Edwards religion

• Edward's regime drove religious reform, by the end of his reign, the Church of England's doctrine was undoubtedly protestant
• Acts of Uniformity (1549)

  • an attempt to standardise religious practise
  • Indicated a break from traditional worship
• Common Prayer Book (1549)

  • it was full of compromises
  • stated there was no corporeal presence in bread and wine, yet there were attempts to satisfy traditionalists
  • This was receives with hostility, the driving force for rebellion in Cornwall
• Clerical Marriage Legalised in 1549


  attracted clergymen to Protestantism, by early 1500s, 15% of clergy were married
• The Second Act of Uniformity

  • in 1552, the second act was passed under Northumberland
  • Stated that it was a punishable offence for the clergy or laity to not attend church services
  • The need for this act demonstrates the states recognition that some members of society were refusing to attend parish churches
  • Bishop Hooper in Gloucester noted that people went out of their way to find traditionalist prayer books
• The 1552 Prayer Book


  The Prayer Book was revised in order to remove the contradictory traditionalist elements in the 1549 publication
• Somerset's changes in the church

  • Altars replaced by communion tables
  • Clergy not to wear their vestments, liturgical robes
  • in 1547 iconoclasm swept across the country, alienated the laity
• Spread of Protestantism under Somerset

  • press censorship had been relaxed, a rise in pro protestant pamphlets, spreading the protestant message
  • by 1553 the educated elites were more likely to be protestant
• Incoherent reforms under Edward

  • religious reform was not consistent
  • This is evidenced in the 1549 and 1552 prayer book