Laudianism
Encyclopedia
Laudianism was an early seventeenth-century reform movement within the Church of England
, promulgated by Archbishop William Laud
and his supporters. It rejected the predestination
upheld by the previously dominant Calvinism
in favour of free will, and hence the possibility of salvation for all men. It is probably best known for its impact on the Anglican High Church movement and its emphasis on liturgical ceremony and clerical hierarchy.
and his supporters, Laudianism sought to establish as mainstream doctrines that were similar to the teachings of the Dutch theologian Jakob Harmenszoon, known by his Latinized name Jacobus Arminius
, and English proto-Arminians such as Lancelot Andrewes
.
and Lutheranism
. Although the doctrine of predestination was often neglected at a parish level in order to offset despair and the ensuing disobedience, the seventeenth of the Thirty-Nine Articles
sets an undefined doctrine on predestination as one of the founding principles of the English Church. Unlike Calvinist doctrine on predestination, which is supralapsarian, double and unconditional, the predestination mentioned in the Thirty-Nine Articles may, due to silence and vagueness in controversial points, be understood as infralapsarian, single and/or conditional, and therefore more Zwinglian. The essence of Laudianism in a theological sense was a belief in God's universal grace and the free will of all men to obtain salvation. Thus, Calvinist theories of predestination were rejected, overturning the fundamental teachings of the established Church of England
.
, to the extent that the movements of Laudianism and Puritan
ism could no longer be described under this all-encompassing banner. Predestination
had been the unifying feature of the Reformed Church and, although more radical groups might have been rejected, there was still a sense of brotherhood among the various sects. Archbishop Laud disagreed with the views of his predecessors, such as John Whitgift
, that Puritans were aberrant brethren, erring but deserving some level of leniency, but believed instead that the Protestant non-conformists presented a direct threat to the establishment and that there was more common ground between his own, true position and that of the pre-Reformed Roman Catholic Church.
The 1633 edition of the standard Latin-English Dictionary, dedicated to William Laud
, contained for the first time the word Praedestinatiani, who were defined as "a kind of heretic that held fatal predestination of every particular matter person or action, and that all things come to passe, and fell out necessarily; especially touching the salvation and damnation of particular men".
The extent to which Calvinism
had been entrenched in the Church of England
and in the English psyche can be seen in the reaction to the development of these Arminian tendencies following the royal marriage negotiations with Spain. James I
faced an upsurge in hostility from the pulpit
and the press. Although the King tried to quiet such opposition through proclamations, the confinement of offenders and a set of Directions to Preachers in 1622, opposition came from senior figures within the established Church, such as several royal chaplains, Dean Sutcliffe of Exeter, Archdeacon Hakewill of Surrey and George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury. From this it can be seen that Laudianism signaled a stark break with previous practices and perceptions within the Elizabethan and early Stuart
Church. Indeed, James reacted to this episode by moving his support to anti-Calvinist churchmen such as Lancelot Andrewes
at Winchester
, Montaigne at London and at last elevating Laud to the episcopate, thus radically shifting the power-base in favour of the emerging movement.
Charles I
took these personnel changes even further when Laud was promised the archbishopric of Canterbury
and effectively became the religious spokesman for the regime. As bishop of London, he had been controlling the printing presses since 1628 and prohibiting discussion of predestination. The York
primacy had been filled with a succession of Laudians since the death of Calvinist Matthews in 1628 and from 1632 it was occupied by Neile, the one-time mentor of William Laud. In 1628, the Duke of Buckingham
was made Chancellor of Cambridge University and all predestinarian teaching was subsequently banned. This was supported by a royal proclamation which effectively outlawed Calvinism
on a national level.
There was also a break with the previous practices of the early Stuart
Church on a visual level. Upon his translation to the bishopric of Durham
in 1617, Richard Neile
had the communion table transformed into an altar at the east end of the cathedral and supported Laud (then under his patronage) in a similar action at Gloucester
.
In the 1630s, Laud declared that "the altar is the greatest place of God's residence upon earth, greater than the pulpit for there 'tis Hoc est corpus meum, This is my body; but in the other it is at most but Hoc est verbum meum, This is my word." In November 1633, by act of Privy Council
King Charles I established the precedent that all parochial churches should follow the by then general cathedral
practice of placing communion tables altar-wise at the east end of chancels. This was highly significant. One of the main points of the Reformation
had been the replacement of the Catholic
notion of salvation through the practice of rites such as communion, baptism and confession. The visual emphasis that this placed on the act of communion directly contradicted the Calvinist doctrine of salvation through faith alone, the knowledge of which was communicated through preaching, although the practice was similar to the contemporary Lutheran use of intact medieval altars and pieces of art. Similarly, a few years later, Bishops Overall and Andrewes could be seen advocating the practice of confession before receiving Holy Communion. Confession, like good works, implied that man had the chance to improve his chances of obtaining salvation and, again, was irreconcilable with the past fifty years and more of Calvinist, predestinarian teaching.
