This essay by C. H. Smyth won the Thirlwall and Gladstone Prize in 1925 and looks in depth at the English Reformation under Edward VI.

This book describes the membership, business and procedure of the privy council during the minority of Henry VIII's son successor, Edward VI. It examines the policy-making, administrative and quasi-judicial functions of the central institution of Tudor government at a time of war, rebellion, financial instability, reform in the Church and potentially violent political change. Professor Hoak analyses the way in which, through the council - a body whose formal existence dated only from 1540 - the dukes of Somerset and Northumberland successively governed the realm in the effective absence of a king. He sheds light on the nature of Somerset's failure, Northumberland's purpose and achievements, as well as on the techniques by which he controlled both the king and council, and the politics of the Reformation in England at the moment of the Protestant's triumph, 1549-50. The book demonstrates the extent to which the Edwardian privy council confirmed and continued earlier 'revolutionary' reform in government; it establishes the uniqueness of the place of Edward's council in the history of Tudor government and of royal councils generally in the sixteenth-century Europe.

Cranmer's career set within the intellectual and theological context of 16c England. Fascinating collection of essays - Cranmer's career is set within the context of European politics and religion and his contributions to English liturgy and theology. The scope of the various essays is wide, encompassing his intellectual relations with Erasmus and Luther, his period of ambassadorial service on the Continent, his remarkable command of the English language at one of the most important periods in its development as a vehicle for intellectualand religious debate, and his extensive redrafting of a new code of law in place of the old ecclesiastical canon law. NOTES AND QUERIES Dr PAUL AYRIS is Director of Library Services at University College London; Dr DAVID SELWYN is Reader in Ecclesiastical History, University of Wales, Lampeter.

First published in 1962, Jasper Ridley’s biography of Thomas Cranmer, leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I, examines the attitude of Cranmer’s biographies and critics from Morice and Harpsfield to Pollard and Belloc, but draws its facts exclusively from contemporary authorities, subjecting their statements to careful scrutiny, and presenting a considerable amount of material for the first time, ignored by all previous biographers. Ridley threw new light on many old controversies and put forward a new interpretation of Cranmer’s recantations and retraction, presenting a picture of Cranmer which surprised traditionalists of both the ‘pro-Cranmer’ and ‘anti-Cranmer’ schools.

Published in 1965: It has been maintained by an eminent scholar recently dead that the chief content of modern history is the emancipation of conscience from the control of authority. From that point of view the student of Tudor times will not be exclusive in his choice of heroes. He will find room in his calendar of saints for More as well as for Cranmer. Both had grave imperfections, and both took their share in enforcing the claims of authority over those of conscience. Nor perhaps is it true to say that they died in order that we might be free; but they died for conscience' sake, and unless they and others had died conscience would still be in chains. That was Cranmer's service in the cause of humanity his Church owes him no less, for in the Book of Common Prayer he gave it the most effective of all its possessions.

The reign of Queen Mary is popularly remembered largely for her re-introduction of Catholicism into England, and especially for the persecution of Protestants, memorably described in John Foxe's Acts and Monuments. Mary's brief reign has often been treated as an aberrant interruption of England's march to triumphant Protestantism, a period of political sterility, foreign influence and religious repression rightly eclipsed by the happier reign of her more sympathetic half-sister, Elizabeth. In pursuit of a more balanced assessment of Mary's religious policies, this volume explores the theology, pastoral practice and ecclesiastical administration of the Church in England during her reign. Focusing on the neglected Catholic renaissance which she ushered in, the book traces its influences and emphases, its methods and its rationales - together the role of Philip's Spanish clergy and native English Catholics - in relation to the wider influence of the continental Counter Reformation and Mary's humanist learning. Measuring these issues against the reintroduction of papal authority into England, and the balance between persuasion and coercion used by the authorities to restore Catholic worship, the volume offers a more nuanced and balanced view of Mary's religious policies. Addressing such intriguing and under-researched matters from a variety of literary, political and theological perspectives, the essays in this volume cast new light, not only on Marian Catholicism, but also on the wider European religious picture.

In his important evaluation of the theological leader of the English Reformation, G.W. Bromiley charts Cranmer's doctrinal views, scriptural interpretation and liturgical composition. His nuanced position on various controversial issues of the day, not least baptism, is articulated with clarity and care, and his ecumenical sensitivity is foregrounded. While arguably more adept as a scholar than as a creative theologian in his own right, Cranmer's writing nevertheless formed the cornerstone of future Anglican theology. Through his Articles of Religion (42, later reduced to 39) and the Book of Common Prayer, he set the parameters within which the Church of England was to operate. Perhaps most significantly, as Bromiley shows, his extensive citation of patristic sources established a precedent for his successors that continues today. Written by one of the great ecclesiastical historians of the twentieth century, Thomas Cranmer, Theologian is the essential starting point for understanding Cranmer's influence and legacy in the Anglican church.

This is the first full-scale study of interactions between Italy's religious reform and English reformations, which were notoriously liable to pick up other people's ideas. The book is of fundamental importance for those whose work includes revisionist themes of ambiguity, opportunism and interdependence in sixteenth century religious change. Anne Overell adopts an inclusive approach, retaining within the group of Italian reformers those spirituali who left the church and those who remained within it, and exploring commitment to reform, whether 'humanist', 'protestant' or 'catholic'. In 1547, when the internationalist Archbishop Thomas Cranmer invited foreigners to foster a bolder reformation, the Italians Peter Martyr Vermigli and Bernardino Ochino were the first to arrive in England. The generosity with which they were received caused comment all over Europe: handsome travel expenses, prestigious jobs, congregations which included the great and the good. This was an entry con brio, but the book also casts new light on our understanding of Marian reformation, led by Cardinal Reginald Pole, English by birth but once prominent among Italy's spirituali. When Pole arrived to take his native country back to papal allegiance, he brought with him like-minded men and Italian reform continued to be woven into English history. As the tables turned again at the accession of Elizabeth I, there was further clamour to 'bring back Italians'. Yet Elizabethans had grown cautious and the book's later chapters analyse the reasons why, offering scholars a new perspective on tensions between national and international reformations. Exploring a nexus of contacts in England and in Italy, Anne Overell presents an intriguing connection, sealed by the sufferings of exile and always tempered by political constraints. Here, for the first time, Italian reform is shown as an enduring part of the Elect Nation's literature and myth.