are aware that he was assisted by several Commissioners of acknowledged learning and talents. A somewhat less questionable claim may be advanced in favour of the Prefaces " to these two publications : since they may be supposed to be original compositions, and since the first words of them are actually quoted in Balers catalogue. But these are merely quoted, according to Bale'^s usual practice, to identify the books mentioned : and they in fact no more prove Cranmer to have been the author of the Prefaces, than of the entire works in question. Although therefore they are sometimes classed among his writings, they have not been inserted in the present Collection.
It is not necessary here to enter into a detail of the ob- jections made to ^dw. VI.''s Liturgy, and of the revision which it received in consequence, previously to its republi- cation in 155S °. But some notice is required of a story re- specting it, current among the English exiles at Francfort in the reign of Mary. ** Cranmer, Bishop of Canterbury,*^ they were told, " had drawn up a Book of Prayer an hun- ^^ dred times more perfect ; . . . yet the same could not take ^^ place, for that he was matched with such a wicked clergy " and Convocation, with other enemies P.^ Strype does not seem to have had sufficient grounds for attributing this re-
" See Appendix, N<*. xxxvi. *» Strype, Cranmer, pp. 5166, 289.
P A Discourse of the Troubles at Francfort, in the Phoenix^ vol. ii. p. 83.
eS
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port to Bullinger <), but he is fully justified in treating it as al- together unworthy of credit. The Archbishop's " authority, he says, " was now very great, so that there was undoubt- ^^ edly great deference paid to it, as also to his wisdom and " learning, by the rest of the divines appointed to that " work : so that as nothing was by them inserted in the " Liturgy, but by his good allowance and approbation, so " neither would they reject or oppose what he thought ** fit should be put in or altered ^." To this it may be added, that if Cranmer's project had been really laid aside to make way for one with which he was not thoroughly satisfied, he would scarcely have undertaken a short time afterwards to prove, " that not only the common prayers of ^^ the Church, the ministration of the sacraments, and other ^* rites and ceremonies, but also all the doctrine and reli- " gion set forth by King Edward, was more pure and ac- " cording to God''s word than any other doctrine that hath '^ been used in England these thousand years :^ and again, ".that the Order of the Church set out at this present by ^^ Act of Parliament is the same that was used in the Church " fifteen hundred years passed s.'^
The reader perhaps will be disappointed at not finding CTanmer^B in this Collection the treatise published in 1548, com- * monly called Cranmer^s Catechism. It must be allowed to have a fair claim to this appellation, since it is represented in the title page to have been ** set forth by the moost re- " verende father in God, Thomas, Archbyshop of Canter- " bury.*" Yet it certainly was not written by Cranmer, being taken for the most part from a Latin Catechism by Justus Jonas ; and there are good grounds for believing that it was not even translated by him K It cannot there-
*» See Phoenix, vol. ii. p. 82. ' Strype, Cranmer^ p. 266.
• Declaration concerning the Mats, (Vol. iv. p. 1.)
* See Preface to the Oxford edition, 1829, by Dr. Burton, (p, vi—viii.)
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THE EDITOR. Iv
fore as a whole be considered entitled to a place among his works ". But there is more difficulty respecting some par- ticular portions of it ; for it is not in all points a mere yerfflon. Besides other variations, it contains a discourse of some length against the worshipping of images, and a short but eloquent exhortation to prayer; of neither of which is there the slightest vestige in the original. And of these, it may perhaps be thought, Cranmer was the au- thor. Henry Wharton indeed, and Mr. Todd *, attribute them to the Archbishop without hesitation, and Dr. Burton, in his Preface to the Oxford reprint of the two Catechisms, leans to their opinion. Yet it seems fair to presume, that the additions were from the same hand as the translation, and this, as has been said, was probably not executed by the Archbishop. At all events they cannot be traced to him with any certainty, and therefore the only extract from Cranmer^s Catechism inserted in the present Collection, is the prefatory Epistle addressed to Edward VI. This is undoubtedly genuine, and has accordingly received a place in the first volume, among the Letters y.
