Law and Conscience: Catholicism in Early Modern England, 1570–1625 (Catholic Christendom, 1300-1700)

This book examines the Catholic elaboration on the relationship between state and Church in late Elizabethan and Jacobean England. Among the several factors which have contributed to the complex process of state-formation in early modern Europe, religious affiliation has certainly been one of the most important, if not the most important. Within the European context of the consolidation of both the nation-state entities and the state-Churches, Catholicism in England in the 16th and 17th centuries presents peculiar elements which are crucial to understanding the problems at stake, from both a political and a religious point of view. Catholics in early modern England were certainly a minority, but a minority of an interestingly doubled kind. On the one hand, they were a "sect" among many others. On the other hand, Catholicism was a "universal", catholic religion, in a country in which the sovereign was the head - or governor - of both political and ecclesiastical establishments. In this context, this monograph casts light on the mechanisms through which a distinctive religious minority was able to adapt itself within a singular political context. In the most general terms, this book contributes to the significant question of how different religious affiliations could (or might) be integrated within one national reality, and how political allegiance and religious belief began to be perceived as two different identities within one context. Current scholarship on the religious history of early modern England has considerably changed the way in which historians think about English Protestantism. Recent works have offered a more nuanced and accurate picture of the English Protestant Church, which is now seen not as a monolithic institution, but rather as complex and fluid. This book seeks to offer certain elements of a complementary view of the English Catholic Church as an organism within which the debate over how to combine the catholic feature of the Church of Ro Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 Series Editor’s Preface 8 Acknowledgements 10 List of Abbreviations 12 Note for the Reader 14 Introduction 16 Theology and Politics of the English Reformation 16 The Relationship Between Law and Conscience in English Catholicism 19 The Debate over the Oath and Its Implications 22 1 The Debate Before and After the Excommunication 26 The Feckenham–Horne Controversy 26 De Visibili Monarchia 36 John Calvin and the Church of England between Feckenham and Sander 43 2 The Political Significance of the First Mission of the Society of Jesus to England 48 1580: The Enterprise Begins 48 Robert Persons and the English Mission 51 The Genesis of the Mission of 1580 56 Of the Pope’s Party, or the Queen’s? From “Matters disputable in Schooles” to the “Bloody Question” 60 3 Old Ideas and New Interpretations at the End of Elizabeth’s Reign 68 Moods of Widespread Dissent 68 The Dissent Organizes: The Appellants and the Archpriest Controversy 80 The English Benedictines and the Society of Jesus 88 4 “Smile (Muses) smile! A Noble one suceedes/ Eliza lawfull heire in vertuous deedes”: The Ascent of James Stuart 96 Politico-Theological Opinions of the New King 96 The Story of Thomas Pounde 102 Andrew Willet and the Synopsis Papismi 107 Thomas Egerton Lord Ellesmere and the Catholic Question 119 5 The Oath of Allegiance 132 The Gunpowder Plot and the English Catholics 132 The Oath of Allegiance: The Terms of the Question 147 6 Bellarmine’s Solution 154 The Debate between Blackwell and Bellarmine 154 Bellarmine and the “Revised” Sander 162 7 A Change in the Political Debate 176 Lancelot Andrewes and Andrew Willet against Robert Bellarmine 176 William Barclay: A “Politique” in the Debate over the Oath 183 Thomas Fitzherbert: An Anti-Machiavellian in the Debate over the Oath 192 8 A Change in the Theological Debate 210 The Way to the true Church 210 London, Geneva, and Rome: Suggestions for a Reappraisal 224 Conclusions 238 Selected Bibliography 240 Index 260 "This book examines the Catholic elaboration on the relationship between state and Church in late Elizabethan and Jacobean England. Among the several factors which have contributed to the complex process of state-formation in early modern Europe, religious affiliation has certainly been one of the most important, if not the most important. Within the European context of the consolidation of both the nation-state entities and the state-Churches, Catholicism in England in the 16th and 17th centuries presents peculiar elements which are crucial to understanding the problems at stake, from both a political and a religious point of view. Catholics in early modern England were certainly a minority, but a minority of an interestingly doubled kind. On the one hand, they were a 'sea' among many others. On the other hand, Catholicism was a 'universal', catholic religion, in a country in which the sovereign was the head - or governor - of both political and ecclesiastical establishments." "In this context, this monograph casts light on the mechanisms through which a distinctive religious minority was able to adapt itself within a singular political context. In the most general terms, this book contributes to the significant question of how different religious affiliations could (or might) be integrated within one national reality, and how political allegiance and religious belief began to be perceived as two different identities within one context."--BOOK JACKET The Debate Before And After The Excommunication -- The Political Significance Of The First Mission Of The Society Of Jesus To England -- Old Ideas And New Interpretations At The End Of Elizabeth's Reign -- Smile (muses) Smile! A Noble One Succeeds/ Eliza Lawfull Heire In Vertuous Deedes: The Ascent Of James Stuart -- The Oath Of Allegiance -- Bellarmine's Solution -- A Change In The Political Debate -- A Change In The Theological Debate. Stefania Tutino. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [225]-244) And Index.