The Protestant Reformation in England was very much tied up with politics. It was for political reasons that Henry the Eighth felt the need to break with the Church of Rome, and it was largely because of politics that Queen Elizabeth was compelled to reaffirm the Protestant stance of England whether she really desired to or not. Protestantism however was not unwelcome. It gave the monarch independence from Rome, and a greater control over ecclesiastical affairs in the kingdom. Protestantism was also advantageous to those at the top of the social pyramid. With the dissolution of the monasteries in the mid fifteen twenties, church land fell to the Crown, and Henry shrewdly sold much of it to the nobility and gentry, which not only increased their economic and political power, but also ensured that they had a vested interest in the survival of the new religion. Protestantism also appealed religiously to the elite. It was a religion which appealed to the intellect, and allowed the educated to put their intellectual skills into action. It also distanced them from the more irrational, pagan world of the lower classes. Rather than having to partake in rituals and ceremonies, Protestant Culture maintained that all that was required for salvation was to read and learn the Scriptures, and apply their teachings to everyday life. All else, such as the performance of good works, praying to the Saints, and Confession, were a distraction from true faith in God. But what about the common people ? What would they gain from this new religion? They certainly would not stand to gain economically or politically, and to what extent could they participate in a religious Culture which demanded not only literacy, but study and application? In many ways, the lower classes had little choice but to embrace Protestantism. With the exception of Mary's short reign, from the moment Henry the Eighth broke with the Church of Rome, Protestantism was the official state religion of England. Initially it was a very loose Protestantism as Henry's main objective was to establish his authority as Head of the Church in England, but with the accession of the boy King Edward the Sixth in 1547, the Church, under the influence of the Protector Somerset, and then Northumberland, was pushed in a far more radical Protestant direction. Those who held, or attended private masses, were to be punished by imprisonment. Under Elizabeth a similar line was taken, and although the emphasis was on outward conformity rather than inward conviction, there were strict recusancy laws imposed by the act of Uniformity of 1559, which fined recusants twelve shillings. With the increased threat from Catholics as Elizabeth's reign wore on, this fine was raised to a phenomenal amount of twenty pounds a month. Such a vast sum of money was beyond the means of the average family, who would not even earn half as much money in a year, and unless they were prepared to risk imprisonment, would have to attend their parish church. From the very beginning the Reformation touched the lives of the ordinary people, and they could not escape it. The visual and oral world in which contemporaries lived, became visually and aurally different. Monastic life disappeared, as did ornaments and statues in churches. Paintings were taken down and covered, and the altar was moved. There were also differences in the way services were conducted, as well as the message being preached, and certain religious celebrations were erased from the calendar and replaced with secular celebrations. All this, in a relatively short period of time, must have created an impact on contemporaries, and anyone who had the remotest contact with the outside world would have realized that something of great significance was occurring. Contemporaries were now told that all the rituals and customs they had faithfully observed were wrong, and rather than leading to salvation, would more likely lead to damnation.

There was a considerable attempt by the Government to ensure that Protestantism was not only conformed to, but that the doctrine was understood. In many respects, far more was done to ensure that the people were educated in Protestant beliefs than had ever been done for Catholicism. In Catholicism the people were largely spectators. Catholicism emphasised the superiority of the priest, he alone could intermediate between man and God, and often it was he alone who took the Eucharist. The laity were not encouraged to read the Bible, and considering it was in Latin, the uneducated would have found it impossible anyway. Therefore the people were totally dependent on the priest for their understanding of the scriptures and all matters relating to salvation. Protestantism, however, demanded more than passive observance, and attempts were made to ensure that the people understood what was expected of them. Church services were given in English, and the Bible was put on display in most churches where it could be relatively easily accessed. Also the clergy were forever busy writing and preparing works which tried to make Protestantism an active part of everyday lives. At least in theory Protestant Culture was available to everyone.