Here also may be noticed another publication of theConfiita- same date, which has been too hastily attributed to Cran- written mer. This is a short tract on Unwritten Verities, printed Ventics. anonymously in 1548, but supposed by Strype ^ to have been written by the Archbishop, and to have been published by him in Latin in the precedmg year. Both these supposi- tions however are wholly unsupported by evidence : and
to whose full accoont of tlie two Catechisms the reader is referred for farther information.
" There has been the less inducement to admit it, as it has been lately reprinted; together with the Latin original, at the Oxford Univer^ sitj Press, in a uniform type with the present publication.
' lAfe of Cranmer, vol. ii. p. 592.
y Letter cclxxi.
* Strype, Memorials^ vol. ii. p. 136.
e 4
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the probability is, that Strype confounded this short tract with a larger book bearing a similar title, which was put forth in 1557 by an exile, designating himself by the initials E. P., and which professed to be a translation from the Latin of the Archbishop. But neither is this larger book free from all suspicion. Notwithstanding the statement in its title page. Bishop Tanner » has remarked, that though written, it seems never to have been printed in Latin: and it is indeed not unlikely, that it was compiled by E. P. out of some manuscript notes by the Archbishop, still preserved in the British Museum. It is at least certain, that the Preface and the Conclusion, together with some parts of the body of the work, must be ascribed entirely to the translator. However, as it contains much matter which was put together by Cranmer, though probably without any design of publication, it has been reprinted in Vol. iv^; where also will be found some further details respecting it. The other tract, being thought to be altogether spurious, has been placed in the Appendix c. Marquis of About this same time, as if the last reign had not pro- ton's DU duced sufficient business of this nature, Cranmer was en- ^"*' gaged in examining a new and important case of divorce <^. It was indeed more truly a case of divorce than any that had been yet before him, being the first which turned upon the possibility of dissolving the nuptial tie : for in the three matrimonial causes of Henry VIII. it was held, that the nuptial tie had been never fastened, and that the marriages consequently were null and void ab initio. The plaintiff on the present occasion, was William Par, Marquis of
* The following is his remark : " Confutatiom of Unwritten VeritieXy '' written against Rich. Smithes book^ De veritatibus non scriptis ; qui *' liber Latine scriptus> nunquam ut mihi quidem videtur, in ea lingua " iropressus fuit.'' Tanner, Bibliotheca.
»> Vol. iv. p. 143.
* Appendix, N<*. xxxv.
** Burnet, Reformat, vol. ii. p. 115.
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Northampton, brother to the late King^s widow. He had prosecuted a suit against his wife in the Ecclesiastical Courts for adultery, and had obtained a sentence in his favour: but it was disputed, whether this sentence amounted only to a simple separation a mensa et toro^ or whether it implied also an absolute release a vinculo matrimonii^ so as to enable him to contract a second marriage. The matter was referred to a board of delegates, consisting of Cranmer and nine others. The Archbishop, according to his usual practice, seems to have laboured to collect the best autho- rities on the subject. A considerable number of these are still preserved in the Lambeth Library c, partly in his own handwriting, partly in that of a secretary, together with a summary of the chief arguments f by which the two opin- ions might be respectively supported. The authorities were probably collected by himself. The arguments were per- haps supplied either by the advocates, or by some of the delegates who took opposite views of the question : for they were manifestly composed by two distinct and contending parties. The manuscript is closed by eight Queries on the subject, accompanied by AnswersS. The means here afforded
« Lambeth Library, 1108.
^ An abstract of these may be seen in Burnet, Refot'mat, vol. ii. p. 117. But the reader must be warned against an impression which may probably be left by Burnet's statement, that Cranmer was from the first in favour of the dissolubility of the marriage bond. The final decision indeed, was on this side, but his scattered notes and under- linings prove that he originally leant to the other.
8 These Questions and Answers, which have been already printed by Burnet, are subjoined. The four first Queries are in the handwriting of Cranmer.
