Britain and The Netherlands: Volume VII Church and State Since the Reformation Papers Delivered to the Seventh Anglo-Dutch Historical Conference

255 Pages·1981·4.9 MB·English

by  J. A. Bornewasser (auth.)

BRITAIN
AND
THE NETHERLANDS
BRITAIN
AND
THE NETHERLANDS
Volume VII
CHURCH AND STATE
SINCE THE REFORMATION
PAPERS DELIVERED TO THE
SEVENTH ANGLO-DUTCH HISTORICAL CONFERENCE
EDITED BY
A. C. DUKE AND
c.A. TAMSE
MARTINUS NIJHOFF / THE HAGUE /1981
This book is published with financial support of the Prins Bernhard Fonds.
ISBN-13: 978-90-247-9077-7 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-7695-5
001: 10.1007/978-94-009-7695-5
© 1981 Uitgeverij Martinus Nijhoff, Lange Voorhout 9, Den Haag
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Preface
The theme chosen for the seventh conference of Dutch and British
historians - relations between Church and State in the two countries
since the Reformation - cannot pretend to any originality. A subject
so germane to the history of Europe, and indeed of those parts of the
world colonized by Europeans and evangelized by the Christian
churches, has naturally attracted the attention of numerous scholars.
The particular attraction of this study of the action and reaction of
Church and State in Britain and the Netherlands lies in the scope it
offers historians and political scientists for making comparisons be
tween two states, both of which endorsed the Protestant Reformation
while rejecting absolutism. But the dissimilarities are quite as striking.
In the Netherlands the Reformed Church came to hold a curiously
equivocal position, being neither an established Church in the English
sense nor an independent sect. Yet even after the formal separation of
Church and State in 1796 and the rise to political prominence of
Dutch Catholicism, ties of sentiment continued to link the Dutch
nation and the Reformed Church for some time to come. Within
England the Anglican Church maintained its constitutional standing
as the established Church and its social position as the Church of the
'Establishment', though it had to recognize a non-episcopal estab
lished Church of Scotland and accept its disestablishment in Ireland
and Wales. These studies also confirm that even in our secular and
pluralist societies the antagonisms between the 'two cities' still leave
their impress: in the fairly recent past both Dutch and British govern
ments have learned to tread with circumspection when legislating
about religious education and confessional schools.
With the exception of the introductory essay, for which the editors are
much obliged to Professor Bornewasser, all the papers presented in
this volume were read and discussed at the conference held in Septem
ber 1979 at Sheffield. On behalf of the participants on that happy
VI
occasion we warmly thank the Department of History at the Univer
sity of Sheffield and in particular Professor K. H. D. Haley and dr.
Mark Greengrass for the flawless organization. For those of us
unfamiliar with Sheffield it was exhiliarating to encounter such con
spicuous hospitality and civic patriotism. We also wish to express our
deep appreciation for generous subventions from the British Acade
my and the British Council as well as invaluable financial support
from Unilever Ltd., C. & A. Modes, Philips Industries and Shell
International Petroleum Company Ltd. In al). Anglo-Dutch historical
venture of this kind, it is a great encouragement to have the support of
such distinguished Dutch and Anglo-Dutch concerns. Last, but by no
means least, we acknowledge with gratitude a substantial grant from
the Prins Bernhardfonds towards the costs of publication.
April 1981
A.CD.
CA.T.
Contents
Preface V
Introductory Essay by J. A. Bomewasser
1 The State and Development of Protestantism in English
Towns, 1520-1603 by C. Cross, University of York 22
2 Building Heaven in Hell's Despite: The Early History of
the Reformation in the Towns of the Low Countries by
A. C. Duke, University of Southampton 45
3 The Family of Love (Huis der Liefde) and the Dutch
Revolt by N. Mout, Rijksuniversiteit Leiden 76
4 Arminianism and English Culture by N. Tyacke, University
College. London 94
5 Calvinism and National Consciousness: the Dutch Re-
public as the New Israel by G. Groenhuis, Emmen 118
6 Contrasting and Converging Patterns: Relations between
Church and State in Western Europe, 1660-1715 by
D. J. Roorda, Rijksuniversiteit Leiden 134
7 The Authority of the Dutch State over the Churches,
1795-1853 by J. A. Bomewasser, Katholieke Hogeschool.