One way the reformers tried to help the masses understand the rudiments of Protestant faith was through the catechism. This technique had been used by Catholics but it became of paramount importance to the Protestant clergy. During Elizabeth's reign it became a formal duty of the clergy to ensure that the people of their parish were fully catechised, and clergy who were failing to serve their people in this respect, could find themselves in trouble. It seems that on the whole the clergy took the matter of catechising seriously. They were constantly trying to find ways of improving the effectiveness of teaching techniques and the contents of the catechisms, as well as creating easier ones. There is some indication that their works were widely used. John More's book of catechisms which was first published in 1572, had by 1634, ran into forty editions. Even if it so happened that the entire congregation was illiterate, the catechism was something they could still fully participate in, and from them, learn the rudiments of faith.

The culture of the masses was overwhelmingly oral, and it is likely that stories from the Bible were not as alien to the public as some contemporary sources suggest.In the early seventeenth century Nicholas Bownde stated;
 

"...they are utterlie ignorant in and never so much as have heard before of many textes that are alleged in the sermons." (2)
 

And Thomas Hooker declared;
 

"...it is incredible and inconceivable what ignorance is among them" (3)
 

However, such accounts need to be treated cautiously. Such evidence can be, and has been, used to suggest that Protestantism was not accessible to the masses, but if the ignorance was as bad as such individuals believed, then this raises the whole question of whether Christianity itself was accessible to the masses, let alone Protestantism. Despite important doctrinal differences between Catholicism and Protestantism, the rudiments of both faiths are the same: a belief in the holy trinity; the eternity of the soul; the Virgin Mary; the Crucifixion; the Resurrection, and the need for prayer and repentance. If the people were ignorant of these basic beliefs, then it was not Protestantism they were ignorant of but Christianity in general. As Graves and Silcock suggest, it is likely that the ignorance of the lower classes was exaggerated by over zealous Puritans. It is reasonable to assume that even if the lower classes did not know the detailed ins and outs of theological issues such as predestination, redemption and salvation, they must have had a general knowledge of the life of Jesus Christ. They must at least have been aware that Christmas was the celebration of his birth and Easter his death, and nights around the fire must have told about the miracles and things that he did. Agnes Priest, living in the mid-sixteenth century, was illiterate, yet she had a great knowledge of the scriptures which she had learnt through catechisms, sermons and stories. I. Green states;
 

"One can also deduce from other sources that a large number of the laity were very familiar with parts of the Bible, especially the canticles and psalms, and probably with the most regularly repeated passages of the Book of Common Prayer and the homilies." (4)
 

And Margaret Spufford argues that the plebians were not only well steeped in knowledge of the scriptures, but that they, just like the educated and the wealthy, thought seriously on theological issues, often coming to their own conclusions. She states;
 

"...even the humblest members, the very poor, and the women, and those living in physical isolation thought deeply on religious matters and were profoundly influenced by them." (5)
 

Although officially Protestantism did not embrace activities such as drama, dance and ballad-singing, especially in the early years of the seventeenth century, these were useful means of disseminating Protestant beliefs and making them accessible to the illiterate and the poor. Arguably it was only the more extreme Protestants who objected to such practices, for such activities were by no means exclusive to the lower classes. The Court of Elizabeth, for example, is renown for it splendour and liveliness, and Elizabeth herself enjoyed music and drama, whether religious or secular. It was perhaps unfortunate that the avid Protestant reformers did not appreciate the value of ballads in educating the people, and increasingly tried to suppress them. Ballads were not only an entertaining way of passing the time, but they could have a significant moral message. They were also relatively cheap to buy, being under a penny in the sixteenth century, and were often accompanied with a picture which could tell an important story in itself. Indeed, MacCulloch argues that in spite of English iconophobia, pictures were employed and proved to be a powerful means of transmitting Protestant doctrine. He states;
 

"The English reformation was not as skilled at using pictures to convey its message as Martin Luther had been, but there were considerable efforts to produce devotional prints purged of popery which could be stuck on the walls of taverns or humble homes; in particular, the pictures of Foxe's "Acts and Monuments" provided a lasting success for English Protestantism." (6)
 

Admittedly these pictures were not always effective, and pictures accompanying ballads often bore little relation to the actual moral of the ballad, but some pictures could be informative, such as the picture accompanying the early seventeenth century ballad, "A New-yeeres- gift for the Pope". This ballad emphasises the importance of the Bible over "Bells, Beads and Crosses" (7)and the heading reads;
 
 

Can ballance the Bible for weight, and true worth:

