This book is intended to illustrate the relations of the English Church with the papacy and with the English State down to the revolt of Wyclif against the abuses which had gathered round the ecclesiastical system of the Middle Ages, and the Great Schism in the papacy which materially affected the ideas of the whole of Western Christendom. It was thought expedient to deal with these subjects in a narrative form, and some gaps have therefore had to be filled up, and some links supplied. This has been done as far as possible by notices of matters which bear on the moral condition of the Church, and serve to show how far it was qualified at various periods to be the example and instructor of the nation. No attempt, however, has been made to write a complete history on a small scale, and I have designedly passed by many points, in themselves of interest and importance, in order to give as much space as might be to my proper subjects. Besides, this volume has been written as one of a series in which the missions to the Teutonic peoples, the various aspects of Monasticism, the question of Investitures, and the place which the University of Oxford fills in our Church’s history have been, or will be, treated separately. Accordingly I have not touched on any of these things further than seemed absolutely necessary.
I wish that, limited as my task has been, I could believe that it has been adequately performed. No one can understand the character, or appreciate the claims, of the English Church who has not studied its history from the beginning, and it is hoped that this little book may do something, however small, towards spreading a correct idea of the part that the Church has borne in the progress of the nation, and of the grounds on which its members maintain that it has from the first been a National Church, as regards its inherent life and independent attitude as well as its intimate and peculiar relations with the State. A firm grasp of the position it held during the Middle Ages is necessary to a right understanding of the final rupture with Rome accomplished in the sixteenth century, and will afford a complete safeguard against the vulgar error of regarding the Church as a creation of the State, an institution established by the civil power, and maintained by its bounty. Those who are acquainted with our mediæval chroniclers will see that I have written from original sources. I have also freely availed myself of the labours of others, and, above all, of the works of Bishop Stubbs, which have been of the greatest assistance to me.
CONTENTS.
| Page | |
| Preface | [v] |
| Lists of the Archbishops of Canterbury and the Bishops and Archbishops of York to 1377 | [xiii] |
| [CHAPTER I.] | |
| Rome and Iona. | |
| St. Augustin’s Mission—Pope Gregory’s Scheme of Organization—Causesof its Failure—Foundation and Overthrow of the See of York—Independent Missions—The See of Lindisfarne—ScottishChristianity—The Schism—The Synod of Whitby—Restoration of the See of York | [1] |
| [CHAPTER II.] | |
| Organization. | |
| Archbishop Theodore—His Work in Organization—New Dioceses—Wilfrith’sAppeals to Rome—Literary Greatness of Northumbria—Parishes—Tithes—The Church in Wessex—AThird Archbishopric—The Church in Relation to the State—to Rome—to Western Christendom | [15] |
| [CHAPTER III.] | |
| Ruin and Revival. | |
| Ruin of Northumbria—Æthelwulf’s Pilgrimage—Danish Invasionsof Southern England; the Peace of Wedmore—Alfred’s Work—Character of the Church in the TenthCentury—Reorganization—Revival—Oda—Dunstan—Seculars and Regulars—Dunstan’sEcclesiastical Administration—Coronations—Dunstan’s Last Days—Ælfric the Grammarian | [34] |
| [CHAPTER IV.] | |
| Exhaustion. | |
| Characteristics of the Period—Renewed Scandinavian Invasions—Legislation—Archbishop Ælfheah: his Martyrdom—End of the Danish War—Cnut and the Church—The King’sClerks—Spiritual Decadence—Foreigners appointed to English Sees—Effect of these Appointments—PartyStruggles—Earl Harold—Pilgrimages—A Legatine Visit—A Schismatical Archbishop—The Papacy andthe Conquest—Summary: The National Character of the Church before the Norman Conquest | [55] |
| [CHAPTER V.] | |
| Royal Supremacy. | |
| The Conqueror and Lanfranc—Canterbury and York—Separate Ecclesiastical System—Removal of Sees—Extent andLimits of Papal Influence—The Conqueror’s Bishops—Change in the Character of the Church—An Appeal toRome—Feudal Tendencies—St. Anselm—Struggle against Tyranny—Investitures—HenryI.—Councils—Legates—Independence of the See of York—Summary | [77] |
| [CHAPTER VI.] | |
| Clerical Pretensions. | |
| Stephen and the English Church—Archbishop Theobald and Henry of Winchester—Thomas the Chancellor—TheScutage of Toulouse—Thomas the Archbishop—Clerical Immunity—The Archbishop in Exile—His Martyrdom—Henry’sGeneral Relations to the Church—Conquest of Ireland—Richard’s Crusade—Longchamp—ArchbishopHubert Walter—Character of the Clergy | [105] |
| [CHAPTER VII.] | |
| Vassalage. | |
| The Alliance between the Church and the Crown—Coronationof John—Quarrel between John and the Pope—The Interdict—Vassalageof England—The Great Charter—Papal Tutelage of Henry III.—Taxation of Spiritualities—PapalOppression—Edmund Rich, Archbishop—Robert Grosseteste,Bishop of Lincoln—Alienation from Rome—Civil War—Increaseof Clerical Pretensions—The Canon Law | [135] |
| [CHAPTER VIII.] | |
| The Church and the Nation. | |
| Character of the Reign of Edward I.—Archbishop Peckham—Statute of Mortmain—Conquest of Wales—CircumspecteAgatis—Expulsion of the Jews—Clerical Taxation and Representation in Parliament—Breach between the Crownand the Papacy—Confirmation of the Charters—Archbishop Winchelsey and the Rights of the Crown—TheEnglish Parliament and Papal Exactions—Church and State during the Reign of Edward II.—Papal Provisionsto Bishoprics—The Bishops and Secular Politics—The Province of York—Parliament and Convocation | [161] |
| [CHAPTER IX.] | |
| The Papacy and the Parliament. | |
| Ecclesiastical Character of the Reign of Edward III.—Archbishops and their EcclesiasticalAdministration—Provisions—Statute of Provisors—Statute of Præmunire—Refusal ofTribute—Relations between the Church and the State—Causes of Discontent at the Condition of the Church—Attackon Clerical Ministers and the Wealthy Clergy—Concordat with the Papacy—The Good Parliament—Conclusion | [192] |
| INDEX | [219] |