John Jewel And The English National Church: The Dilemmas Of An Erastian Reformer (St. Andrew's Studies in Reformation History) (St. Andrew's Studies in Reformation History)

302 Pages·2006·0.99 MB·English

by  Gary W. Jenkins

John Jewel and the English National Church
For my Mother, and the memory of my Father:
In memoria aeterna erit iustus, ab auditione mala non timebit.
John Jewel and the English
National Church
The Dilemmas of an Erastian Reformer
GARY W. JENKINS
© Gary W. Jenkins, 2006
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopyed, recorded or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the publisher.
Gary W. Jenkins has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
Gower House Suite 420
Croft Road 101 Cherry Street
Aldershot Burlington, VT 05401-4405
Hants GU11 3HR USA
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Ashgate website: http://www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Jenkins, Gary W.
John Jewel and the English national church: the dilemmas of an Erastian
reformer – (St Andrews studies in Reformation history)
1. Jewel, John, 1522–1571 2. Bishops – England – Biography
3. Reformation – England 4. England – Church history – 16th century
I. Title
283'.092
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jenkins, Gary W., 1961–
John Jewel and the English National Church: the dilemmas of an Erastian
reformer / Gary W. Jenkins
p. cm. — (St Andrews studies in Reformation history)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0–7546–3585–6 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Jewel, John, 1522–1571. 2. Church of England – History – 16th century.
3. England – Church history – 16th century. I. Title. II. Series.
BX5199.J4J46 2005
283'.092—dc22
2005007479
ISBN 0 7546 3585 6
Printed on acid-free paper
Typeset in Sabon by Express Typesetters Ltd, Farnham
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books, Bodmin, Cornwall
Table of Contents
Preface and acknowledgements vi
Introduction 1
1 Oxford and exile, Jewel till 1558 6
2 Jewel and the struggle for the Elizabethan Church 51
3 The Catholic reaction to Jewel 115
4 A prelate public and private: Jewel caught between Puritans
and princes 155
5 Life as a bishop in Salisbury 203
6 Jewel and the identity of the English national Church 225
Appendices 251
Bibliography 255
Index 287
Preface and acknowledgements
Among the great blessings of this mortal life, very near to family and
friends, one must rank the aid, comfort, encouragement, and support
rendered by the myriad people and institutions that make the production
of a book a reality. This affinity becomes more true when the author
finds many friends and family among those who have been abetters,
comforters and cheerleaders in the enterprise. Honor of place in the
academic arena must go to Professor William J. Tighe of Muhlenburg
College, whose constant support, vast memory, familiarity with sources
and grand companionship have never ceased to animate this work. He
provided insight right up to the end, reading the manuscript both as it
originally appeared as a dissertation, and now in its much altered and I
hope improved version. Along with Bill I need to single out those who at
various stages of its life also read the manuscript and provided both
criticism and encouragement. Professor Frank James (president of
Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida) supplied
bibliographic and correctives in my knowledge of Peter Martyr Vermigli,
especially as regards his Eucharistic thought. Torrance Kirby (McGill
University) graciously provided both insight and a copy of his
forthcoming article ‘Relics of the Amorites’ for my perusal. John Craig
(Simon Fraser University), kindly supplied me with his entry on Jewel to
the new DNB as well as use of his paper ‘Erasmus or Calvin? The
Politics of Book Purchase in the English Parish, 1538–1640.’ Professors
Norm Jones (Utah State University) and Daniel Eppley (McMurray
University) freely gave numerous criticisms and suggestions. Professors
Donald Kelley, Phyllis Mack, and Maurice Lee, all of Rutgers University,
read this when it was but a meager dissertation, and each helped me
when I made the transition from the study of Medieval Europe to the
disciplines of an Early Modern historian. Numerous others aided in
other respects: Fr Keith Wyer, rector of St Peter’s Church Berrynarbor
and the churches of Berrynarbor parish was most kind with his insights
about the topography and situation of Jewel’s earliest years; Mr Joseph
Sirotnak twice provided me free airfare to England for research; Dr Bob
Schuettinger played my gracious host during my time in Oxford in 2003;
Mr Mark Kelly, over numerous pints, allowed me to bounce my thoughts
off him and was gracious with his insights; Professor Richard Rex whose
comments over lunch led me to look into a certain item regarding
Thomas Harding; Professor Tom Freeman provided insights on all things
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii
related to that Salisbury prebend, John Foxe; and Tom Mayer who
prodded me in the direction of Andrew Pettegree and St Andrews Studies
in Reformation History, published under the auspices of Ashgate
Publishing. I must thank as well, having mentioned them, all those at St
Andrews and Ashgate, especially Ellen Keeling, for their patience and
work on this text. All of the above have given me freely of their insights
and aid, and I have frequently incorporated their judgments into the text.
Any errors that persist, however, of both fact and interpretation, are
mine alone.
Among the libraries and librarians I must first acknowledge the
kindness, thoroughness and professionalism of Dr Christine Ferdinand
of Magdalen College, Oxford, who was gracious on more than one
occasion, and who sat with me through the heat of the summer of 2003