After 1640, the Laudians and Arminians who had previously enjoyed the favour of the Episcopal
hierarchy, found themselves under attack from both the Parliament
and the press. The Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiasticall were passed by the 1640 Convocation
, unusually remaining in session after the Short Parliament
was dissolved. They included as canon VI what became notorious as the "et cetera oath", a pledge to uphold episcopacy and the current Anglican hierarchy.
Priests and bishops who had gathered in Convocation to draft the canons of 1640 made high claims for the ceremonies and rites of the Established Church but, within months, were unable to enforce them. By December 1640 thirteen bishops had been impeached, with another dozen having followed them by December 1641. Within eight weeks of the opening of Parliament, the Houses were calling not for the restoration of the pre-Laudian church, along Elizabethan or Jacobean lines, but the abolition of the entire ecclesiastical order and its reconstruction in a Puritan
mould. The removal of ecclesiastical judges and the abolition of the High Commission meant that the Established Church was unprotected on a parish level. Prayer books and surplices were torn up; communion tables were relocated and altar rails were burned. The reestablishment of the Anglican Church, in its Laudian version, would not occur until the Restoration in 1660.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, promulgated by Archbishop William Laud
William Laud
William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
and his supporters. It rejected the predestination
Predestination
Predestination, in theology is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin interpreted biblical predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others...
upheld by the previously dominant Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
in favour of free will, and hence the possibility of salvation for all men. It is probably best known for its impact on the Anglican High Church movement and its emphasis on liturgical ceremony and clerical hierarchy.
Overview
Promulgated by Archbishop William LaudWilliam Laud
William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
and his supporters, Laudianism sought to establish as mainstream doctrines that were similar to the teachings of the Dutch theologian Jakob Harmenszoon, known by his Latinized name Jacobus Arminius
Jacobus Arminius
Jacobus Arminius , the Latinized name of the Dutch theologian Jakob Hermanszoon from the Protestant Reformation period, served from 1603 as professor in theology at the University of Leiden...
, and English proto-Arminians such as Lancelot Andrewes
Lancelot Andrewes
Lancelot Andrewes was an English bishop and scholar, who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chichester, Ely and Winchester and oversaw the translation of the...
.
Theology
The Elizabethan Settlement of 1559, that set the tone for English religious policy until the rise of Laudianism, was theologically a mixture of CalvinismCalvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
and Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
. Although the doctrine of predestination was often neglected at a parish level in order to offset despair and the ensuing disobedience, the seventeenth of the Thirty-Nine Articles
Thirty-Nine Articles
The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion are the historically defining statements of doctrines of the Anglican church with respect to the controversies of the English Reformation. First established in 1563, the articles served to define the doctrine of the nascent Church of England as it related to...
sets an undefined doctrine on predestination as one of the founding principles of the English Church. Unlike Calvinist doctrine on predestination, which is supralapsarian, double and unconditional, the predestination mentioned in the Thirty-Nine Articles may, due to silence and vagueness in controversial points, be understood as infralapsarian, single and/or conditional, and therefore more Zwinglian. The essence of Laudianism in a theological sense was a belief in God's universal grace and the free will of all men to obtain salvation. Thus, Calvinist theories of predestination were rejected, overturning the fundamental teachings of the established Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
.
Laudianism in practice
In practice, this led to a polarization within English ProtestantismProtestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
, to the extent that the movements of Laudianism and Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
ism could no longer be described under this all-encompassing banner. Predestination
Predestination
Predestination, in theology is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin interpreted biblical predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others...
had been the unifying feature of the Reformed Church and, although more radical groups might have been rejected, there was still a sense of brotherhood among the various sects. Archbishop Laud disagreed with the views of his predecessors, such as John Whitgift
John Whitgift
John Whitgift was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1583 to his death. Noted for his hospitality, he was somewhat ostentatious in his habits, sometimes visiting Canterbury and other towns attended by a retinue of 800 horsemen...
, that Puritans were aberrant brethren, erring but deserving some level of leniency, but believed instead that the Protestant non-conformists presented a direct threat to the establishment and that there was more common ground between his own, true position and that of the pre-Reformed Roman Catholic Church.
The 1633 edition of the standard Latin-English Dictionary, dedicated to William Laud
William Laud
William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
, contained for the first time the word Praedestinatiani, who were defined as "a kind of heretic that held fatal predestination of every particular matter person or action, and that all things come to passe, and fell out necessarily; especially touching the salvation and damnation of particular men".
The extent to which Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
had been entrenched in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and in the English psyche can be seen in the reaction to the development of these Arminian tendencies following the royal marriage negotiations with Spain. James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
faced an upsurge in hostility from the pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
and the press. Although the King tried to quiet such opposition through proclamations, the confinement of offenders and a set of Directions to Preachers in 1622, opposition came from senior figures within the established Church, such as several royal chaplains, Dean Sutcliffe of Exeter, Archdeacon Hakewill of Surrey and George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury. From this it can be seen that Laudianism signaled a stark break with previous practices and perceptions within the Elizabethan and early Stuart
Stuart period
The Stuart period of English and British history refers to the period between 1603 and 1714, while in Scotland it begins in 1371. These dates coincide with the rule of the Scottish royal House of Stuart, whose first monarch to rule England was James I & VI...