Your Bells, Beads and Crosses, you see will not doo't

Or pull down your scale, with the divell to boot." (8)
 

It is aptly illustrated by a heavenly scale, which is weighted to the ground on one side with the Bible, and although the other scale is full to the top with trinkets, relics, and even a priest, it cannot out weigh the Bible. The anti-Christ association of Catholicism is also implied by placing the devil among them. Indeed, in the latter half of the sixteenth century a predominant feature of English Protestantism was a vehement anti-Catholicism. This was certainly an area that the masses could, and did, participate in. This sentiment began in Mary's reign with her burning of Protestants at the stake and marriage to the Catholic Prince Philip of Spain, but in Elizabeth's reign, with the Spanish threat of invasion, and the attempts of a minority of radical Catholics to assassinate the Queen, anti-Catholicism reached fever pitch. Catholicism became not only a concern to the ruling classes who feared that a Catholic monarch would confiscate their lands, but it also became embedded in popular culture. At this social level, Catholics were portrayed as a group to be most feared and distrusted as agents of Lucifer. Even if the average person was not aware of the real doctrinal differences between the two branches of Christianity, such pronounced anti-Catholic propaganda was sure to disseminate the view that the use of crucifixes, trinkets and all other inanimate objects were wrong, and that to use them was almost satanic. This was perhaps partly educating the people in the Protestant belief that such things are not needed for salvation, but even if this was not the case, it would certainly push people in a more Protestant direction, making them disassociate themselves from Catholicism.

The advent of Protestantism meant that popular Catholic celebrations such as Saints days were attacked, and the number of "Holy days" and "Festival days" were significantly reduced. However, the people were not long deprived of occasions to celebrate, for the "Protestant" calendar made compensations. In Elizabeth's reign it became customary to celebrate the Queen's birthday and accession day, and the latter would be celebrated with much merriment by both the elite and the masses. Isaac Colfe, himself a preacher, described the way the popular Queen's accession day was celebrated;
 

"...the cheerfulness of our countenances, the decency of our garments, the songs of our lips, the clapping of our hands, our melody on instruments of music, the making of bonfires, the ringing of bells, the sounding of trumpets, the display of banners, the shooting of gun..." (9)
 

It also became customary to celebrate national deliverances, such as the defeat of the Armada in 1588, and the discovery of the gunpowder plot in 1604; celebrations which all classes could participate in. Far from segregating the masses from this latent aspect of Protestant Culture, such celebrations had more of a unifying effect, uniting all social groups in a rising national identity.

However, it cannot be denied that at least initially, Protestantism was a movement which favoured the more wealthy and literate in society. To begin with, it was an intellectual movement. It took traditional views and challenged them, dealing with relative concepts and philosophies. It was therefore, perhaps more suited to the educated. The emphasis on interpreting the Scriptures for oneself placed the masses at a disadvantage. Not because they were intellectually inferior - social status is no indication of intellectual capacity - but because they simply had not been taught how to deal with abstract concepts and ideas. Education was expensive, and even if it had not been, few families could have afforded to for-go the money a child could earn once he or she had reached employable age. Educational provisions were also fairly poor in many villages. Under the Tudors the availability of education had improved, but it was still in a primitive stage. It was not until after the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 that education became more widely available. Margaret Spufford seems impressed that in Cambridgeshire one fifth of the villages had a licensed schoolmaster continuously from 1570 to 1620 (10), but despite her enthusiasm, this means that an overwhelming four fifths did not. There were so called "Free" schools, but only in the sense that they did not demand tuition fees, and Wrightson argues that even when fees were not asked for,
 

"...parents had to face the expense of books, candles and writing equipment, while if a child was placed in a grammar school at some distance from his home there was board and lodgings to be paid for." (11)
 

It is likely that the children of the lower class parents did have some degree of education, especially the male children, and McCollough argues that it is likely that the ability to read was far more widespread than has been recognised, but the educational opportunity of the poor was limited. A child was usually withdrawn from school at a very young age, when he had barely learnt the essentials of reading and writing. Neither was education something that the masses eagerly sought after. It was valued, but was not regarded as one of life's essentials. Reading and writing were essential for the middle class white collar occupations such as law or doctoring, but for the more physical occupations such as farming and labouring, it was not really needed - and what was not really needed, could be dispensed with.