** 1. Quid dirimit matrimonii vinculum ?
** 3. Quas ob causas dirimi poterit ?
** 3. An dirimi poterit conjugium a thoro, non a vinculo ?
*' 4. Quibus casibus possit sic dirimi ?
*^ 5. An exceptio ilia (excepta fomicatumis causa) etiam in Lucas, '* Marci et Pauli locis, qui de his rebus tractant, est subaudienda ?
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of ascertaining Cranmer'*s sentiments, are not very abun- dant. From some short remarks however, which he has inserted in various parts of it, and from the passages under- lined, to all appearance by his pen, it seems to have been his first impression to adhere to the opinion expressed by him some years before to Osiander**, that the marriage bond was indissoluble. But he must either have seen rea- son to change this impression, or the matter must have been determined by the majority of votes : for the delegates de- cided, that the conjugal knot was so completely rent asunder
<< 6. An etiam uxor, repudiata propter adulterium, alii possit nu- " bere ?
'< 7. An redire ad priorem maritum repudiata; adulters liceat?
** 8. An maritus, propter adulterium, ab uxore casta possit repu- « diari ?
" Ad primam respondemus ; Ipso adulterii facto matrimonii vincu- '< lum dirimi. Nam alioquin, ob solum adulterium non liceret viro ui- *^ orem repudiare s voluntas viri solicitat judices, judices palam faciunt " ecclesiae, virum licite talem repudiare uxorem.
" Ad secundam resp. Quod ob solam causam stupri dirimitur ma- '' trimonii vinculum : cujus ipso quidem facto, conjugii dissolvitur do- '' dus, et loquimur de his, qui sacrooancti matrimonii jus agnoscunt.
''Ad tertiam resp. Quod non ; quia Mulier quamdiu vixerit, alligaia *' est viro, Rom. vii; item, Nefraudetis vos invicem, 1 Cor. vii; item in ** eodem loco, Uxori vir debitam benevolentiam reddat similiter, et uxor " viro ; item, Vir non hahet potestatem sui corporis, sed iixor : similiter " nee uxor habet potestatem sui corporis, sed vir.
" Ad quartam patet in responsione ad tertiam.
"Ad quiutam respondemus; Quod exceptio ista, viz. nisi causa '* stupri, est subaudienda in Luca, Marco et Paulo : alioquin manifesta " esset pugnuntia inter Matthsum et eos.
" Ad sextam respond. Quod repudiata propter adulterium, quia " uxor repudiantis desiit esse, ob idque libera est, sicut alis omnes post " obitum virorum, potest alii nubere, aequo jure juxta illud Pauli, Si " non continent, contrahant tnatrimonium, 1 Cor. vii.
" Ad septimam respond. Quod non licet repudiate adulters redire " ad repudiantem, tanquam alligata ei jugi vinculo matrimonii.
" Xntima questio ad nos nihil.'' MSS. Lamb. Libr. 1108. fol. 180. 169.
^ Letter cclx. p. 304.
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by adultery, as to establish the lawfulness of another mar- riage. And the Marquis of Northampton was in conse- quence authorized to cohabit with a second wife, whom he had thought fit to marry pending the deliberations '\
No other production by Cranmer, dated in the year 1648, Articles of now remains to be noticed, besides the Articles of Inquiry issued at his Visitation. These are the earliest Articles of Inquiry by him that have been discovered, though probably he had circulated many on former similar occaaons. With regard to InyunciionSy to which such Articles were usually preparatory, we are rather more fortunate. Besides those of Crumwell in 1536 and 1588, and of King Edward in 1547, (all of which are supposed, with reason, to have had the benefit of his assistance,) we possess others sent in his own name to the diocese of Hereford, during the vacancy of the see in 1588^. These however are very short, being apparently a mere supplement to the Injunctions already published under Royal authority, which they order to be observed with " all diligence and faithful obedience.^ The points chiefly insisted on in them, are the study of the Bible both by clergy and laity; the distinction between works commanded by God, and those which are done *^ of ** men^^s own will and devotion ;'' the restraint on the preach- ing of friars and other members of religious orders ; the preparation for receiving the sacrament ; and the importance of the bond of matrimony. The proceedings on his Visita- tion in 1548 have met with a different fate. Here the /n- junctians * are lost, but the Articles of Inquiry are preserved.
