History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 2MacCaffrey, James
Religion
History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 2
MacCaffrey, James
Catholic Church -- History -- Modern period, 1500-
The struggle between the old principles and the new continued,
notwithstanding all Henry's attempts to secure unanimity. As early as
1540 a set of questions had been circulated amongst the bishops, and
as a result of the replies received and of the discussions that took
place in Convocation a book was issued, entitled /A Necessary Doctrine
and an Erudition for any Christian Man/ (1543). It was issued by order
of the king, and for this reason is known as the /King's Book/ in
contradistinction to the /Bishop's Book/, published with his
permission but not by his authorisation. Just as the /Bishop's Book/
represented a revision of the Ten Articles, so the /King's Book/ was
an extension or completion of the /Bishop's Book/, in many respects
even more Catholic in its tone than the original. The king was now
nearing his end rapidly, and both parties in the royal council strove
hard for mastery. Gardiner and Bonner, Bishop of London, stood firm in
defence of Catholic doctrine, and once or twice it seemed as if they
were about to succeed in displacing Cranmer from the favour of the
king; but the danger of an attack from the united forces of France and
the Emperor, especially after the peace of Crépy had been concluded
(1544), made it necessary for Henry not to close the door against an
alliance with the Protestant princes of Germany by an attack on
Cranmer, who was regarded by them as an active sympathiser. Once
indeed Henry ordered that the archbishop should be arrested, but a
sudden change of mind took place, and the order for the arrest was
cancelled.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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