The same general principle of protest against ecclesiastical corruption was involved in the Reformation movement in England that inspired the Reformation on the Continent. Nevertheless, the movement in England had its own salient and distin guishing features, preserving in unbroken conti nuity the ecclesiastical orders and succession of the catholic Church. Ciretunstances had been pre paring the way for the Reformation in England. The signs of the times in the early part of the six teenth century indicated a mighty movement of men's minds in England as well as on the Continent, as shown by the revival of classical learning with such names as Erasmus, Colet, and Thomas More, the bold satires upon clerical abuses, the independence of thought as shown in Erasmus' appeal to the Greek New Testament in the preface of his edition (Basel, 1518), and Mores dreams of improvement in Church and State in his Utopia.
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transubstantiation as heresy, and declared strongly in favor of auricular confession, the celibacy of the clergy, and the sacrif ce of private masses. The punishment for denying transubstantiation was burning.
Under Edward VI. (1548-53), the doctrinal reformation was accomplished. The six articles were
repealed, and sympathy with the Cona. Edward tinental Reformers was shown in the VI. and call of Butzer and Fagius to Cam)gary. bridge, and of Peter Martyr and
Oehino to Oxford. A Prayer-Book was issued in 1549, the Forty-Two Articles were drawn up in 1552. They declared that "the Church of Rome bath erred not only in its living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith" (xix.); expressly denied transubstantiation; permitted the marriage of the clergy; discontinued auricular confession; and approved of the communion in both kinds. With their adoption the formative period of the Church of England closes. The reign of Mary (1553-58), a firm adherent of the Roman Catholic faith, checked the Reformation for the moment, but did not crush it, though a determined effort was made to restore papal control over the English Church, the intolerance of the age being freely employed. Hooper, Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer were brought to the stake, and many refugees fled to Basel and Geneva; but these persecutions, which were attributed largely to Spanish influence, Mary being married to Philip II., only awakened dogged resistance. The number of certified executions for religious reasons during her reign was 286, of which forty-six were of women.
The accession of Elizabeth restored the independence of the Church of England, which, in spite
of occasional resistance from within and 3. Elizabeth. papal opposition from without (1570),
became the permanent religious home of the large majority in the land, and was firmly established by the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Two periods stand out in the history of the Church under Elizabeth. In the early part of her reign the separation of the National Church from the Roman Catholic see was completed, and in the latter part the conflict between Anglicanism and Puritanism deepened and resulted in the victory of the Anglican school. The queen was no zealous reformer, but directed the affairs of the Church with the keen sagacity of a statesmanship which placed national unity and the peace of the realm above every other consideration. In the first year of her reign the Act of Supremacy was renewed and the Act of Uniformity (q.v.) was passed. By the former all allegiance to foreign princes or. prelates was forbidden; by the latter the use of the liturgy was enforced. The royal title of " Defender of the Faith and Supreme Head of the Church " was retained, with the slight alteration of " Head " to " Governor "; but the deprecation was struck out of the Litany which read, "From the tyranny of the Bishop of Rome and all his detestable enormities, good Lord, deliver us." The queen retained, against the protest of bishops, an altar, crucifix, and lighted candles in her own chapel, disapproved of the marriage of the clergy,
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