^ This second marriage was farther confirmed four years afterwards by an Act of Parliament, but was annulled in the reign of Mary. Tlie bond of matrimony however, according to the decision of these dele- gates, was still held to be dissoluble by the Ecclesiastical Courts till 1603, when a contrary judgment was given by Bancroft in the case of Foljambe. 3 Salk. 138.
k Vol. ii. p. 19.
1 Itijunciioru were certainly given by the Archbishop either at this
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These are eighty-six in number, and enter with great mi- nuteness into the conduct both of the clergy and the laity. A considerable proportion of them seem to have been framed for the purpose of ascertaining how far the King^s Injunc- tions of the preceding year had been observed, and may be considered to point out those parts of them which were obeyed with the greatest reluctance. The new subjects of examination now introduced, have a different, though not less important use. They serve to mark the progress of reformation, both by reference to recent improvements, and by their notice of such abuses as in the former Visitation it had been thought fit to overlook. Questions, for instance, were asked respecting the performance of divine service at convenient hours, and the use of the new Communion Book : and various superstitious practices^ untouched by the pre- vious Injunctions, were inquired into with a view to their suppression.
Visitation Another Visitation by Archbishop Cranmer, of which ofthe . , ^ , ; , , .
Chapter of some memonais are extant, was held two years later, in
bunrT^ September 1550. He then however visited, not his diocese, but the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury ; a body with which he had already been much connected, having taken an active part in remodelling it in 1540^, and having also interpreted a doubtful statute in 1546 ">. The Inquiries ^ of a collegiate were of course more limited in their charac- ter than those of a diocesan Visitation ; but they will be found to display the same anxiety to extirpate superstitious practices, to repress strife, idleness, and immorality, and to promote ** true religion and useful learning.^ It may be
or some other diocesan Visitation shortly afterwards, as they are re- ferred to in those which he delivered to the Chapter of Canterbury two years later. See Vol. ii. p. 300.
* See Letter ccliv.
"» Letter cclxvii ; Strype, Cranmer, p. 88.
tt Vol. ii. p. 196.
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presumed, from the brevity of the Injunctions^ which fol- lowed them, that the Chapter was on the whole in a satis- factory state of discipline. These relate chiefly to the ob- servance of the Injunctions already devised either by the King or himself, to the regulations for preaching and for the administration of the communion, to the management of the grammar school, and to the restriction of the inter- course between the precinct of the Church and the city P.
The year 1549 called for the exertions of Cranmer on a losurrec- very different field from that on which he had been hitherto ^°' '^^^* employed. Instead of maturing schemes of reformation, he was now obliged to write against rebellion; alarming in- surrections having broken out in most parts of England. These seem to have originated partly in political and partly in reli^ous feelings ^. The gentry, particularly those who had shared in the spoils of the dissolved monasteries, were exceedingly unpopular. Their mode of managing their newly acquired property was contrasted, much to their dis- advantage, with that of the ecclesiastics whom they had succeeded. They were accused of being more rigorous in the exaction of rents, and less liberal in the distribution of alms. And their general conduct, but especially their eager- ness for the enclosure of commons, was said to betray a total disregard for the welfare of the poor, and a care for nothing but their own immediate profit and pleasure. The discontent arising from these causes was still farther aggra- vated by the recent innovations in religion. The ancient system, addressing itself to the senses, rather than to the understanding or the heart, and insisting more upon out- ward observances than inward holiness, was well calculated
o Vol. ii. p. 200.
P Both the Articles and the Inj unctions of this Visitation are now first printed from manuscripts at the British Museum and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
<i Holinshed, vol. iii. p. 1003. 1028; Voxa, Acis, 6cc. vol.ii. p. 665; Strype, Cranmer, p. 185 ; Memorials, vol. ii. p. 166.
