1532.

Questions agitated respecting the

and Clergy." The claim, however, being once admitted, gradually won its way, from the acts of the Convocation into those of the secular legislature'. That a spirit was actively at work, in opposition to the independent spiritual jurisdiction of the clergy, is further manifest from a paper drawn up about this time, and by some ascribed to the pen of Stephen Gardiner, then a strenuous advocate for the supremacy of the King. The document in question is very remarkable. It is addressed to some noble personage about the court, and suggests the following propositions for investigation and argument:

power and juris

diction of the

Clergy.

1. That the power of making canons, and even of inflicting excommunication, belongs not, by the law of God, to the clergy, but had begun, and continued, by the sufferance of temporal princes.

2. That it belongs to the King, in parliament, to decide what causes shall be determinable in the spiritual courts, and to limit the manner of process, without any excommunication.

3. That the exercise of spiritual jurisdiction by the clergy had withdrawn great profit from his Majesty.

4. That the King's Majesty hath as well the care of the souls of his subjects as of their bodies; and may, by the law of God, in his parliament, make laws touching as well the one as the other.

5. That the text, quæcunque ligaveritis, &c. gave authority to the Apostles to make laws and keep

1 See Collier, vol. ii. p. 61-64; and Append. No. 17; in which this grant is printed from the journals of the Convocation.

councils, until such time as a convenient number of lay-people should be converted to the faith; and that then the said text ceased. And, moreover, that the same text, being spoken to all the Church, as well as to the Apostles, gave power to the whole Church to make laws, and restrained the peculiar authority of the Apostles in that behalf.

6. That the successors of the Apostles have not like authority in all points as the Apostles had. That to affirm the Bishop of Rome to be head of the Universal Church, and thereby to have authority to summon general Councils, is heresy; and that the authority to summon general Councils, doth belong to Kings and Princes.

7. That the King may abolish, but cannot appoint holidays, without the authority of parliament.

8. That the text in Acts xx. 28, Take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, was not meant of such bishops only as be now of the clergy; but was, as well, meant and spoken of every ruler and of the Christian people.

governor

This paper is without a date; and it must remain doubtful whether it should be referred to the year 1534, when the Act was made for constituting the King supreme Head of the Church of England', or to a period somewhat earlier. In either case, it furnishes sufficient evidence of the principles and views which, about that time, were becoming familiar, not

1 See Strype, Eccl. Mem. vol. i. c. 17.

only to licentious thinkers among the lower orders of the laity, but to persons in the habit of professional inquiry into such matters. And, therefore, without undertaking the defence of every opinion propounded in this document, we may at least rely upon it as a very striking indication of the change which was then passing over the public mind.

1532.

General state of

feeling and opi

nion relative to

reformation.

The state of religious feeling and opinion in England, then, about the time of Cranmer's advancement to the primacy, may be sufficiently collected from the foregoing compendious exposition. The Romish corruptions, both in doctrine and practice, were very freely questioned in the humble walks of life; a bitter impatience of ecclesiastical usurpation was beginning to pervade the higher regions of society; and the King had already succeeded in obtaining from the Convocation, at least a partial and qualified acknowledgment of his prerogative, as supreme governor of the Church of England. Neither can it reasonably be doubted, that the doctrines of Luther had begun to produce formidable disturbance in the principles of a considerable portion of the clergy, both with respect to discipline and faith. Even among the hierarchy, individuals were to be found, who, though still faithful to the dogmatical theology of the Papal Church, were by no means unprepared for some abridgment of the pontifical power and jurisdiction. In common with the whole realm, the priesthood had long been grievously oppressed by the exactions of the court of Rome, and must have seen, with just in

dignation, the encroachments of the monastic orders. They might, consequently, not be unwilling to hear of such a reformation of the existing system as would offer them relief from servitude and extortion, and restore them to the dignity and influence which had been wrested from them by the intrigues or the violence of the regular clergy. This feeling, however, though unquestionably natural, had the effect of weakening their power of opposition to the spirit which was abroad. It disabled them from presenting a front of resistance, either so extended or so compact, as the dangers of their condition seemed to require and the consequence was, that the perishable portions of the ancient structure sunk beneath repeated assaults. It now remains for us to contemplate the perseverance and the wisdom, with which one man laboured gradually to clear away the worthless and ruinous materials, and to exhibit the enduring parts of the fabric in their original simplicity and grandeur.

CHAPTER II.

A.D. 1489-1531.

Parentage and Birth of Cranmer-His early education-Sent to Cambridge Is elected fellow of Jesus College-His first marriage—The story that he was ostler at the Dolphin-Appointed reader at Buckingham College-Becomes a widower, and is restored to his fellowship-Is offered promotion to Wolsey's College at Oxford, which he declines-Proceeds to the degree of D.D.-Is appointed Divinity Lecturer to his College, and Public Examiner in Theology-Becomes tutor to the Cressys—Is nominated a delegate on the matrimonial cause, but is unable to attend-Avocation of the cause to Rome-Cranmer's opinion respecting the divorce-His introduction to the King-Is commanded to put his opinion in writing—Is sent with the embassy to Rome Opinions of the Universities—Memorial to the Pope —Cranmer offers to maintain his opinion by disputation at Rome -Returns to England-His account of Pole's Book on the Divorce-His second mission to the continent-His marriage with the niece of Osiander.

THOMAS CRANMER was the second son of a gentleman, whose family had, for several generations, been settled in the county of Nottingham,

mer.

Parentage and and who traced his lineage to a follower Birth of Cranof the Norman Conqueror. It was at the village of Aslacton in that county that Thomas was born and we are told that, so recently as the year 1790, traces might be seen of the walks and