William Shakepeare biography section 4

3 S S >: S >: S S >: S S S J	William Shakespeare Section IV: Relig ion in Shakespeare's Eng land 1. History of Religion in Shakespeare's England 2. How Religion Changed in England: The Reformation 3.    Edward as King 4.     Mary as Queen 5. Elizabeth as Queen 6. Differences between the Protestant and Catholic Faiths 7.    Shakespeare's Own Religion 8.     Shakespeare and the Bible 9. Shakespeare and the Gunpowder Pot
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Section IV:

Religion in Shakespeare's Eng land

We should remember that:

•        Religion is extremely important in Shakespeare's England. Religion influences everyone's actions and thoughts. It is a part of the fabric of life, like sleeping and working and breathing, and the Sunday church service is a central activity. After 1559, church attendance is compulsory: if you are absent (a recusant) you are fined.

•        The official religion of England changed three times in 12 years.

History of Religion in Shakespeare's Eng land

•        At first all Christians everywhere are Roman Catholic. The Pope is the head of the Church. The Church is very powerful, and becomes very wealthy.

•      Then there is rebellion against the excesses of the Church, by a few men in particular: Martin Luther in Germany, Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin in Switzerland, John Knox in Scotland, and (for very different reasons) King Henry VIII in England.

•        The rebellions lead to Protestantism, via the Reformation.

How Relig ion Chang ed in Eng land:

The Reformation

•        Henry VIII (1491-1547) becomes heir to the throne in 1502 after the death of his older brother, Arthur. He is crowned in 1509, at 18, and marries Catherine of Aragon, his brother's widow.

Henry wants a son, but as the years go by he and Catherine have only one child, a daughter, Mar. A male heir is necessary, everyone thinks, to keep the Tudor power on the throne and to keep peace in England.

•        Henry, a man of many appetites, falls in love with Anne Boleyn, lady-in-waiting to the Queen. He asks the Pope in Rome for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine. When the Pope refuses, Henry breaks away from the Catholic Church, divorces Catherine, and marries Anne Boleyn.

•        The Pope excommunicates him, and parliamentary legislation in England confirms Henry's decision to break with Rome. Henry establishes himself as "’the only supreme head on earth of the Church in England" and orders the dissolution of the monasteries; other reforms follow.

•        His Act of Supremacy (1534) insists that everyone admit his authority, and swear loyalty to him as the head of the Church of England. Many people who cannot bring themselves to do so are beheaded. One of these is the brilliant humanist Sir Thomas More. (Watch the Academy Award-winning film A Man For All Seasons, made in 1966.)

•        England is now no longer Roman Catholic under the Pope, but officially Protestant under Henry VIII. Naturally, many people remember Catholicism, and perhaps keep it in their hearts.

•        Anne Boleyn soon bears Henry a daughter, Elizabeth, to Henry's immense disappointment. Wearying of Anne, he falls in love with Jane Seymour, and has Anne beheaded for treason, accusing her of adultery. He marries Jane Seymour, who gives him the son he wants, Edward; Jane dies 12 days later from complications of the birth.

Edward as King (reigned 1547-53)

•        After three more wives (Anne of Cleves, Kathryn Howard and Katherine Parr), none of whom bears any children, Henry VIII dies. His only son, Edward VI, becomes king in 1547, at the age of 9. Edward's protector (guardian) is his mother's brother,

Edward Seymour.

•        Edward keeps his father's religion. During Edward's short reign (1547 -53), the Church of England is reshaped by his strong Protestant advisors. The initial reforms are modest, but eventually radical Protestants gain power and try to eliminate all traces of Roman Catholicism from the Church. Edward dies of consumption (tuberculosis) at 16. England is without a ruler.

Mary as Queen (reigned 1553-58)

• Henry's first-born, Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon (Henry's first wife), ascends the throne of England in 1553. Raised in the Roman Catholic faith, Mary punges England back into Roman Catholicism. In 1554, by an Act of Parliament, she cancels Henry's divorce from her mother, Catherine of Aragon, repeals all the religious legislation made under Edward VI, and returns England fully to the Pope's authority.

• Nearly 300 peope are burned to death at the stake for refusing to change their Protestant religion. Among them are Thomas Cranmer, the former Archbishop of Canterbury; Nicholas Ridley, the former Bishop of London; and the reformist Hugh Latimer. Almost as many people are put to death for religious reasons in 34 months under Mary as in the whole 45 years of Elizabeth's reign, earning Mary the nickname "Bloody Mary". After five years on the throne, Mary dies childless (possibly of tuberculosis) at age 42.

