The
Roman Catholic Church is part of the Christian Church ruled by the
Bishop of Rome (the Pope). In the early Church the papacy exercised
authority over all Christians.
In
about 575 a monk called Gregory
saw
some young men in the Rome slave-market. He spoke to them and discovered
that these men were from England. After talking to these slaves he
was shocked to discover that there were very few Christians living
in England. Gregory was determined to change this situation and when
he became Pope he sent his friend Augustine and forty monks to England
to convert the inhabitants to Christianity.
Augustine
arrived in England in 596. He made his way to Canterbury, the home
of King Ethelbert. Within a few weeks Augustine had converted Ethelbert
and most of his household to Christianity. Pleased by his success,
the following year Pope Gregory appointed Augustine as Bishop
of Canterbury, and Archbishop of the English people.
William
the Conqueror
was a devout Christian. After he conquered the country he did what
he could to spread the Christian religion in England. William accepted
that the Archbishop of Canterbury was the leader of the Christian
Church in England, but was determined that this post should come under
his control.
In
1070 Lanfranc,
a monk from Caen in Normandy, and one of William's friends, replaced
Stigand
as
Archbishop of Canterbury. Over the next few years he rebuilt Canterbury
Cathedral on the model of St. Stephen's in Caen.
Lanfranc
was unimpressed with the quality of the English clergy and during
William's reign supported his policy of promoting foreigners to high
office in the Church. Lanfranc also ordered that in future no married
man was to be ordained as a priest. However, he allowed existing priests
to keep their wives.
When Henry
II became king
in 1154, he asked Archbishop Theobald for advice on choosing his government
ministers. On the suggestion of Theobald, Henry appointed Thomas Becket
as his chancellor. Becket's job was an important one as it involved
the distribution of royal charters, writs and letters. The king and
Becket soon became close friends. Becket carried out many tasks for
Henry II including leading the English army into battle.
In 1162, Henry
II chose Thomas
Becket
as his next Archbishop of
Canterbury. The decision angered many leading churchmen. They pointed
out that Becket had never been a priest, had a reputation as a cruel
military commander and was very materialistic (Becket loved expensive
food, wine and clothes). They also feared that as Becket was a close
friend of Henry II, he
would not be an independent leader of the church.
After being appointed Thomas
Becket began to show a concern for the poor. Every morning thirteen
poor people were brought to his home. After washing their feet Becket
served them a meal. He also gave each one of them
four silver pennies.
Instead of wearing expensive
clothes, Becket now wore a simple monastic habit. As a penance (punishment
for previous sins) he slept on a cold stone floor, wore a tight-fitting
hairshirt that was infested with fleas and was scourged (whipped)
daily by his monks.
In 1163, after a long spell
in France, Henry
II arrived back
in England. Henry was told that, while he had been away, there had
been a dramatic increase in serious crime. The king's officials claimed
that over a hundred murderers had escaped their proper punishment
because they had claimed their right to be tried in church courts.
Those that had sought the
privilege of a trial in a Church court were not exclusively clergymen.
Any man who had been trained by the church could choose to be tried
by a church court. Even clerks who had been taught to read and write
by the Church but had not gone on to become priests had a right to
a Church court trial. This was to an offender's advantage, as church
courts could not impose punishments that involved violence such as
execution or mutilation. There were several examples of clergy found
guilty of murder
or robbery who only received "spiritual" punishments, such
as suspension from
office or banishment from the altar.
The king decided that
clergymen found guilty of serious crimes should be
handed over to his courts. At first, the Archbishop agreed with Henry
on this issue but
after talking to other church leaders Thomas
Becket
changed his mind. Henry
was furious when Becket began to assert that the church should retain
control of punishing its own clergy. The king believed that Becket
had betrayed him
and was determined to obtain revenge.
In 1164, the Archbishop
of Canterbury was involved in a dispute over land. Henry ordered
Becket to appear before his courts. When Becket refused, the king
confiscated his property. Henry also claimed that Becket had stolen
£300 from government funds when he had been Chancellor. Becket
denied the charge but, so that the matter could be settled quickly,
he offered to repay the money. Henry refused to accept Becket's offer
and insisted that the Archbishop should stand trial. When Henry mentioned
other charges, including treason, Becket decided to run away to France.
Thomas
Becket
eventually agreed to return to England. However, as soon as he arrived
on English soil, he excommunicated (expelled from the Christian Church)
the Archbishop of York and other leading churchmen who had supported
Henry while he was away. Henry, who was in Normandy at the time, was
furious when he heard the news and supposedly shouted out: "Will
no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" Four of Henry's knights,
Hugh de Morville, William de Tracy, Reginald Fitz Urse, and Richard
Ie Bret, who heard Henry's angry outburst decided to travel to England
to see Becket. On the way to Canterbury the four knights stopped at
Bletchingley Castle to see Roger
of Clare.
When the knights arrived
at Canterbury Cathedral on 29th December 1170, they demanded that
Becket pardon the men he had excommunicated. When Becket refused,
they hacked him to death with their swords.
