State of the church in England before 1529
The power of the church
The Hunne Affair
Abuses in the church
Role of the Medieval church
play taxes there
treat the sick
place of worship
offer sanctuary
would provide education as they would have a school attached to it
most important role of the church in the Middle Ages was the promise that it would look after your soul so you could go to heaven and avoid going to hell
for good government and the maintenance of law and order, the monarch was dependant on the church
the church collected taxes that were sent to Rome and the law of the church was decided by the pope and cardinals
the church courts operated in England to deal with religious matters and stye had the ultimate appeal to Rome
challenging church teaching was heresy and the punishment was death by fire
the pope had enormous power and prestige since he could draw up on non-secular laws which applied for all of Christendom
the church played a central part of politics as Abbotts and bishops sat in the house of lords with the nobility
Absenteeism - when a churchmen that holds a position in a parish is absence or isn't there very much
Simony - buying and selling positions in the church
pluralism - one churchmen having more than one powerful position in the church
Cardinal Wolsey was chancellor, cardinal and the Archbishop or York all at the same time which meant that he had authority over the legal system and held the second most powerful position in the country
Because Wolsey had multiple positions he was often absent from some of his roles, for example he didn't go to York until he fled there when he fell out of favour with Henry VIII
this occurred most frequently when a priest was enjoying the income of a rich parish sold his position to the person willing to pay the most and not the most than one most learned
Benefit of clergy - if a priest was suspecting of committing certain offences then he can claim benefit of clergy and be tried in a church court rather than one of the kings courts
Nepotism - keeping jobs in the family
Fathers would pass their roles within the church to their sons so that it stays within the family which means the power influence and prestige stays in the family too- Wolsey did this for his son
if he was found guilty of a crime that would be punishable in the kings courts by hanging, in the church courts he would be able to escape the death penalty
he was arrested in October 1514 as a lollard bible had been found in a search of his house
on 4 December 1514 Hunne was found dead in his cell, having apparently hanged himself however his body showed signs on struggle as if he had been murdered
in November 1511 he was involved in a property dispute and the priest took him to archbishops court
Richard Hunne was a merchant tailor in London and he refused to give his baby's christening robes when his son passed away
it was believed that the church killed him to protect clerics privileges and Hunne was regarded as a martyr by his supporters
benefit of clergy was a factor in this story as the bishop protected the people that work for him and he enabled them to get away with murder
the church reacted to this criticism by burning Hunnes body as they said that he had denied trasubstantiation. this shows the power of the church and suggests that it was worried that more people would follow what Hunne did if they didnt see him be punished
Anti clericalism
the majority of the laity was deeply attached to the beliefs and practises of the church on the reformation
low level grumbling based on indidvudal concerens could have occurred anywhere in the country but if mostly came from merchants in towns and the middling classes
the merchants and their wives were literate and keen to show their devotion through the acquisition of religious books and the books that were critical of the church would have impacted their view
the most vocal critics of the abuses of the church were those involved in trade and manufacture. Some merchants were in contact with the Netherlands and literature that was critical of the church
the right to benefit of clergy would be claimed by laymen who could read latin but this was seen as unfair as much of the laity could not read latin so they would be denied the privaledge of accessing church courts