Law and Conscience: Catholicism in Early Modern England, 1570-1625

271 Pages·2007·2.05 MB·English

by  Stefania Tutino

Law and Conscience
Oh, our work is still in its infancy, but it has begun. We shall have to
wait a long time for its completion, and the world will have to endure
much suffering, but we shall achieve it and we shall be the Caesars, and
then we shall think about universal human happiness. And meanwhile,
You could still have accepted the sword of Caesar. Why did You refuse
the last gift? Had You accepted that third suggestion of the mighty
spirit, You could have provided all that man seeks on earth—that is
to say, someone to worship, someone to take charge of his conscience,
and finally, a way to be united unequivocally in a communal and
harmonious antheap, for the need for universal unity is mankind’s third
and last torment.
F. Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
Law and Conscience
Catholicism in Early Modern England, 1570–1625
StEFania tutino
First published 2007 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
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Copyright© Stefania Tutino 2007
Stefania Tutino has asserted her moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Tutino, Stefania
Law and conscience : Catholicism in early modern England, 1570-1625. - (Catholic
Christendom, 1300-1700)
1. Catholic Church- England-History- 16th century 2. Catholic Church- England
- History - 17th century 3. Religion and politics - England - History - 16th century
4. Religion and politics - England - History - 17th century 5. England - Religion - 16th
century 6. England - Religion - 17th century 7. Great Britain - History - Elizabeth I,
1558-1603 8. Great Britain-History-James I, 1603-1625
I. Title
282.4'2'09031
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tutino, Stefania.
Law and conscience : Catholicism in early modern England, 1570-1625 I by Stefania
Tutino.
p. em.- (Catholic Christendom, 1300-1700)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Catholic Church-England-History-16th century. 2. Catholic Church-England
History-17th century. 3. Church and state-England-History-16th century. 4. Church and
state-England-History-17th century. 5. Christianity and politics-England-History-16th
century. 6. Christianity and politics-England-History-17th century. 7. England-Church
history-16th century. 8. England-Church history-17th century. I. Title.
BX1493.5.T88 2008
282'.4209031-dc22
2006036164
ISBN 13: 978-0-7546-5771-2 (hbk)
Contents
Series Editor’s Preface vii
Acknowledgements ix
List of Abbreviations xi
Note for the Reader xiii
Introduction 1
theology and Politics of the English Reformation 1
the Relationship Between Law and Conscience in
English Catholicism 4
the Debate over the oath and its implications 7
1 The Debate Before and After the Excommunication 11
the Feckenham–Horne Controversy 11
De Visibili Monarchia 21
John Calvin and the Church of England between Feckenham
and Sander 28
2 The Political Significance of the First Mission of the Society
of Jesus to England 33
1580: the Enterprise Begins 33
Robert Persons and the English Mission 36
the Genesis of the Mission of 1580 41
of the Pope’s Party, or the Queen’s? From “Matters disputable
in Schooles” to the “Bloody Question” 45
3 Old Ideas and New Interpretations at the End of Elizabeth’s Reign 53
Moods of Widespread Dissent 53
the Dissent organizes: the appellants and the archpriest
Controversy 65
the English Benedictines and the Society of Jesus 73
4 “Smile (Muses) smile! A Noble one suceedes/ Eliza lawfull
heire in vertuous deedes”: The Ascent of James Stuart 81
Politico-theological opinions of the new King 81
the Story of thomas Pounde 87
andrew Willet and the Synopsis Papismi 92
thomas Egerton Lord Ellesmere and the Catholic Question 104
5 The Oath of Allegiance 117
the Gunpowder Plot and the English Catholics 117
the oath of allegiance: the terms of the Question 132
vi LaW anD ConSCiEnCE
6 Bellarmine’s Solution 139
the Debate between Blackwell and Bellarmine 139
Bellarmine and the “Revised” Sander 147
7 A Change in the Political Debate 161
Lancelot andrewes and andrew Willet against Robert Bellarmine 161
William Barclay: a “Politique” in the Debate over the oath 168
thomas Fitzherbert: an anti-Machiavellian in the Debate
over the oath 177
8 A Change in the Theological Debate 195
The Way to the true Church 195
London, Geneva, and Rome: Suggestions for a Reappraisal 209
Conclusions 223
Selected Bibliography 225
Index 245
Series Editor’s Preface
the still-usual emphasis on medieval (or Catholic) and reformation (or
Protestant) religious history has meant neglect of the middle ground, both
chronological and ideological. as a result, continuities between the middle
ages and early modern Europe have been overlooked in favor of emphasis
on radical discontinuities. Further, especially in the later period, the
identification of ‘reformation’ with various kinds of Protestantism means that
the vitality and creativity of the established church, whether in its Roman
or local manifestations, has been left out of account. in the last few years,
an upsurge of interest in the history of traditional (or catholic) religion
makes these inadequacies in received scholarship even more glaring and in
need of systematic correction. the series will attempt this by covering all
varieties of religious behavior, broadly interpreted, not just (or even especially)
traditional institutional and doctrinal church history. it will to the maximum
degree possible be interdisciplinary, comparative and global, as well as non-
confessional. The goal is to understand religion, primarily of the ‘Catholic’
variety, as a broadly human phenomenon, rather than as a privileged mode of
access to superhuman realms, even implicitly.
the period covered, 1300–1700, embraces the moment which saw an
almost complete transformation of the place of religion in the life of Europeans,
whether considered as a system of beliefs, as an institution, or as a set of social
and cultural practices. in 1300, vast numbers of Europeans, from the pope
down, fully expected Jesus’s return and the beginning of His reign on earth.
By 1700, very few Europeans, of whatever level of education, would have
subscribed to such chiliastic beliefs. Pierre Bayle’s notorious sarcasms about
signs and portents are not idiosyncratic. Likewise, in 1300 the vast majority of
Europeans probably regarded the pope as their spiritual head; the institution
he headed was probably the most tightly integrated and effective bureaucracy
in Europe. Most Europeans were at least nominally Christian, and the pope
had at least nominal knowledge of that fact. the papacy, as an institution,
played a central role in high politics, and the clergy in general formed an
integral part of most governments, whether central or local. By 1700, Europe
was divided into a myriad of different religious allegiances, and even those
areas officially subordinate to the pope were both more nominally Catholic in
belief (despite colossal efforts at imposing uniformity) and also in allegiance
than they had been four hundred years earlier. the pope had become only
one political factor, and not one of the first rank. The clergy, for its part, had
virtually disappeared from secular governments as well as losing much of its
local authority. the stage was set for the Enlightenment.
thomas F. Mayer,
augustana College