In 1517 a monk named Martin
Luther from
Wittenburg in Germany began
to criticise the power and corruption of the Pope and the Catholic
church. He attacked the Pope for pardoning people's sins in exchange
for money. Luther thought that it was immoral for the Pope's agents
(pardoners) to travel all over Europe selling these letters of indulgence.
Luther also criticised
the Pope for not allowing the Bible to be translated into other languages.
Luther argued that as the vast majority of people could not read Latin
they had to rely on what the priest told them was in the Bible.
Luther was very angry that
Pope Leo X was raising money in this way.
He believed that it was wrong for people to be able to buy forgiveness
for sins they had committed. Luther decided to write down his views
on the subject. He then nailed the paper to the door of the church
in Wittenberg.
Luther's views on the
Church were not new. In the 14th century, John
Wycliffe and
his Lollard followers had said similar things in England. However,
with the help of the English monarchy, the Lollard movement had been
crushed by the Pope and the Catholic church.
Pope Leo
X now ordered Martin
Luther to stop
stirring up trouble. This attempt to keep Luther quiet had the opposite
effect. Luther now started issuing statements about other issues.
For example, at that time people believed that the Pope was infallible
(incapable of error). However, Luther was convinced that Leo X was
wrong to sell indulgences. Therefore, Luther argued, the Pope could
not possibly be infallible.
If the Pope could be wrong
about indulgences, Luther argued he could be wrong about other things.
For hundreds of years popes had only allowed bibles to be printed
in Latin or Greek. Luther pointed out that only a minority of people
in Germany could read these languages. Therefore to find out what
was in the Bible they had to rely on priests who could read and speak
Latin or Greek. Luther, on the other hand, wanted people to read the
Bible for themselves.
In 1521 orders were given
for Luther to be arrested. However, Luther had many supporters in
Germany and some of these people helped to save his life by hiding
him in a castle. While Luther was there he translated the Bible into
German. It was not long
before copies of Luther's Bible were being
read by people all over Germany.
Martin
Luther was more
successful than John
Wycliffe in gaining
support for reforming the Church. His supporters, because they were
protesting against the way
the Church was governed, became known as Protestants.
Luther's ideas also spread to other countries. Gradually large numbers
of people living in England, the Netherlands (today called Holland
and Belgium), Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries began to
call themselves Lutherans or Protestants. Protestants were no longer
willing to accept the authority of the Pope. They argued that people
needed to read the Bible if they wanted to find out how God wanted
them to behave.
Henry
VIII initially disagreed with Luther's views. Henry feared that
criticism of the Church might encourage people to criticise the monarchy.
At the time, it was believed that Wycliffe's attacks on the Pope had
been partly responsible for the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. In
1521 Henry wrote a book attacking Luther's views on the Church. The
Pope was so pleased with Henry's loyalty that he gave him the title
'Defender of the Faith'.
Henry's opinions about
the power of the Pope changed after he was denied permission to divorce
Catherine of Aragon. In 1534, Henry made
himself head of the Church in England in place of the Pope. Although
Henry continued to persecute English Protestants, he was now also
hostile to those who remained loyal to the Pope.
Henry
VIII was particularly worried that he did not have the full support
of the monks and nuns in England. In 1535 Henry began arresting monks
for high treason. As a warning to others, five monks were publicly
tortured before being beheaded. Later that year others were executed,
together with several nuns.
In 1536 Henry gave permission
for an English translation of the Bible to be published in
England. He also ordered
that a copy of this Bible should be placed in every church in his
kingdom. Henry still considered himself to be a Catholic, but by taking
this action, he began to move the Church in the direction of Protestantism.
When Henry
VIII died in 1547. Edward
was too young to rule, so
his uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset,
took over the running of the country. The
Duke of Somerset was a Protestant and he soon began to make changes
to the Church of England. This included the introduction of an English
Prayer Book and the decision to allow members of the clergy to get
married. Attempts were made to destroy those aspects of religion that
were associated with the Catholic church, for example, the removal
of stained-glass windows in churches and the destruction of religious
wall-paintings.
Edward
VI was suffering
from tuberculosis and as his health
deteriorated suddenly, and John
Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, tried to persuade the king to
alter the succession in favour of his own daughter-in-law, Lady
Jane Grey. Jane
Grey was declared queen three days after Edward's death. However,
she was forced to abdicate nine days later in favour of Edward's half-sister,
Mary I.
Queen Mary, who had been
brought up as a Roman Catholic, now declared that the Pope was the
only true head of the Church. This was followed by the execution of
Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury
and other Protestants who refused to accept the Pope as head of the
Church. People were also punished if they were found reading bibles
that had been printed in the English language. However, the most common
cause of heresy concerned something
called transubstantiation. Catholics believed that the bread and wine
used at communion
became the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Protestants who refused
to believe this miracle happened during communion were in danger of
being executed.
When Elizabeth
became queen some of her ministers wanted her to execute Catholics
who refused to accept Protestant beliefs. Elizabeth refused and was
only willing to execute heretics who tried to overthrow her. This
included Mary, Queen of Scots.
