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THE HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH - ( CHAPTER 2 ) - { PT. 40 }

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( CHAPTER  2 )  -  { PT.  40 } - [ 29 ] An Act of Attainder was passed against Fisher, More, and all others who had refused submission. The First Fruits, formerly paid to the Pope, were to be paid to the king, and bishop were allowed to appoint men approved by the crown to be their assistants. By these measures the constitution of the Church, as it had been accepted for centuries by the English clergy and Iaity, was overturned. The authority of the Pope was rejected in favour of the authority of the king, who was to be regarded in the future as the source of all ecclesiastical jurisdiction. This great religious revolution was carried out without the consent of the bishops and clergy. With the single exception of Cranmer the bishops to a man opposed the change, and if they and the great body of the clergy made their submission in the end, they did so not because they were convinced by the royal arguments, but because they feared the royal displeasure. Neither was the ...
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HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH - ( CHAPTER 2 ) - { PT. 39 }

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  ( CHAPTER  2 )  -  { PT.  39 } - A royal commission consisting of George Brown, Prior of the Augustinian Hermits, and Dr. Hilsey, Provincial of the Dominicans, was appointed to visit the religious houses and to obtain the submission of the members ( April 1534 ). By threats of dissolution and confiscation they secured the submission of most of the monastic establishment with the exception of the Observants of Richmond and Greenwich and the Carthusians of the Charterhouse, London. Many of the members of these communities were arrested and lodged in the Tower, and the decree went forth that the seven houses belonging yo the Observants, who had offered a strenuous opposition to the divorce, should be suppressed. [ 28 ] The Convocations of Canterbury and York submitted, as did also the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. When Parliament met again in November 1534 a bill was introduced proclaiming the king supreme head of the Church in England. The measure was ba...
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HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH - ( CHAPTER 2 ) - { PT. 38 }

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  ( CHAPTER  2 )  -  { PT.  38 } - People flocked from all parts to interview her, and even Cranmer pretended to be impressed by her statements. She and any of her principal supporters were arrested and condemned to death ( Nov. 1534 ). It was hoped that by her confession it might be possible to placate Bishop Fisher, who was specially hated be Henry on account of the stand he had made on the question of the marriage, and the late Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas More. Both had met the nun, but had been careful to avoid everything that could be construed even remotely as treason. In the Act of Attainder introduced into Parliament against Elizabeth Barton and her confederates, the names of Fisher and More were included, but so strong was the feeling in Mores, favour that his name was erased. Fisher, although able to clear himself from all reasonable grounds of suspicion, was found guilty of misprision to treason and condemned to pay a fine of &300. Fisher and More...
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HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH - ( CHAPTER 2 ) - { PT. 37 }

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( CHAPTER  2 )  -  { PT.  37 } - Finally after various consultations with the Cardinals, sentence was given declaring the marriage with Catharine valid and the children born to that marriage legitimate ( 23rd March, 1534 ). When the news of this decision reached England Henry was alarmed. He feared that the Emperor might declare war at any moment, that an imperial army might be landed on the English shores, and that Francis I. yielding to the entreaties of the Pope might make common cause with the imperialists. Orders were given to strengthen te fortifications, and to hold the fleet in readiness. Agents were dispatched to secure the neutrality of France, and preachers were commanded to denounce the Bishop of Rome. As matters stood, however, there was no need for such alarm. The Emperor had enough to engage his attention in Spain and Germany, and the enmity between Charles V. and the King of France was too acute to prevent them from acting together even in defence of ...
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HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH - ( CHAPTER 2 ) - { PT. 36 }

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( CHAPTER  2 )  -  { PT.  35 } - The marriage with Catharine was declared null and void by Parliament on the ground principally that no man could dispense with God's law, and to prevent such incestuous unions in the future a list of the forbidden degrees was drawn up, and ordered to be exhibited in the public churches. To question the marriage of Henry with Anne Boleyn by writing, word, deed, or act was declared to be high treason, and all persons should take an oath acknowledging the succession under pain of misprision of treason. That the Parliament was forced to adopt these measures against its own better judgment is clear from the small number of members who  took their seats in the House of Lords, as well as from the fact that some of the Commoners assured the imperial ambassador that were his master to invade England he might count on considerable support.  In Rome the agents of Francis I., fearing that an alliance between France and England would be ...
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HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH - ( CHAPTER 2 ) - { PT. 35 }

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( CHAPTER  2 )  -  { PT.  35 } - When a bishopric became vacant, the chapter having received the / Conge d elire / should proceed to elect the person named in the royal letters accompanying the / Conge /, and the person so elected should be presented to the metropolitan for consecration. In case of a metropolitan See, the archbishop-elect should be consecrated by another metropolitan and two bishops or by four bishops appointed by the crown. Another Act was passed forbidding the payment of Peter's Pence and all other fees and pensions paid formerly to Rome. The Archbishop of Canterbury was empowered to grant dispensations, and the penalties of Praemunire were levelled against all persons who should apply for faculties to the Pope. By a third Act a prohibition against appeals to Rome was renewed, although it was permitted to appeal from the court of the Archbishop of Canterbury of Chancery. Convocation was forbidden to enact any new ordinances without the consent of t...
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HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH - ( CHAPTER 2 ) - { PT. 34 }

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( CHAPTER  2 )  -  { PT.  34 } - Throughout the whole proceedings he had espoused warmly Henry's cause, in the belief that England, having broken completely with Catharine's nephew Charles V., might be forced to conclude an alliance with France; but he never wished that Henry VIII. should set the Holy See at defiance, or that England should be separated from the Catholic Church. To the Pope and ton Henry he had addressed his remonstrances and petitions in turn, but events had reached such a climax that mediation was almost an impossibility. The interview arranged between the Pope and Francis I. took place at Marseilles in October 1533. Regardless of all the rules of diplomatic courtesy and of good manners, Henry's representative forced his way into the presence of the Pope, and announced to him that the King of England had appealed from the verdict of Rome to the judgment of a General Council. Notices of this appeal were posted up in London, and preachers were ordere...
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