acknowledgements
While working on this book i have contracted many debts, on both sides of
the atlantic ocean, and it is a pleasure for me to acknowledge the insightful
suggestions and criticism that i have received at various stages of the project.
obviously, errors and omissions are my own.
the completion of this work could not have been possible without the
assistance of many librarians and archivists and without the financial support
that i have received from various institutions. in particular, i would like to
thank the uCLa Center for Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Studies and
its director, Peter Reill, and the staff of the William andrews Clark Memorial
Library. the months spent there have been among the most productive and
pleasant of my career.
i want to thank also the Huntington Library and its staff: they have been
always willing to comply with all my requests with a degree of professionalism
and kindness that has never failed to impress me. Many thanks also to the staff
of the Bodleian Library (especially the Duke Humphrey reading room) and
the British Library, and to thomas McCoog: their assistance has proved truly
precious at certain stages of my research.
it is with gratitude, affection, and a bit of sadness that i would like to
remember the late Father Mario Zanardi, archivist of the archivum Romanum
Societatis Iesu: I was nineteen years old when I first entered the archive, and
Father Zanardi taught me the pains and joys of archival research always
believing that i could actually learn. i have missed and will continue to miss
his acute and insightful advice.
i am grateful to the many scholars and colleagues who have read parts of or
the entire manuscript, and have been willing to discuss with me its weaknesses
and strengths; in particular Lori anne Ferrell, Knud Haakonssen, David
Jacobson, Marc Lerner, Muriel McClendon, Kirstie McClure, Sears McGee,
thomas Mayer, Michele olivari, Peter Partner, Paolo Prodi, adriano Prosperi,
Michael Questier, Susan Wabuda, Penry Williams.
i would like to thank many of them not only for their invaluable intellectual
contribution to this book, but also for the kindness and generosity that they
have showed towards its author; however, since my monograph examines,
after all, the boundaries between the internal and the external forum, it seems
fitting to leave matters of conscience aside. The only exception I want to make
is for my family, and especially my parents, Rita Gilona and Piero tutino:
they have always and unconditionally supported my passion (or obsession) for
historical research, even when it took me thousands of miles away from them,
and this book is dedicated to them, as an incommensurably small token of my
gratitude.