Scholars and those appointed to examine the original text also found that the Church had wrong teachings on many things, which was really superstition. The priests did not actually know the meaning of the Latin from the bible. The idea that being able to speak what as written would allow you to gain magic was imposed on the people, who were not learned. Although the most of the clergy themselves were not as learned as thought. During “mass” the eating of bread and drinking of wine, representations of Christ’s body and blood, were taken literally as having magical powers. They did not realise it was to represent His body, not transform into his actual flesh. The Church charged the people for miracles; one report was that a landowner paid 100 florins so that a priest may sprinkle holy water on his crops as to give a bountiful harvest. This was seen as preposterous and something that a few people believed was not something that the church should make the people believe.
The clergy were widely despised. At the top, Archbishops and Bishops were disliked for their wealth and ostentation with Wolsey being an obvious example. He was never seen without fine clothes and expensive jewellery and had several homes - Hampden Court being his prominent residence. This was in sharp contrast to the example set by Christ in the New Testament. They were further more seen as being guilty of pluralism and therefore non-residence as they were constantly moving between their dioceses. A Bishop was also obliged to attend Parliament, as he owed the service of counsel to the king, but not many attended regularly which would obviously anger a temperamental King, which when Henry VIII came to power was something that helped him come to a decision of reformation.
Another grievance towards the Bishops was sexual irregularity with many Bishops seemingly ignoring their vow of chastity by having mistresses and illegitimate children. Neglect of the care of souls and simony were also attributed to the Bishops. This would almost certainly reflect badly on Henry due to the parliamentary Statute of Provisors of the 14th century, which meant that the king appointed the Bishops and not the Pope. If they failed to act appropriately then Henry would be blamed. This could have in turn caused Henry to think of a total reformation of the church. The lower clergy and parish priests on the other hand were viewed as both rapacious and ignorant. They were very important for the vast majority of the English people, living in isolated rural communities, as they were the only effective representatives of the universal church. Therefore, if they were ineffective many peasants would suffer.
However, although complaints were mad against the church, it is obvious that only a small minority were openly against the church. Otherwise the people would have demanded a reformation.
It is also well known that the church was very popular with the majority. People visited the church at least every Sunday. Many donations were made to the church. The church could not have been rich if the people did not believe in it and give money (tithes).
As shown, attempts were made to challenge the church, but many saw this as heresy and so all failed.
There is evidence, which shows that many people left money to the church in their wills, something they would have not done if they didn’t believe in it. An example of one is in Scarisbrick, where over to thousand wills were studied to have left large sums to the church. Many new Churches were built and most renovated to look new. This required a lot of money, something the people were willing to do for their local church. The best selling Books were of Catholic Literature, although many people could not read, it was still bought among the intellects that would have challenged the church (unless corrupt themselves).
In Conclusion, The Church was seen as corrupt and wicked, but challenged by only a few. Many of the people saw the Church as the true path to God, although this majority would not have been very educated. There is little evidence of abuse of power, and it seems that reformation would only have been possible with Henry’s need to divorce. However before the reformation, his state was weakened and always in need of money, something that the church had from the lands owned in England. With the removal of the church he would have been in a much more powerful position.
The Church was and known to be corrupt, however this was most likely unknown to the majority of people who were uneducated and ignorant of the world around them.
Bibliography
~ The Tudor Years –John Lotherington
~ Henry VIII and the English Reformation – Richard Rex
~ Reformation & Revolution - George Cavendish