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to captivate a rude and ignorant people ; and without doubt possessed a strong hold on their affections. Hence there were large numbers of the lower orders, who were filled with horror and indignation, on finding the ceremonies to which they trusted for salvation, condemned by the govern- ment as idle and superstitious. It was not difficult for the ejected monks to kindle such angry feelings into open re- bellion: and accordingly the peasantry rose in almost all directions for the redress, as they alleged, of their wrongs. Insurrec- Some of these risings were quickly put down : but others, Tonshire. that broke out in Devonshire and Norfolk, being more widely extended and better organized than the rest, as- sumed a very formidable character. These were distin- guished from each other by the different nature of the al- leged grievances. The rebels in the West clamoured chiefly for the restoration of the old religion : those of Norfolk for the amendment of the commonwealth'. The complaints of the former are preserved in two instruments successively presented to the King; the first consisting of Eight* Articles,
^ lliough these were the general characteristics of the two insurrec- tions, there were of course political malcontents in the Western camp, and religious ones in that of Norfolk. Foxe gives the following account of the divisions among the Devonshire rebels : " At length, laying their " traitorous heads together, they consulted upon certain articles to be ** sent up. But herein such diversity of heads and wits was amongst <* them, that for every kind of brain there was one manner of article ; ** so that there neither appeared any consent in their diversity, nor yet '* any constancy in their agreement. Some seemed more tolerable. ** Other altogether unreasonable. Some would have no justice. Some <* would have no state of gentlemen. The priests ever harped upon one *^ string, to ring in the Bishop of Rome into £ngland again, and to *' halloo home Cardinal Poole, their countryman. After much ado, and ** little to the purpose, at last a few sorry articles were agreed upon." Acts and Monuments, vol. ii. p. 666. The preponderating influence of the priests is sufficiently manifest from the character of these Articles, which demand almost exclusively the redress of religious grievances.
* Holinshed calls them nine, Burnet eight, Strype seven; but the Ar- ticles are in each case the same, being only differently arranged.
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the second < of Fifteen. These documents, beades their ira- pc»tance in other respects, are valuable as an unquestionable authority for ascertaining, both what was most r^retted in the abrogated Romish ritual, and what was most offensiye in the system established in its stead. The points on which a return to the ancient practice was most earnestly pressed", were the private Latin mass ; the worshipping of the host ; the distribution of the sacrament at Easter alone to the laity, and then but in one kind ; the administration of baptism on the week days, as well as on the holydays ; the use of holy bread and holy water, of palms, ashes, images, and all other ancient ceremonies ; and the praying for souls in purgatory. The innovations which occasioned the most bitter complaints, were the introduction of the new English Service, ** because «< it was but like a Christmas game ;^ and the circulation of the English Bible, because it would disable the clergy from ^^ confounding the heretics.'" Bendes the redress of these evils, the rebels demanded also, that all the holy de- <n-ees of Greneral Councils and of their forefathers should be observed ; that Henry VIII.^s Act of the Six Articles should be again enforced ; that half of the lands of the dissolved abbeys should be surrendered for the purpose of founding new establishments; that gentlemen should be limited in the number of their servants ; that Cardinal Pole should be pardoned and admitted to the Privy Council ; and that their local grievances should be arranged to the satisfaction of their representatives, Humphry Arundel, and Bray, the Mayor of Bodmin.
Such was the substance of the two addresses from Devon-
' Strype speaks of a third supplication sent to tlie King, to which an answer was made by the King's learned counsel. But neither the sup- plication nor the answer appears to be extant ; and perhaps the passage in Foxe, (vol. ii. p. 669.) from which Strype derived his information, may relate to the Fifteen Articles and Cranmer's Reply.
« Vol. ii. p. 202, &c.