Tilburg 154
8 'Bridled Emotion': English Free Churchmen, Culture and
Catholic Values, c. 1870 to c. 1945 by C. Binfield,
University of Sheffield 176
9 'Verzuiling': A Confessional Road to Secularization.
Emancipation and the Decline of Political Catholicism,
1920-1970 by J. Bank, Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht 207
10 'A Protestant Parliament and a Protestant State': Regional
Government and Religious Discrimination in Northern
Ireland, 1921-1939 by P. Buckland, University ofL iverpool 231
Index 243
Relations between Church and State in Britain
and the Netherlands: an Introductory Essay
1. A. BORNEWA SSER
'The problem of the relations of Church and State ... raises topics
which go down to the root of all political philosophy, and forces us to
face the whole problem of the true nature of civil society and the
meaning of personality'.l This judgement, delivered more than
seventy-five years ago by the Anglo-Catholic monk and Christian
socialist, Neville Figgis, has acquired a new significance in our own
day. Fora growing number of engage Christians -theologians, church
leaders as well as ordinary believers - the secular implications of
membership of a church are a matter of profound concern. Yet,
though their vision of the role Christian communities should play
within 'the State may seem novel, they stand in a tradition almost two
thousand years old. By their actions they mean to inaugurate a new
phase in Church-State relations, which have usually been too cordial
and easygoing.
The present collection of papers examines particular periods and
facets of this relationship since the end of the middle ages in Britain
and the Low Countries. Though the character and intention of the
contributions may differ, they are all concerned to place the thought
and conduct of the believers within the context of his particular state
and society. Some bring new evidence to bear while others are intent
on the revision of accepted interpretations: as a result generalities and
background information are often taken for granted. Norisit possible
within the compass of this collection to deal adequately with every
period. The introductory essay is intended to provide the general
reader with some guidance through the difficult terrain explored more
fully by the individual contributors.
The ecclesiastical history of Britain, and more particularly England,
has since the time of the Reformation moved along quite different lines
I J. N. Figgis, Churches in the modern State (2nd. edn., London, 1914), p. 170.
2
from the Continent. The peculiar character of Holland 's constitutional
progress among other continental countries is no less familiar. In both
countries the relationship between Church and State has usually
followed a fairly consistent pattern: consequently it has acquired its
own special flavour both in Britain and the Netherlands. But a study of
the history of Church-State relations in the two countries reveals that
they have more in common than their position as outsiders in the Euro
pean context. Political and religious ideas of a general nature have
influenced the whole of European culture and left their abiding mark
on both countries. The impact of such developments as the democrat
ization of political institutions, the increasing pluriformity of religious
ideas, the gradual loosening of the connexions between Church and
State and the secularization of society has been so far-reaching and
widely shared that it may be traced in this introductory survey. And
even where the differences may seem more evident, the similarities are
still sufficiently strong to enable us to draw comparisons by reference
to a broader canvas.
I
From its inception Tudor England bore the hallmarks of the late
medieval Landeskirchentum. The ideal of medieval Europe, where
sacerdotium and imperium worked harmoniously together under the
aegis of the universal spiritual and temporal dominium of the papa
cy, had long ceased to represent the reality. In response to Boniface
VIII's unrealistic claims to sole authority the princes of Christendom ,
aided by the growing national sentiment, had successfully striven to
make good their claims to sovereignty, which included their rights
over the national churches. This period witnessed the advent of
political Gallicanism in France, the growth of territorial churches
among the German princes, who sought thereby to weaken both the
authority of the emperor and the papacy, and the first hesitant steps
towards the creation of a state church in England. The centrifugal
tendencies in medieval Europe were strengthened as the secular
powers increasingly discharged responsibilities once considered to
belong to the Church. It now became customary for the secular
authorities to appoint prelates, to prevent the publication of papal
decrees until these had been approved, to oppose the financial claims
of the papacy and to supervise parishes, monasteries and ecclesiastical
property. But until the Reformation the canon law had been
recognized throughout Christendom, at least in principle. Only then
3
was a new source of ecclesiasticalla wd eveloped in the churches which
had separated from Rome. According as to whether the state inclined
to Lutheranism or Calvinism, it was located respectively in the secular
or ecclesiastical powers.
