1. INTRODUCTORY.
THE TUDOR PERIOD.—The Tudor period [Footnote: The Tudor sovereigns were Henry VII. (1485-1509); Henry VIII. (1509-1547); Edward VI. (1547-1553); Mary (1553-1558); and Elizabeth (1558-1603).] in English history covers the sixteenth century, and overlaps a little the preceding and the following century. It was an eventful and stirring time for the English people. It witnessed among them great progress in art, science, and trade, and a literary outburst such as the world had not seen since the best days of Athens. But the great event of the period was the Reformation. It was under the Tudors that England was severed from the spiritual empire of Rome, and Protestantism firmly established in the island. To tell how these great results were effected will be our chief aim in the present chapter.
THE ENGLISH REFORMATION FIRST A REVOLT AND THEN A REFORM.—The Reformation in England was, more distinctly than elsewhere, a double movement. First, England was separated violently from the ecclesiastical empire of Rome. All papal and priestly authority was cast off, but without any essential change being made in creed or mode of worship. This was accomplished under Henry VIII.
Secondly, the English Church, thus rendered independent of Rome, gradually changed its creed and ritual. This was effected chiefly under Edward VI. So the movement was first a revolt and then a reform.
THE REVIVAL OF LEARNING IN ENGLAND.—The soil in England was, in a considerable measure, prepared for the seed of the Reformation by the labors of the Humanists (see p. 474). Three men stand preeminent as lovers and promoters of the New Learning. Their names are Colet, Erasmus, and More.
Colet was leader and master of the little band. His generous enthusiasm was kindled at Florence, in Italy. It was an important event in the history of the Reformation when Colet crossed the Alps to learn Greek at the feet of the Greek exiles; for on his return to England he brought back with him not only an increased love for classical learning, but a fervent zeal for religious reform, inspired, it would seem, by the stirring eloquence of Savonarola (see p. 511).
[Illustration: ERASMUS]
Erasmus was probably superior in classical scholarship to any student of his times. "He bought Greek books first, and clothes afterwards." His Greek testament, published in 1516, was one of the most powerful agents concerned in bringing about the Reformation. Indeed, his relation to the reform movement is well indicated by the charge made against him by the enemies of the Reformation, who declared that "Erasmus laid the egg, and Luther hatched it."
Thomas More was drawn, or rather forced, into political life, and of him and his writings we shall have occasion to speak hereafter, in connection with the reign of Henry VIII. (see p. 549).
THE LOLLARDS.—Another special preparation for the entrance into England of the Reformation was the presence among the lower classes there of a considerable body of Lollards (see p. 491). Persecution had driven the sect into obscurity, but had not been able to extirpate the heresy. In holding the Scriptures as the sole rule of faith, and in the maintenance of other doctrines denounced by the Roman Catholic Church, the Lollards occupied a position similar to that held by the German reformers, and consequently, when the teachings of Luther were disseminated in England, they received them gladly.