Elizabeth as Queen (reigned 1558-1603)

•        Mary's half sister Elizabeth, Henry's daughter by Anne Boleyn, becomes Queen in 1558 at the age of 25. Raised as a Protestant,

Elizabeth I reinstates Protestantism as the official religion of England. She tries to be even-handed and alow freedom of belief as long as it does not openly flout the law or promote treason. However, throughout the country there is constant spying and constant worry about who is what religion, and who may be trying to usurp the throne (and to whom it rightfully belongs).

•       The new Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity re-establish England's independence from the Pope, but also make broad concessions to Catholics. Elizabeth, a strong female ruler, reigns for 45 years.

Differences between the Protestant and Catholic Faiths

Roman Catholic beliefs and practices under attack by Protestant reformers indude:

•       purgatory;

•        particular judgment (i.e., the judgment given by God to a departed soul immediately after death, as opposed to the General or Last Judgment of all souls at the end of the word);

•       devotion to the Virgin Mary;

•        intercession of the saints (praying to a saint to intercede with God on the believer's behalf);

•       most of the sacraments;

•       authority of the Pope;

•       corruption within the Church.

Shakespeare's Own Religion

•        Although Catholicism is against the law, Shakespeare may well have been

Roman Catholic in his heart. His parents certainly had been Roman Catholic. In 1591, the authorities put John Shakespeare on a list of "obstinate papists," and report that he has missed church "for fear of process for debt," a common Catholic excuse. In 1757, a hand-written Catholic statement of faith is found hidden in the rafters of John Shakespeare's home, every page signed by John Shakespeare. Shakespeare's daughter Susanna is also accused of missing church.

•       Like everyone else in his day, Shakespeare believes in ghosts and witches and the supernatural. The ghost of Hamlet's father suffers horribly in purgatory "until the crimes done in [his] lifetime are burned away". A belief in purgatory is not a Protestant belief, but a Catholic one.

•            We will never know whether Shakespeare was secretly Catholic. You will find an
interesting article on the topic here: www.cummingsstudyguides.net/xCatholic.html

Shakespeare and the Bible

•      "Shakespeare's debt to Scripture is profound; biblical imagery is woven into every play. No writer has integrated the expressions and themes found in the Bible into his own work more magnificently than Shakespeare." Amanda Mabillard, “Biblical Imagery in Macbeth", in About.com; accessed September 9, 2008

•        The Bible and the Book of Common Prayer are sources of Shakespeare's imagery and of many of his explicit or implicit themes. He believes in happy endings, that good eventually triumphs over evil, and that goodness is rewarded and evil punished.

Here are just a few of the Biblical references in Shakespeare's pays:

“Golgotha | porter of hellgate | devil-porter | angels pleading trumpet-tongued against the blast | heaven’s cherubim | loosed from Hell to speak of horrors | Jephthah | temple | winged messenger of heaven | fiend evangelical | fiend in mortal paradise | mine eternal jewel given to the enemy of man | Heaven finds ways to kill our joys with love”

Shakespeare and the Gunpowder Plot

The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was an attempt by a group of English Catholics to assassinate their new King, James I, and to kill much of the Protestant aristocracy by bowing up the Houses of Parliament at the State Opening on November 5.

Shakespeare may have known about the infamous Gunpowder Plot, because Shakespeare's father, John, knew the head conspirator, Robert Catesby.

Here is a contemporary sketch of the conspirators, and the beginning of a modern-day article which suggests that Shakespeare might have been close to the action: "It was November, 1605, and high treason was on the mind of every English subject. A small group of angry Catholics, fed up with ongoing persecution at the hands of the Protestant monarchy, hatched an elaborate plot to blow King James I and his government to smithereens.

"As luck would have it, a warning letter surfaced at the last minute and James ordered a search of his Palace. The most notorious conspirator,

Guy Fawkes, was discovered in the cellar, match in hand, ready to ignite twenty barrels of gunpowder "all at one thunderclap."

"To say that Shakespeare would have been familiar with the conspirators is an understatement. These traitors of the realm had some deep connections to Shakespeare and his family. Shakespeare's father, John (undoubtedly a covert Catholic) , was friends with William Catesby, the father of the head conspirator, Robert Catesby. John Shakespeare and William Catesby shared illegal Catholic writings that eventually wound up in the attic of John's home in Stratford. Moreover, the Mermaid Tavern in London, frequented by Shakespeare and owned by his closest friend and confidant, was a preferred meeting spot of the turncoats as they schemed to obliterate the Protestants once and for all...."