Church. Indeed, James reacted to this episode by moving his support to anti-Calvinist churchmen such as Lancelot Andrewes
Lancelot Andrewes
Lancelot Andrewes was an English bishop and scholar, who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chichester, Ely and Winchester and oversaw the translation of the...
at Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
, Montaigne at London and at last elevating Laud to the episcopate, thus radically shifting the power-base in favour of the emerging movement.
Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
took these personnel changes even further when Laud was promised the archbishopric of Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
and effectively became the religious spokesman for the regime. As bishop of London, he had been controlling the printing presses since 1628 and prohibiting discussion of predestination. The York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
primacy had been filled with a succession of Laudians since the death of Calvinist Matthews in 1628 and from 1632 it was occupied by Neile, the one-time mentor of William Laud. In 1628, the Duke of Buckingham
Duke of Buckingham
The titles Marquess and Duke of Buckingham, referring to Buckingham, have been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been Earls of Buckingham.-1444 creation:...
was made Chancellor of Cambridge University and all predestinarian teaching was subsequently banned. This was supported by a royal proclamation which effectively outlawed Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
on a national level.
There was also a break with the previous practices of the early Stuart
Stuart period
The Stuart period of English and British history refers to the period between 1603 and 1714, while in Scotland it begins in 1371. These dates coincide with the rule of the Scottish royal House of Stuart, whose first monarch to rule England was James I & VI...
Church on a visual level. Upon his translation to the bishopric of Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
in 1617, Richard Neile
Richard Neile
Richard Neile was an English churchman, bishop of several English dioceses and Archbishop of York from 1631 until his death.-Early life:...
had the communion table transformed into an altar at the east end of the cathedral and supported Laud (then under his patronage) in a similar action at Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
.
In the 1630s, Laud declared that "the altar is the greatest place of God's residence upon earth, greater than the pulpit for there 'tis Hoc est corpus meum, This is my body; but in the other it is at most but Hoc est verbum meum, This is my word." In November 1633, by act of Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
King Charles I established the precedent that all parochial churches should follow the by then general cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
practice of placing communion tables altar-wise at the east end of chancels. This was highly significant. One of the main points of the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
had been the replacement of the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
notion of salvation through the practice of rites such as communion, baptism and confession. The visual emphasis that this placed on the act of communion directly contradicted the Calvinist doctrine of salvation through faith alone, the knowledge of which was communicated through preaching, although the practice was similar to the contemporary Lutheran use of intact medieval altars and pieces of art. Similarly, a few years later, Bishops Overall and Andrewes could be seen advocating the practice of confession before receiving Holy Communion. Confession, like good works, implied that man had the chance to improve his chances of obtaining salvation and, again, was irreconcilable with the past fifty years and more of Calvinist, predestinarian teaching.
Laudianism and the English Civil War
The 1630s saw a polarization of religious opinion influenced by reactions to tracts, sermons and lobbying; the revolutionary events in Scotland; the Thirty Years War; and the level of ecclesiastical corruption revealed by the Houses of Parliament's inquiries. Similarly, in relation to the attacks on government officials, apart from those directed towards the great men of the state, the harrying of Laudian churchmen was positively gleeful.After 1640, the Laudians and Arminians who had previously enjoyed the favour of the Episcopal
Episcopal polity
Episcopal polity is a form of church governance that is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop...
hierarchy, found themselves under attack from both the Parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
and the press. The Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiasticall were passed by the 1640 Convocation
Convocation of the English Clergy
The Convocation of the English Clergy is a synodical assembly of the Church of England consisting of bishops and clergy.- Background and introduction :...
, unusually remaining in session after the Short Parliament
Short Parliament
The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....
was dissolved. They included as canon VI what became notorious as the "et cetera oath", a pledge to uphold episcopacy and the current Anglican hierarchy.
Priests and bishops who had gathered in Convocation to draft the canons of 1640 made high claims for the ceremonies and rites of the Established Church but, within months, were unable to enforce them. By December 1640 thirteen bishops had been impeached, with another dozen having followed them by December 1641. Within eight weeks of the opening of Parliament, the Houses were calling not for the restoration of the pre-Laudian church, along Elizabethan or Jacobean lines, but the abolition of the entire ecclesiastical order and its reconstruction in a Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
mould. The removal of ecclesiastical judges and the abolition of the High Commission meant that the Established Church was unprotected on a parish level. Prayer books and surplices were torn up; communion tables were relocated and altar rails were burned. The reestablishment of the Anglican Church, in its Laudian version, would not occur until the Restoration in 1660.