in Magdalen’s old library as I poured over Jewel’s personal library: even
separated by an ocean, she never was more than a quickly answered
email away with information. I must also acknowledge the librarians of
the Bodleian Library, Oxford, especially those connected with the Duke
Humphrey Library and reading room; the librarians of the Folger
Shakespeare Library, Washington DC; the librarians of the Warner
Memorial Library, Eastern University, notably Jim Sauer, Jonathan
Beasley, and Susan Joseph, who freely gave their time in tracking down
odd purchases and acquiring microfilm; the librarians of the Alexander
Library of Rutgers University, especially the late Stan Nash who was
invaluable in the initial heuristic stages of this work; the librarians of the
Sage Library of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, as the library
proved a wealth of resources for the late medieval theological landscape,
as well as that of the Reformation; the Warden and librarians of Pusey
House, Oxford; and finally the librarians of the Ryan Memorial Library
of St Charles Borromeo Seminary, who allowed me to keep numerous
copies of works by various Recusants for an overly long time.
Organizationally I must thank Eastern University, which provided a
number of faculty development grants that allowed me to explore some
of the ideas in the text, the Harold Howard Provost’s Fellowship for the
academic year 2003–04 which helped underwrite my sabbatical, and for
the benefits of the Charles Van Gorden Professorship which helped with
this book, and continues still to underwrite other areas of my research.
At Eastern has come as well the support of my provost, Dr David Fraser,
a real champion for faculty who wish to pursue scholarship. Also at
Eastern I should note my grand colleagues in the history department,
professors Price, Gatlin, Joseph and Boehlke.
On the personal level I must thank first of all my wife Carol, always
patient beyond reason in the process, tamquam et coheredibus gratiae
vitae, and a light at the end of the tunnel. Along with Carol I must thank
viii JOHN JEWEL AND THE ENGLISH NATIONAL CHURCH
our daughter Kristen, who was always considerate of a father who
needed quiet to think and write. Professors Gary and Marjorie Hafer
(along with all the faculty irregulars) were free with their encouragement
and hospitality, as were Cyril Quatrone, Professor Valerie Sajez, the late
Fr Adrian Pollard, Fr Thomas Edwards, Fr Eugene Vansuch, Ed
Bartholomew, Jesse O’Hare, Chris Butynskyi, Athanasia Ellmore, and
the members of St Nicholas Parish. I must thank Professor Allen C.
Guelzo of Gettysburg College, whose scholarly habits have inspired me,
whose friendship has emboldened me, who has acted at times as the
hound of heaven (and other places) in my completing this project, who
first gave me the idea to write about Jewel, and who I believe could have
done a much better job. Lastly I must thank my mother, who first taught
me hard work, who no doubt is surprised that I of her sons wrote such
a book, and who with my late father showed me what it took to put my
hand to the plow and not to look back. I wish he could have seen it.
Gary W. Jenkins
22 June 2005
Feast of St Alban, protomartyr of Britain
Allentown, Pennsylvania
INTRODUCTION
The Image of Jewel: an icon
of a dice player
The debate about the English Reformation, what prompted it, how it
was effected, how fast it spread and how thoroughly, assumes only an
ancillary part of this study. The significance of this work’s subject,
namely John Jewel, the bishop of Salisbury from 1560 to 1571,
capacious in his own day, reaches far beyond his time even to the present
distress that afflicts the worldwide Anglican Communion. This study is
not, however, an apologia for either side of that debate. Instead it is an
attempt to see in Jewel more than merely a champion of some abortion
of an agreement which allowed him to again live in England having spent
four years in exile. Jewel in fact agreed with what occurred in 1559 just
as much as he adhered to the theology of his Swiss Reformed hosts in the
city of Zurich: to Jewel the Elizabethan Settlement made no virtue of a
necessity. The real significance of Jewel then is not so much his impact
upon the spread of the Protestant faith in his own day, however much he
may have desired that and bent his energies toward it, but rather the
legacy he bequeathed – an ambiguous one I shall argue – to the Church
of England, an ecclesiastical entity he worked so hard to defend and did
so much to define, however much this definition lacked specificity.
In his own day Jewel stood as an icon, and his death only enhanced
the image. Intimate with the most prominent Reformers, both English
and continental, and party to a number of the more pointed
controversies of the Reformation, the peripeties of his life mirrored the
course of the English Reformation, and were greatly influenced by the
fortunes of the Reformation on the continent as well. Jewel also stands
as a fulcrum between England’s two reformations: present at the trial of
Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley,1 his last written piece formed the very
contours of the arguments between Whitgift and Cartwright about the
proper polity of the church.2From the beginning of his academic career,
1 John Strype, Remains of Thomas Cranmer(Oxford, 1840), I.483, named Jewel as the
notary at Cranmer and Ridley’s Oxford disputation with the Catholic doctors in 1554. In
all probability it was Jewel who carried Cranmer’s anonymous letter to Martyr in late 1554
or early 1555. Humphrey records that Jewel was known to the household of Latimer,
Laurence Humphrey, Ioannis Iuelli Angli, Episcopi Sarisburniensis vita & mors. (London:
John Day, 1573), p. 84.
2 John Whitgift, An Answere to a Certen Libell, intituled, An Admonition to the