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shire. The first, of Eight Articles, was answered by a long message from Edward VI ; in which , though he ^^ descended '^ from his high majesty, and was cpntent to send them in- ^^ strucUon like a father, when of justice he might have sent " them destructions like a King ;*" he yet threatened, that if they did not ^^ repent themselves, and take his mercy ** without delay, he would forthwith extend his princely ** power, and execute his sharp sword against them ^.'^ It was however no easy matter to carry this threat into execu- tion : for at the date of this message the rebels were in such force before Exeter, that it was very doubtful whether Lord Russel, who had been sent against them, would be able to Answer to save the city. The Fifteen Articles which formed their second thirc rebels, remonstrance, received a full reply from CranmerJ. At the time when he wrote it, the aspect of affairs had undergone a great change. The insurgents had been partially, if not totally defeated, and the two leaders, whom they had nomi- nated to negotiate for them, were prisoners, and in danger of their lives ^. And it seems to have been his object to recall the dispersed fugitives to obedience, by convincing them that their complaints were frivolous, and by thus shaking their confidence in the popish priests by whom they had been misled. At all events his Answer was admirably suited for such a purpose. He exposed in it the ignorance and folly of their Articles with a force of reasoning and plain- ness of speech, which could scarcely fail to make them ashamed both of themselves and their advisers. He proved to them, that what they venerated as ancient ceremonies,
* Foxe, Act* and MonumentSf vol. ii. p. 666, y Vol. ii. p. 202.
* This is clear from Cranmer's reply to their last Article. (Vol. ii. p. 244.) Yet Burnet (and he has been followed in his error by other writers) places the Fifteen Articles earlier in the rebellion than tlie Eight, and supposes that Crauoier's Answer induced the insui^gents to mode- rate their demands. Reformat, vol. ii. p. 241.
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had been invented in comparatively modern times; and that what they condemned as modem innovation, was nothing more than a return to the primitive practice. And in some cases he pointed out, that the demands put into their mouths by their counsellors, had not even been so contrived as to be consistent with each other. It is difficult perhaps to con- ceive a more triumphant refutation. And this refutation, it will be recollected, comprised some of the leading charac- teristics of the old religion. No direct attack indeed was made on the peculiar doctrines of Rome, though some of their main defences were incidentally assailed with vigour. But the blow fell heavily on numerous practical observ- ances, which had hitherto constituted great part of the de- votion both of priests and people, and which were generally conindered by them as absolutely necessary for obtaining the favour of God. That they were really viewed in this light, may fairly be inferred from their being brought for- ward so conspicuously to justify rebellion. Without doubt the rites and customs claimed by the Devonshire papists at the risk of their lives, were believed to be of essential ser- vice to their souls : and in describing the forms of worship which they desired to revive, they were giving an accu- rate representation of what religion had formerly been in this country, and what in their judgments it still ought to be. The picture they have drawn may not perhaps include every part of the subject, but, as far as it goes, it can scarcely fail of being a just resemblance. It may be said indeed, that bdng designed by an unskilful hand, it does not present a pleasing likeness. But the likeness, if not pleanng, may be faithful ; and, though the work of a coarse pencil, may be a more exact delineation of the prominent features, than would have been executed by a dexterous and experienced artist. At any rate, the portrait was sketched by a friend ; by one who could have no desire to expose deformities: and if therefore this has happened, it was be- yoL. I. f
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cause, with many of his contemporaries, he mistook them for beauties. iDsurrec- The Norfolk insurrection^ though it broke out about the Norfolk, same time, diflPered much in character, as has been already stated, from that in Devonshire. In this instance the rebels were silent on religious, but loud on political grievances. Such matters, it might be supposed, fell less within the de- partment of the Archbishop : yet he was called on for his assistance, being nominated, as Burnet relates % to preach at Court on a fast-day appointed on account of the disturb- Sermon on ances. The Sermon, said by the same author to have been 1549 ^^^ delivered, is still preserved, and has been now first
printed^ from a manuscript at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The mode in which it seems to have been composed, is sufficiently Angular. The Archbishop took it in great measure from a Latin sermon by Peter Martyr, and this again appears to have been constructed on some rough notes by the Archbishops^. It is interesting, both because no other discourse preached by Cranmer is extant, and because it contains some curious particulars respecting the origin and progress of the prevailing discontent. In treating this subject, he mixed up some severe reproofs of the higher orders with his condemnation of the seditious populace. He argued on the one hand, with much force, against the sin of rebellion in general, and against ^Hbe ** sturdy beggars and ruffians'' who were the prime movers in the present insurrection : he proved incontrovertibly, that to place power in the hands of the low and ignorant men who were clamouring for it, was a most mistaken method of effecting a reform. But on the other hand he did not deny, that some reform was necessary, that some bounds were re-
» Hist, of Reformat, vol. ii. p. 244. b Vol. ii. p. 248.
