Early Modern England: Politics, Religion, and Society under the Tudors and Stuarts - Audio Keith E. Wrightson

Professor Wrightson discusses the Elizabethan settlement of religion and the manner in which it was defended from both 'Papist' and 'Puritan' opponents. The settlement of religion achieved in 1559 (and enforced through the Act of Uniformity) restored the royal supremacy, but was in some respects deliberately ambiguous, combining moderately Protestant doctrine with traditional forms of worship and church government. It was designed to minimize the danger of religious conflict by appealing to traditionalists as well as convinced Protestants. From the 1570s, however, the settlement came under attack from both Catholics and Puritans (the "hotter sort of Protestants" dissatisfied with the limits of the Elizabethan reformation). Wrightson describes how both threats were countered and defeated, while the Church of England gradually became normalized and accepted by the population as a whole.

In this lecture Professor Wrightson provides an overview of central political issues of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He discusses the Queen's personal character and identity-forming experiences (and the challenges posed by her gender), the manner in which she interacted with her political advisors (notably William Cecil) and addresses the foreign and domestic crises which impacted her rule (such as the ongoing threat posed by the claims of Mary, Queen of Scots to the English throne and England's increasingly tense relationship with Spain). In particular, Professor Wrightson highlights the shifts in political culture which occurred during the period, as ideas concerning political participation and the role of institutions such as Parliament expanded. He introduces Patrick Collinson's notion of the Elizabethan regime as something of a "monarchical republic," with the Queen exercising power in cooperation with political stakeholders whose ideas about governance were informed by both their Protestant convictions and classical political principles.

Professor Wrightson examines the various stages of the reformation in England, beginning with the legislative, as opposed to doctrinal, reformation begun by Henry VIII in a quest to settle the Tudor succession. Wrightson shows how the jurisdictional transformation of the royal supremacy over the church resulted, gradually, in the introduction of true religious change. The role played by various personalities at Henry's court, and the manner in which the King's own preferences shaped the doctrines of the Church of England, are considered. Doctrinal change, in line with continental Protestant developments, accelerated under Edward VI, but was reversed by Mary I. However, Wrightson suggests that, by this time, many aspects of Protestantism had been internalized by part of the English population, especially the young, and so the reformation could not wholly be undone by Mary's short reign. The lecture ends with the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558, an event that presaged further religious change.

Professor Wrightson surveys the changing economic landscape of early modern England in the early sixteenth century. He notes that, throughout the period, population levels rose and, at the same time, inflation caused a rise in prices, and real wages fell. While many landowners were able to raise rents on their lands and profit from enclosing land, and many yeoman farmers prospered, these trends also resulted in a measure of social dislocation and a growth in poverty and vagrancy. Moral outrage at these developments was voiced by the so-called Commonwealth's Men, and popular discontent resulted in large scale rebellions, such as the Pilgrimage of Grace and Kett's Rebellion. Professor Wrightson ends by discussing the economic thought of Sir Thomas Smith, which influenced government initiatives to combat these problems.

Professor Wrightson begins by discussing recent trends in English political history, which has expanded from focusing solely on institutions to include analysis of political culture. After this, the formal institutions of government, such as the various law courts, the offices of royal administration, and Parliament, are briefly defined and situated. In the remainder of the lecture, Professor Wrightson explores the dynamics of royal power and authority. The impact of the personalities of Henry VII and Henry VIII on their individual reigns are noted and their relationships with the nobility are focused upon. Professor Wrightson addresses the manner in which the early Tudor kings solidified and extended royal authority through the uses of propaganda, patronage, consultations, and coercion. He ends by signaling the expansion of government which was to occur post-1530 as a result of the issues of the succession and religious change.

In this lecture Professor Wrightson surveys the religious landscape of England during the later medieval period through to the reign of Henry VIII and the beginnings of the reformation. He notes that while the late medieval church was more vibrant and popular than many early triumphal analysis of the reformation allowed for, there were, nonetheless, critics of Catholicism within England. He traces the earlier opposition to the church as arising from three primary groups: those educated clerics and laymen who desired reform within the church, the small pockets of Lollards within England who opposed traditional religion, and the group of people influenced by European reformation thought who would later work to implement doctrinal change within the Church of England. Professor Wrightson also provides an analysis of late medieval piety and the role that the traditional church played in people's daily lives at the local level prior to the reformation.