Defending Royal Supremacy and Discerning God's Will in Tudor England (St Andrews Studies in Reformation History)

261 Pages·2007·0.76 MB·English

by  Daniel Eppley

Defending Royal Supremacy and
Discerning God’s Will in Tudor England
To Mom, Dad, and Alecia
for support of my educationl journey
Defending Royal Supremacy
and Discerning God’s Will
in Tudor England
DANIEL EPPLEY
© Daniel Eppley 2007
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, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission
of the publisher.
Daniel Eppley 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
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Eppley, Daniel
Defending royal supremacy and discerning God’s will in Tudor England. –
(St Andrews studies in Reformation history)
1. Saint German, Christopher, 1460?–1540 2. Hooker, Richard, 1553 or
4–1600 3. Church of England – History – 16th century 4. Royal supremacy
(Church of England) 5. Reformation – England 6. Church and state
– England – History – 16th century 7. England – Church history – 16th
century
I. Title
274.2’06
ISBN 978–0–7546–6013–2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Eppley, Daniel.
Defending royal supremacy and discerning God’s will in Tudor England /
Daniel Eppley.
p. cm. – (St. Andrews studies in Reformation history)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978–0–7546–6013–2 (alk. paper)
1. Royal supremacy (Church of England) – History of doctrines –16th
century. 2. Discerment (Christian theology) – England – History of doctrines
–16th century. 3. Saint German, Christopher, 1460?–1540. 4. Hooker,
Richard, 1553 or 4–1600.
I. Title.
BX5157.E67 2007
283’.4209031–dc22
2006100550
This book is printed on acid free paper
Printed in Great Britain by MPG Books, Bodmin, Cornwall
Contents
A Note on the Sources vii
Preface ix
Introduction 1
1 The Henrician Supremacy and the Definition of Doctrine 5
2 Defending Royal Supremacy apart from the Definition of
Doctrine 19
3 Christopher St German: Defending Royal Supremacy over
the Definition of Doctrine 61
4 The Elizabethan Supremacy and the Admonition Controversy 143
5 Richard Hooker: Royal Supremacy over the Definition
of Doctrine Reaffirmed 163
Conclusion 223
Bibliography 227
Index 239
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A Note on the Sources
Primary sources are cited in the most readily available edition known to
the author. In quotations, the spelling and punctuation of the edition cited
will be reproduced with the following exceptions: errata from the end
of the sixteenth-century editions have been incorporated, abbreviations
(except for ‘&’) have been expanded, and obvious misprints have been
corrected, all silently; slashes (/) and commas are both rendered as commas
without differentiation. The preface of Hooker’s Lawes and Cartwright’s
Replye as reproduced in the Parker Society Edition of Whitgift’s Works are
printed primarily in italic typeface with roman typeface used for emphasis;
in quotations, this has been reversed, standardizing these texts with the
rest of the works cited.
This page intentionally left blank
Preface
It is my pleasure to have to opportunity to thank the people without whom
this study would not have reached its final form. The manuscript began
as a PhD dissertation in the University of Iowa Department of Religious
Studies, and I am indebted to the faculty there, particularly my adviser,
Ralph Keen, and Dwight Bozeman. In the six years of reshaping the text
I have incurred further debts. My research was enriched by attending two
seminars, one funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities
and the other funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. through the Seminars
in Christian Scholarship Program at Calvin College. The NEH seminar,
entitled ‘John Calvin and the Transformation of Religious Culture’, was
led by Karin Maag and Ray Mentzer in 2004, and was hosted by the
H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies at Calvin College. The SCS
seminar, entitled ‘Liturgy and Politics: Is the Church a Polis?’, was led by
William T. Cavanaugh in 2006. I had the opportunity to use the excellent
facilities at Calvin again thanks to a Meeter Center Research Fellowship
in 2005. (I would be remiss if I did not also thank the Meeter Center and
SCS staff who made the summers immensely enjoyable for my family and
me as well as highly productive.) In addition, my research was supported
by a Sam Taylor Fellowship from the United Methodist Church Board
of Higher Education and Ministry, a research fellowship from the KIVA
Exes Association of McMurry University, Dr Ralph Turner and the Texas
Methodist Foundation through the Turner Distinguished Professor of
Religious Studies Chair, and the McMurry Faculty Development Fund.
Thanks for research support is also due to Verna Ehret, who helped me
stay in touch with the resources at the University of Iowa library, and to
Terry Young, who took care of several years’ worth of interlibrary loan
requests. My thought has been enriched by participation in the informal
gathering of Hooker scholars that meets annually at the Sixteenth Century
Studies Conference, including Torrance Kirby, John Stafford, Egil Grislis,
Rudolph Almasy, Lee Gibbs, and David Neelands. Tom Mayer and Egil
Grislis graciously agreed to read over the manuscript and offered helpful
suggestions. Robert Pace and Philip LeMasters also commented on portions
of the manuscript, and Patty Duett helped with checking quotations.
Finally, this work would have been impossible without the loving support
of my wife, Alecia, and our children, Julianne, Michael and Jacob.
Daniel Eppley