c For some further details respecting this Sermon, see Vol. ii. p. 248, note.
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quired to the grasfmig rapacity of the gentry, who ** through ^^ covetouniess of jmning Und to land and enclosures to en- ** cloaures, had wronged and oppressed a great multitude ^* oi the King^s faithful subjects.'" There seems, fitnn such expressions as these, to have been much truth in the popular cry, that the landowners who had enriched themselves with ecdeaastical spoils, instead of pursuing a more liberal sys- tem of management than their predecessors, were chiefly intent upon extracting from their new possessions the largest possible revenue.
The date at which we are now arrived, brings us to the Contro- consideration of Cranmer^s writings on the Eucharist; forJ^'Ei^. in 1650 he pubUshed his Defence of the True and Caiholic^^^' Doctrine of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ. The questions discussed in this work, have of late years been often treated as purely q)eculative, and therefore as deserving of little attention. But even if such a view of them be now correct, (which may^ well be doubted,) it certainly was not so at the period of the Re- formadon. The corrupt doctrines of the Church of Rome on the Eucharist were then by no means confined to mere theory. No single error perhaps gave rise to a greater number of superstitious practices <i, or was more efficacious in upholding the domineering influence of the clergy, than that of transubstantiation. It led by easy steps to the belief, that the priest could make a Redeemer, could offer this Redeemer as a propitiatory sacrifice, and could distribute the benefits of this sacrifice to whomsoever he would, whether living or dead ^. Such inferences, it is clear,
* See Vol. ii. p. 44S.
^ The followini^ is the language of Bradford on this point : '< It mak- *' eth the priest that sajeth mass, God's fellow, and better than Christ, ** for the offerer is always better or equivalent to the thing offered. If ** therefore the priest take upon him there to offer up Christ, as they ** boldly affirm they do, then must he needs be better or equal with
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were far from bang wholly theoretical. For no honours could be too great for an order of men possesang such ex- traordinary powers^ no price could be too high for securing their intercession. Hence was this tenet, notwithstanding its manifold difficulties, most obstinately defended by the Church of Rome : and hetice too did Cranmer earnestly ask, in the Preface to his Defhice^ ^^ what it availed to take *^ away beads, pardons, pilgrimages, and such other like *« popery, so long as two chief roots remained unpuUed up.^ These roots he explained to be, ^^ the popish doctrines of ^* transubstantiation . • . and of the sacrifice and oblation of ^* Christ made by the priest for the salvation of the quick ** and the dead : which roots, if they be suffered to grow in '* the Lord'^s vineyard, they will overspread all the ground *^ again with the old errors and superstitions ^7* Refonners But it was not only from its bearings on the great con-
dirided on • i i • i ■ •
thUsubjecttroversy Fith the papists^ that so much importance was at- tached to the question of the Eucharist. It also derived additional interest from the dissensions which it had unhap- pily caused among the Reformers themselves. They all indeed agreed in rejecting the Romish tenet of transubstan- tiation, with the various practical abuses that followed in its train: but CEcolampadius, Zuingle, and the Swiss divines
" Christ. Oh that thcj would show but one jot of the Scripture of '' God calling tliem to this dignity, or of their authority to offer up '^ Christ for the quick and dead, aud to apply the benefit and virtue of *^ his death and passion to whom they will. Surely if this were true, as << it is most false and blasphemous, prate they at tlieir pleasure to the ^ contrary, then it made no matter at all, whether Christ were our '< friend or no, if so be the mass-priest were our friend ; for he cau << apply us Christ's merits by his mass, if he will, and when he will, and " therefore we need little to care for Christ's friendship. They can ** make Him, when they will and where tliey will." Letters of the Mar- tyrs, p. 347. See also Defence, &c. (Vol. ii. pp. 287. 312. 336. 451, &;c. 460, &CC.) f Vol. ii. p. 289.