At the same time as England was slowly relinquishing its territorial
ambitions on the continent, the monarchy was making its authority
more effective. In the quasi-absolutist state created by the Tudors
the powers in the Christian state and in the vernacular Church gave
mutual support to one another. 'The rulers of the English Church
were the servants of the English King, and it was because they served
the King that they were allowed to rule the Church? The Statutes of
Praemunire, passed in the fourteenth century, represent a significant
stage in a long series of measures designed to abridge papal jurisdic
tion. Still no one, apart from Wyclif and his adepts, then seriously
considered repudiating the supreme spiritual authority of the papa
cy. As late as 1518 Cardinal Wolsey, already archbishop of York
and Lord Chancellor, was appointed legate a latere with the appro
val of Henry VIII: as such Thomas Wolsey personified the indivisi
bility of the English Church. At the same time it was evident from his
triple function that ecclesiastical jurisdiction was passing into the
hands of the King. Within the Church there also persisted a centuries
old anticlerical tradition. It was nourished by the wealth of the
religi,?us houses and the avarice of many clerics. In some parts of
England the anticlerical temper was strengthened by Lollardy. This
underground movement, which had been condemned in the early
fifteenth century as heretical, survived despite the united efforts of
the ecclesiastical and secular authorities to extinguish it.
In this context the canonical quarrel in which the King found
himself at odds with the papacy helped to transform relations be
tween the Church and the Crown in England, though theextentofthe
change was not immediately evident. But there could be no doubt
about one matter: henceforth the King would tolerate no form of
foreign jurisdiction over the English Church. When Henry VIII
declared himself in 1534 to be 'the only Protector and Supreme Head
of the Church and clergy of England', the King-in-Parliament
achieved at a stroke the same mastery over the Church that he and
his predecessors had gradually gained in constitutional and cultural
affairs. By the dissolution of the monasteries the King gave satisfac
tion to the exchequer, to the land-hungry aristocracy, to the bishops
who disliked the immunities enjoyed by the regular clergy and to the
anticlerical sections of the population. The Church which had sub-
2 S. T. Bindoff, Tudor England(Harmondsworth, 1961). p. 81.
4
mitted to the royal will developed, under the influence of the Protes
tant reformers, during the sixteenth century into a unique kind of
Christian community, remarkable above all for its ostensible unifor
mity and its internal comprehensiveness.
The metamorphosis of the ecclesia anglicana of old into the estab
lished Anglican Church was the special creation of Elizabeth and the
theologians active in her reign. Whitgift, Jewel and Hooker together
furnished a defence of the Elizabethan Church settlement which was
underpinned by the enforcement of a single Book of Common
Prayer and sUbscription to the Thirty-nine Articles. The ecclesiasti
cal authorities were also convinced that the church order had re
ceived its essential character from the state, though its constitution
was not formally laid down in statu te la w. When therefore in 1603, the
year of the Queen's death, the Canons referred officially for the first
time to 'the Church of England by law established', this was taken for
granted. Englishmen in Elizabeth's reign thought of themselves as
belonging to a single body, comprising both the secular and spiritual
spheres, 'which might be called indifferently a state-church or a
church-state'.3 Whitgift made the same point when during his defence
of the ecclesiastical regulations of the Queen, he remarked 'I make no
difference betwixt a Christian commonwealth and the Church of
Christ'.4
The Elizabethan Settlement was conceived in order to ensure the
highest degree of harmony between Church and State. Nor should
this cause us any surprise for the reform of the English Church had
been undertaken in the interests of the State. It was axiomatic that
all the Queen's subjects should attend the services of the English
Church. In order not to cause needless offence many of the religious
and doctrinal issues raised by the continental Reformation were
stated in the most general terms. The compromise so reached is exempli
fied by the new Church's liturgy. As prescribed by the Elizabethan
Prayer Book of 1559 it bore a striking resemblance to the medieval
rite, though its doctrine was clearly inspired by the Reformation. The
greatest exponent of Anglicanism as the via media was, of course,
Richard Hooker. Speaking as it were for the new establishment, he
urged the Church to pursue a middle course between Catholic conser
vatism and the Puritan appetite for radical reform. As Claire Cross
shows in the opening essay, this is why the advocates of an avowedly
3 A. F. Pollard, The History of England. A Study in Political Evolution (London,
1927), p. 95.
4 Cited by Helmut Kressner, Schweizer Urspriinge des anglikanischen Staatskirch
tenturns (Giitersloh, 1953), p. 100.