Illiteracy and semi-illiteracy were therefore common, and this was a considerable bar to the central emphasis of Protestantism - the reading of the Scriptures. Protestantism dictated that everyone should read and become familiar with the scriptures for themselves, but this was virtually impossible if one could not read. Barry Reay states;
 

"Bible-based Protestantism was all very well for the more literate middling sort, but it had little meaning for illiterate labourers." (12)
 

Bible reading was also problematic in other respects - problems that related entirely to the financial and social situation of the lower classes. Firstly, Bibles were expensive. In Morebath in 1538, the English translation of the Bible cost over thirteen shillings, and by 1559 in Crediton, it cost the phenomenal amount of twenty shillings (13). The average family, especially in the latter years of Elizabeth's reign when economic conditions were harsh, simply could not afford to part with such vast sums of money, even if it was to purchase the "Holy Book". Also considering the degrees of illiteracy, many would not be able to read it any way, and it would become no more than an expensive show piece. This was not a problem to the wealthy who no doubt owned a considerable amount of books and probably owned a Bible each. For the average person, the only access to a Bible would be the one in the local parish church. In 1538, every church was instructed to have a copy of the Bible on display, and with the exception of Mary's reign, this practise continued. However, this was not as effective as having one's own Bible, and could severely limit access to the word of God. Most people would be busy throughout the day, and therefore have little time to visit the church, and for people living in the country, the church may have been too far away to visit at leisure. Also in the early years of the Reformation, Bible-reading was not generally encouraged by the clergy. Indeed, Henry the Eighth, a Catholic at heart, decreed laws which significantly reduced the number of people who were legally allowed to read the Scriptures for themselves, particularly labourers and women. The only real access to the word of God for the average person was still, in the late sixteenth century, the preaching of the clergy.

Preaching was an essential element of Protestant culture and an aspect that was commonly accessible to the masses as well as the elite; it only required an individual to attend church and listen to the sermon. However, there is a vast difference between listening to someone and being able to understand them. Preaching again seemed to have favoured the more literate and wealthy members of society. The educated would arguably be more conditioned to pay attention to the long duration of sermons, and be able to deal with the concepts and issues they gave rise to. The wealthy would also be at an advantage because of their easy access to the Scriptures. Keith Thomas argues that the poor were not only so disadvantaged when it came to preaching, but that it was not something which really appealed to them, being more of an irritation than an inspiration. He states;
 

"Preaching was popular with the educated but aroused the irritation of the others." (14)

There are certainly indications from primary sources that sermons were unpopular. It is reported, for example, that in 1615 a York man threw snowballs at a congregation coming from church crying;
 

"...it was never (a) good world since there were so many sermons." (15)
 

However, it would perhaps be a distortion to say that this was a typical view. Many may have enjoyed a good sermon, and Queen Elizabeth's rather unsuccessful attempt to suppress prophesying, which could be, and was in certain areas, a social event, seems to suggest that a proportion of the population were eager for sermons.

The dissemination of Protestantism was also hampered by the ineffectiveness of the clergy. This was certainly reflected in their preaching, and it seems that many were incapable of giving a competent sermon. There were also criticisms aired about the general incompetency in the way ministers administered to their flocks. Again one has to use such evidence cautiously, but it does suggest that there was a need for a more effective clergy. John Locke (1632-1701) argued that many preachers did not even try to simplify the doctrine but preached in an academic, abstract way, which was way above the comprehension of the average person. He stated;
 

"You may as well talk Arabic to the poor day labourer as the notions and languages that the books and disputes of religions are filled with, and as soon will you be understood." (16)
 

E. Reeve in his The Christian Divinitie (1631), noted that this problem also arose with the books the clergy wrote to help people with Bible study and their general understanding of the faith;
 

"There are now extant in English sundry books very profitable, which few of the common people do make use of...for that their style and words for the most part are for scholars." (17)
 

although it is likely that the cost of these books played a significant part as well. It seems that many of the preachers did not quite understand what they were talking about themselves, and therefore were ineffective communicants. By 1640 the quality of the clergy had improved greatly, but in the sixteenth century the knowledge of many ministers left a lot to be desired. One problem was that the early clergy had been trained in a "Catholic" manner which MacCulloch argues was not so intellectually or personally demanding. He argues that the priests did not;
 

