Books in Brief: The Reformation and the English People

The Reformation and the English People, by J. J. Scarisbrick (Blackwell, 204 pp., $24.95)

There can be little doubt that the Reformation in England received much of its support from ambitious men who took it as an opportunity to acquire wealth or power for themselves. What is more difficult to determine is how the general run of Englishmen viewed the new order of things introduced by Henry VIII and his successors. Drawing on various types of evidence—individual wills, confraternity registers, local town records—Professor Scarisbrick concludes that, for the most part, people were quite content with the Catholic way of life. Up to and even after Henry’s suppression of the monasteries, individuals regularly left bequests in their wills for memorial Masses; there was widespread involvement in the building of churches; lay confraternities and guilds organized largely for pious purposes continued to enroll new members; pilgrimages remained popular as ever. The response of many people to the revival of the Faith under Mary Tudor is also quite telling. Churches that had been despoiled were restored. Property that had been alienated was purchased by local towns. Altar stones, sacred vessels, and priestly vestments that had disappeared during the reign of Edward gradually reappeared. And this was the work not of the government but, rather, of laymen devoted to the old order. The question naturally arises: Why then did the Reformation succeed if so many people were opposed to it? Professor Scarisbrick credits Henry and Cromwell with keeping their opponents off guard by a policy of attacking isolated targets (e.g., smaller monastic communities) while avoiding an open commitment to radical change. Furthermore the English Reformation had, at its inception, the advantage of not being linked with Protestantism. As a result very few Englishmen expected a “next step” even after several steps had already been taken. This work, in addition to being a fine study of the period, will also be useful to those interested in the techniques of “revolution from above.”

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Robert P. Rooney

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The Reformation and the English People, by J. J. Scarisbrick (Blackwell, 204 pp., $24.95)

There can be little doubt that the Reformation in England received much of its support from ambitious men who took it as an opportunity to acquire wealth or power for themselves. What is more difficult to determine is how the general run of Englishmen viewed the new order of things introduced by Henry VIII and his successors. Drawing on various types of evidence—individual wills, confraternity registers, local town records—Professor Scarisbrick concludes that, for the most part, people were quite content with the Catholic way of life. Up to and even after Henry’s suppression of the monasteries, individuals regularly left bequests in their wills for memorial Masses; there was widespread involvement in the building of churches; lay confraternities and guilds organized largely for pious purposes continued to enroll new members; pilgrimages remained popular as ever. The response of many people to the revival of the Faith under Mary Tudor is also quite telling. Churches that had been despoiled were restored. Property that had been alienated was purchased by local towns. Altar stones, sacred vessels, and priestly vestments that had disappeared during the reign of Edward gradually reappeared. And this was the work not of the government but, rather, of laymen devoted to the old order. The question naturally arises: Why then did the Reformation succeed if so many people were opposed to it? Professor Scarisbrick credits Henry and Cromwell with keeping their opponents off guard by a policy of attacking isolated targets (e.g., smaller monastic communities) while avoiding an open commitment to radical change. Furthermore the English Reformation had, at its inception, the advantage of not being linked with Protestantism. As a result very few Englishmen expected a “next step” even after several steps had already been taken. This work, in addition to being a fine study of the period, will also be useful to those interested in the techniques of “revolution from above.”