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rejected also the Corporal Presences of Christ in the conse- crated elements; while Luther and his followers persisted in maintaining it. This dispute commenced on the conti- nent in 1524, and was carried on there with much warmth : but it does not seem to have attracted much attention in England before 1533. It is known indeed that the English Reformers at an early date were divided on the subject; and in a country deeply impregnated with the doctrines of Wiclif, the views of Zuingle may be supposed to have found many partisans : but it is probable that they were ex- Cnation of tremely cautious in their language, contenting themselves sacra-^ * with preaching, according to Tyndale^s advice to Frith *>, "*•***•""•
S Tbe deniers of the Corporal Presence were saMivided into those who held a Spiritual Presence with a participation in the benefits of Christ's death by the faithful receiver, and those who, asserting the Eucharibt to be a bare commemorative rite, admitted no sort of Pre- sence whatever. It is a question to which of these parties Zuingle belonged. Mosheim and his English translator rank him with the lat- ter; {Ecclei. Hist. Cent. xvi. sect. i. §. 21. sect. iii. part ii. §. 10.) Hospinian and Fueslin with the former. Hospinian appeals to the tes- timony of Peter Martyr. After an account of the success with which that reformer confuted the Romish and Lutheran tenets on this subject, be thus analyses the continuation of his argument : ^* Duabus his opi- ** nionibus prorsus confbtatis, accedit ad tertiam, cujus auctores et pa- ** troni statuunt, symbola cum rebus per solam ac nudam significatio- ** nem sic conjungi, ut pneter signa inania nihil in Eucharistia reliquom '< faciant. Quam opinionem coroplures nostra state viri docti confi- ** denter quidem, sed tamen impudenter Zuinglio tribuunt. Nam, ut ** in bac tractatioue scribit Martyr, libri Zuinglii ab ipso editi, testes '* sunt locupletissimi^eum signa ponere in Eucharistiae Sacramento mi- ** nime vacua, miniraeque inania.** Hospuiian, Hitt. Sacr, vol. ii. p. 910. (1602.) See also Peter Martyr, Tractat. de Eucharist, pp. 664. 659. (1562.) The following is the statement of Fueslin : *' Ut nihil ^^ssi- *' mulero, fuerunt Tiguri quidam eruditi,qui panem et vinum in S.Ccena « commemorativa tantum signa mortis Christi esse contenderent. Zuin- *' glius contra, ne se a contraria sentientibus totum abalienaret, ad ** Spiritualem aliguam et Sacramentalem, nt vocavit, prstsentiam corpo- ^ ris Christiy aninutque manducationem in fide cogitationein transtulit.*' ^ref. Epist, Reformat. Helvet. Fueslin. p. xv. Tiguri, 1742.
^ <' Of the presence of Christ's body in tlie sacrament, meddle as
f8
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" the right use^' of the sacrament, and leaving the Presence as " an indiflTerent thing, till the matter might be reasoned " in peace at leisure of both parties.'' And they could pursue this line of conduct without any dereliction of prin- ciple, if like the above-named martyrs, they did not consider the case to involve any " necessary article of faith >.'" Their per- But the silence which they may themselves have wished to preserve, was not permitted by their Romish persecutors. The denial of the Corporal Presence was a heresy, at once so definite and so unpopular, that the adversaries of the New Learning left no means untried for its detection. It was in viun that the Sacramentaries ^, as they were call- ed, avoided all public discussion of the subject: evidence against them was sought for in private