"...have to be particularly clever or articulate, able to instil fresh fire in the laity's understanding of Christian faith: as long as they could remember the sequence of actions and words of the local variant in the Latin mass, it was enough." (18)
 

They were thus not prepared for the pastoral role that Protestantism now demanded. A Protestant survey of Gloucester in 1551, showed just how incapable some members of the clergy were. Out of over three hundred ministers, less than half were able to repeat the ten commandments accurately, thirty three were unable to locate them in the Bible, and nine were even unable to count them (19). By Elizabeth's reign things had not improved greatly. In 1576, three hundred and ninety six clergy-men were tested for their knowledge of the Scriptures in Lincoln and Stow, and less than half were found to have sufficient knowledge (20).Many Parishes were even without a minister. In Lincolnshire for example, fourteen percent of Church livings were vacant (21) and even in 1610, thirty out of eighty Chapelries serving Lancashire were vacant (22).

Neither was Protestantism only intellectually demanding. It was also morally demanding. Barry Reay argues that these two elements combined may have made the masses not want to embrace the new religion whether it was within their reach or not. He states;
 

"...there is no reason to suppose that an intellectually demanding and morally rigorous religion transmitted by the written and spoken word had a broad, natural appeal." (23)
 

And Duffy states;
 

"The world of minister and godly book, of Sabbath observance, sermon-gadding and repetition, sobriety, chastity, respectability and thrift, stood over against the world of the ale-house and the cunning man, of ballad and broad side, May-pole and dancing and Sunday-sports, tabling and dicing, bowling and cards, cakes and ale, and getting wenches with child." (24)
 

Certainly it could be argued that Catholicism was a religion which was far more accessible and appealing to the masses. It was more of a performing religion, and suited an illiterate world. Catholicism did not emphasise the importance of Bible-reading, on the contrary it diminished it, placing all importance on the educated priest. It paradoxically therefore, allowed the illiterate man or woman more of an opportunity to participate. All they had to do to was listen and respond to the Priest, and partake in communal prayer, Confession, and other Catholic rituals. In many ways Catholicism also offered more comfort. Crucifixes, candles, rosaries, paintings, images, these were all tangible things that a person could touch and make sense of, where as for most the Bible was just pages of unmeaningful letters, and the words of an incompetent preacher, just incomprehensible ramblings. Also the very doctrine of Catholicism could give some sort of security in an uncertain world of death, plague and famine. Catholicism taught that a person could gain their own salvation by doing good works, and even if this failed, there was always the possibility that the prayers of relatives would shorten that purging time in Purgatory. In all Catholicism was a religion which suited the superstitious world in which contemporaries lived.

It can be seen therefore that although those below the social elite in the sixteenth and seventeenth century did have access to Protestant Culture, this access was limited. The masses had little choice but to outwardly conform to the new religion - there were heavy recusant fines if they did not, and they were constantly being bombarded by both the Church and the Government with Protestant propaganda. They were taken through the processes of leaning the Catechism, the psalms, and were sometimes tested for their knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures, and Protestant faith in general. The Church and the Government did try to make Protestant take root amongst the people, and were largely successful, but it was a slow process, and the devotional, superstitious nature of the people still prevailed. In theory, the attempts of the Government and the Church made Protestantism accessible to all, but in practice, their policies met with problems. Having a Bible available in every church was all well and good, but relatively worthless if hardly anyone in the congregation could read it, and although catechisms were useful, as Patricia Collinson argues, they could be difficult to learn, and difficult to apply their teachings to everyday living. Church services were now performed in English, which was a great improvement, but until the competence of the clergy improved, and the people became more familiar with the word of God, there was always the possibility that sermons would be misunderstood, or not understood at all. Arguably, Protestant Culture could not be totally accessible to those below the social elite until they had overcome that one hurdle - illiteracy, which made that one vital aspect of Protestant Culture inaccessible; Bible-study.
 