Elizabeth
I died
in 1603 without children. Mary, Queen of Scots' son, was next in line
to the throne. As James
was
a Protestant, Parliament was also in favour of him becoming king.
The Roman Catholics
in
England were upset that there was going to be another Protestant monarch.
They also became very angry when James passed a law that imposed heavy
fines on people who did not attend Protestant church services.
In
May 1604, Robert Catesby devised the
Gunpowder
Plot,
a scheme to kill James
and
as many Members of Parliament as possible. At a meeting at the Duck
and Drake Inn Catesby explained his plan to Guy
Fawkes,
Thomas Percy, John
Wright
and Thomas Wintour. All the men agreed
under oath to join the conspiracy. Over the next few months Francis
Tresham,
Everard Digby, Robert
Wintour, Thomas Bates and Christopher
Wright also agreed to take part in the overthrow of the king.
After
the death of James
in
the explosion, Robert Catesby planned
to make the king's young daughter, Elizabeth, queen. In time, Catesby
hoped to arrange Elizabeth's marriage to a Catholic nobleman. It was
Everard Digby's task to kidnap Princess Elizabeth from Coombe Abbey.
Catesby's
plan involved blowing up the Houses of Parliament on 5 November. This
date was chosen because the king was due to open Parliament on that
day. At first the group tried to tunnel under Parliament. This plan
changed when Thomas Percy was able to
hire a cellar under the House of Lords. The
plotters then filled the cellar with barrels of gunpowder. Guy
Fawkes,
because of his munitions experience in the Netherlands, was given
the task of creating the explosion.
Francis
Tresham was worried that the explosion would kill his friend
and brother-in-law, Lord Monteagle.
On 26th October, Tresham sent Lord Monteagle a letter warning him
not to attend Parliament on 5th November.
Lord Monteagle became
suspicious and passed the letter to Robert
Cecil, the king's chief minister. Cecil quickly organised a thorough
search of the Houses of Parliament. While searching
the cellars below the House of Lords they found the gunpowder and
Guy Fawkes, one of the men involved in
the plot. He was tortured and he eventually gave the names of his
fellow conspirators.
The conspirators left London
and agreed to meet at Holbeche House in Staffordshire. News of their
hiding place reached the Sheriff of Worcester and on 8th November
the house was surrounded by troops. The men refused to surrender and
gunfire broke out. Over the next few minutes, Robert
Catesby, Thomas
Percy, Christopher
Wright
and John
Wright were killed.
Everard
Digby was the
only one of the conspirators to plead guilty. He gave several reasons
for his involvement in the Gunpowder Plot.
This included his Roman Catholic beliefs,
his friendship with Robert
Catesby and the
king's broken promises in regard to religious toleration.
Francis
Tresham
was arrested on
12th November. In the Tower of London he
wrote a full confession about his involvement in the Gunpowder
Plot. However, many people believed he was working as a double
agent for Robert Cecil.
Everard
Digby, Robert
Wintour and Thomas
Bates, were executed
on 30th January, 1606. Digby was hanged for only a short period and
was still alive when he was disembowelled. The following day Guy
Fawkes and Thomas
Wintour were
hanged, drawn and quartered.
In
recent years some historians have begun to question the traditional
story of the Gunpowder Plot. Some have argued that the conspiracy
was really devised by Robert Cecil and
Lord Monteagle. This version claims
that Cecil blackmailed Robert
Catesby into
organising the plot. It is argued that Cecil's aim was to make people
in England hate Catholics. For example, people were so angry after
they found out about the plot, that they agreed to Cecil's plans to
pass a series of laws persecuting Catholics.
It has also been pointed
out that James I gave Lord
Monteagle an annuity of £500 for life, plus lands worth
a further £200 per year. Rumours soon began circulating that
Monteagle had arranged for Francis
Tresham to be poisoned while being held captive
in the Tower of London.
When James
I died in 1625, his son Charles
I became king.
William Laud became the king's main adviser.
Laud
argued that the king ruled by Divine Right.
He claimed that the king had been appointed by God and people who
disagreed with him were bad Christians. Laud believed that Church
reforms had gone too far. Anglicans
tended
to support the policies of Laud but the Puritans
strongly disagreed with him.
Laud
now drew up a list of Puritan ministers who were then persecuted.
Freedom of worship was withdrawn from Protestant
refugees
living in Britain. When Laud gave instructions that the wooden communion
tables in churches should be replaced by stone altars, Puritans
accused Laud of trying to reintroduce Catholicism.
At
the end of the 18th century, the Roman Catholic Church in England
was very small. After two centuries of persecution it was estimated
that membership had fallen to about 100,000. The achievement of Catholic
Emancipation in 1829 helped to revive the church.
Irish immigration increased Roman Catholic membership to 250,000 in
1840. The numbers of Catholics arriving increased rapidly during the
Irish famine of 1845. Most of the new immigrants were extremely poor
and the Roman Catholic Church became very involved in charity work.
In 1865 Henry Edward Manning became the
leader of the Catholic Church in England. Active in social reform,
Manning won the respect of working class Catholics and the church
continued to grow during the rest of the century.
Available from Amazon Books
(order below)
