The above causes, however, would probably have proved insufficient to produce the great change which was now impending, had not Henry VIII.'s divorce from Catharine of Spain led to a quarrel between him and the pope, which ended in the total abolition of the papal authority within the kingdom. Then began the REFORMATION in earnest. For the details of that great event, consult the article under that head, and the lives of such men as Wolsey, sir Thomas More, Fisher, Clement, Luther, Cromwell, Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley, etc. From this period may be dated the existence of the church of England as a separate body, and her final separation from Rome. For the opinions of the church in Henry's reign, two important books which were then published should be consulted—viz., the Bishop's Book, or the Godly and Pious institution of a Christian Han, and the King's Book, which was a republication of the same in a more perfect form in 1543, and called The Necessary Erudition for any Christian Man, and was called the King's book because put forth by royal authority. A book of Articles devised by the Singes Ilighnes Hajestie to stablyshe Christen Unitie, should also be consulted. It has been stated in the article ANGLO-CATHOLIC CHURCH, that the reformation in doctrine did not make much progress in Henry's reign; from these books, it will be seen that it was rather retrograde. The monks, too, who were dispossessed at the dissolution of the monasteries, were dispersed amongst local cures, and kept alive the old opinions, and the lower orders were not as yet favorable to the new doctrines. Cranmer was the leader and presiding genius of the reformed opinions; and the youih of Edward VI. left the king pliant in the hands of the archbishop. The book of Homilies, put forth in 1540, the New Communion Service and Catechism in 1548, the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549, and the Forty-two Articles in 1553, all bear the impress of his hand, and it was these which advanced and fixed the doctrines of the reformation. Nor was the temporal authority idle on the same side—Bonner and Gardiner were committed to prison, and both were deprived of their bishoprics. In fact, the way in which all the institutions of the church of England were established in Edward VI.'s reign by the help of the civil magistrate, have brought upon her the charge of Erastianism. The civil power had just delivered her from a foreign tyranny; and when the weak health of the young king, the known sentiments of his successor, Mary, the ignorance of the common people, and the interested views of the old clergy, are considered, it cannot be a matter of surprise, still less of blame, that the same arm was relied upon for the estab lishment of the new forms of religion.
Although Mary promised at her accession that she would put constraint on no per son's religion, her promise was not kept. Bonner and Gardiner were restored ; the Book of Common Prayer and Catechism were declared heretical; the kingdom was reconciled to the see of Rome; a persecution of the chief reformers commenced—Rogers was burned at Smithfield, Hooper at Gloucester, Saunders at Coventry, Taylor at Hadley. The prisons were filled with " heretics;" many fled beyond sea; some purchased safety by an outward conformity. Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley perished in the flames at Oxford. Cardinal Pole was made primate. One 'enefit was conferred on the church by Mary—she surrendered all the church lands, as well as the first fruits and tenths, which had been seized by Henry. At last the death of Mary, with which that of the cardinal was all but simultaneous, delivered the church from its oppressors. The pass ing of the act of v niformity in the first year of Elizabeth's reign, restored the common prayer-book to general use, and enjoined the seine dresses as were in use at the time of the first prayer-book of Edward VI.. All the bishops except one, Kitchin of Llandaff, refused to take the oath of uniformity, and were ejected from their sees to the number of 14 (the eleven remaining sees were vacant by deaths), and 175 other beneficed clergy were deprived for the same cause—no very considerable number, when it is remem bered that there were then 9,400 benefices in England. There was some difficulty in
filling up the vacant bishoprics, and perhaps some slight informalities. Matthew Parker was made archbishop of Canterbury. For the refutation of the fable of the NAG'S-HEAD CONSECRATION, see the article under that head. In 1562, the Thirty-nine Articles were finally reviewed and subscribed. These, with the Book of Common Prayer, are the tests of orthodoxy in the church of England.
But what was done to satisfy the scruples of Protestant non-conformists? An attempt in this direction was made in the reign of James I. at the Hampton Court conference (q.v.). The result was another review of the common prayer-book; and this, with the new translation of the Bible, and the passing of the canons of 1604, were the principal ecclesiastical events of James' reign. These canons received the sanction of the crown, but not that of parliament; they are not, therefore, binding on the laity, but they are still binding on the clergy to some extent, and they regulate the practice of the ecclesiastical courts, and are the only rule, on some points, to which the bishops and clergy can appeal. See the articles LAUD, and SCOTLAND, CHURCH OF, for the events of Charles L's reign. The great rebellion overthrew both church and state. The bishops were declared "delinquents," robbed of their property, and abolished; and the clergy were ejected from their benefices. Laud was put to death in 1645. The church of England had no corporate existence during this interval. With the restoration of the monarchy, 1660, came the restoration of the church. The reaction from Puritanism to Prelacy was complete. Attempts were made, but with small suc cess, to win over the Puritan leaders; bishoprics were offered to Baxter, Calamy, and Reynolds; but the last only accepted. The Savoy conference (q.v.) was an unsuccess ful, perhaps insincere attempt to comprehend the non-conformists in the established church. But the demands of the Presbyterians were most immoderate. Baxter went so far as to propose the substitution of an entirely new book of his •own composition, in the place of the common prayer-book. After the failure of the Savoy conference, this was once more reviewed; and a new act of uniformity in 1662 made its use, as it now stands, compulsory in all the churches.
The church of England passed through one more critical period before reaching that tranquillity in which, for upwards of a century, she slumbered too securely. .In 1687, James II. published the famous declaration of indulgence, which filled up the measure of popular discontent, and finally cost him his crown. Although by this declaration, which was perfectly illegal, liberty of conscience was permitted to all his subjects, it was clearly understood that the liberty was intended only for the papists. The noncon formists refused to accept the treacherous boon. Eighteen bishops out of twenty-five refused to publish the declaration, as ordered, in their dioceses. Seven of them—San croft, Lloyd, Ken, Turner, Lake, White, and Trelawny—drew up a remonstrance to the king; they were summoned before the privy council, and sent to the Tower. The whole city was in commotion; and great was the rejoicing when, on being brought to trial in Westminster hall, they were acquitted. On the 5th of Nov. following, 1688, the prince of Orange landed in England. It is worthy of remark, that out of these seven bishops three refused to swear allegiance to him, and were joined by a considerable number of the clergy; these were called Non-jurors. In the first year of William and Mary's reign, the toleration act was passed, and dissent ceased to be illegal. Another attempt was made to comprehend the nonconformists in the church, but the lower house of convocation was in no tolerant mood, and the attempt failed, but chiefly in conse quence of the disturbances in Scotland. In 1717, convocation was dissolved. After slumbering for nearly 140 years, it was once more called into life and action in the province of Canterbury in 1858, under the ministry of the earl of Aberdeen, and a few years later the convocation of York also took advantage of the liberty accorded by the crown on the advice of this government. See CONVOCATION.