 
 

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 

1. P. Collinson, The religion of Protestants (Oxford, 1982)

2. D. Cressy, Bonfires and Bells: National memort and the Protestant Calendar in Elizabethan and Stuart England (London, 1989)

3. E. Duffy, "The Godly and the Multitude in Stuart England", in The Seventeenth Century, 1, (1986)

4. I. Green, "'For Children in Yeers and Children in Understanding': The Emergence of the English Catechism under Elizabeth and the Early Stuarts", in Journal of Ecclesiastical History, XXXVIII

5. M. Ingram, "From Reformation to Toleration: Popular Religious Cultures in England, 1540-1690" in T. Harris (ed.), Popular Culture in England,c. 1500-1850 (London, 1995)

6. J. Lotherington (ed.) The Tudor YearsThe Tudor Years (Hodder and Stoughton, 1995)

7. I . Luxton, "The Reformation and Popular Culture" in F. Heal and R. O'Day (eds.) Church and Society in England: Henry VIII to James I (London, 1977)

8. D. MacColloch, The Later Reformation in England 1547-1603 (London, 1990)

9. B. Reay, "Popular Religion" in B. Reay (ed.), Popular Culture in Seventeenth Century England (London, 1985)

10. M. Spufford, Small Books and Pleasant Histories (London, 1981)

11. K. Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic (Harmondsworth, 1971)

12. T. Watt, Cheap Print and Popular Piety, 1550-1640 (Cambridge, 1991)

13. R. Whiting, The Blind Devotion of the People: Popular Religion and the English Reformation (Cambridge, 1991)

13. K. Wrightson, English Society 1580-1680 (London, 1982)

14. J. Youings, Sixteenth Century England (London, 1984)
 
 

ENDNOTES
 

1.M. Ingram, "From Reformation to Toleration: Popular Religious Cultures in England, 1540-1690" in T. Harris (ed.), Popular Culture in England,c. 1500-1850 (London, 1995) p.135.

2. N. Bownde in K. Wrightson, English Society 1580-1680 (London, 1982) p.204.

3. Thomas Hooker in B. Reay, "Popular Religion" in B. Reay (ed.), Popular Culture in Seventeenth Century England (London, 1985)p.94.

4. I. Green, "'For Children in Yeers and Children in Understanding': The Emergence of the English Catechism under Elizabeth and the Early Stuarts", in Journal of Ecclesiastical History, XXXVIII p.413.

5. Margaret Spufford, "Contrasting Communities" cited in P. Collinson, The religion of Protestants (Oxford, 1982) p.198.

6. D. MacColloch, The Later Reformation in England 1547-1603 (London, 1990) p.167.

7. "A New-Yeeres-gift for the Pope" (1625) from the Pepys' collection, cited in Marsh Songs of the Seventeenth century (Belfast, 1994)

8. Ibid.

9. Isaac Colfe (1588) cited in D. Cressy, Bonfires and Bells: National memort and the Protestant Calendar in Elizabethan and Stuart England (London, 1989) p.67.

10. M. Spufford, Small Books and Pleasant Histories (London, 1981) p.21.

11. K. Wrightson, English Society 1580-1680 (London, 1982)p.186.

12. B. Reay, "Popular Religion" in B. Reay (ed.), Popular Culture in Seventeenth Century England (London, 1985)p.110.

13. R. Whiting, The Blind Devotion of the People: Popular Religion and the English Reformation (Cambridge, 1991) p.196.

14. K. Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic (Harmondsworth, 1971) p.191.

15. A York man (1615) cited in B. Reay. Op. Cit. p.110.

16. John Lockecited in K. Thomas, Op. cit. p.193.

17. E. Reeve, "The Christian Divinitie" (1631) cited in K. Thomas, Ibid. p.193.

18. D. MacColloch, Op. cit. p.3.

19. P. Heath, The English Parish Clergy on the Eve of the Reformation cited in B. Reay, Op. Cit. p.97

20. K. Wrightson, Op. cit. p.206.

21. Ibid. p.206.

22. Ibid. p.206.

23. P. Collinson, Op.cit p.201.

24. E. Duffy, "The Godly and the Multitude in Stuart England", in The Seventeenth Century, 1, (1986)p.31.
 

ESSAY BY HEATHER THOMAS © www.elizabethi.org