The Bitter Divide - Religious Conflict Then & Now

By Ben Wetherall

 

In 1517 a man named Martin Luther introduced his plan for a new style of Christian worship, intended to reform Roman Catholic rituals which had dominated Christianity since the Holy Roman Empire was at its most powerful stage. This plan was pinned to the door of the Roman Catholic Church in Wittenburg, modern day Germany. The religious importance of this document was huge as it set the foundations for the creation of Protestantism.

 

Over in 1534 England, King Henry VIII was locked in dispute with the Pope regarding a divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon and his marriage to his second, Anne Boleyn. In March of that year, the Pope claimed that Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn was invalid as according to the laws of Christianity, a marriage is a binding lifelong contract.  In response to the Pope’s claims, Henry VIII declared that the Pope had no power within England, and by November, Henry had established the new protestant Church of England in which he declared himself as head.

 

The no-love-lost relationship between the Pope and Henry VIII was mirrored by the public. As both forms of Christianity had great support, they fought to gain superiority over each other, thus creating a disagreement that is still evident in contemporary society. Examples of modern day tensions are the Northern Ireland political crises of the last century. Even in sport divisions can be seen. We have the Old Firm Derby between the Catholic Celtic and Protestant Rangers!

   

Henry VIII’s first act as head of the new Protestant church was to reform the monasteries and convents. The term reform is usually thought of as positive intervention, but in this case, the reform is not positive for several reasons. One reason is the fact that Henry ordered the public killing and torture of many monks and nuns. This had a terrifying effect upon the Catholic population, as many avoided publicly practicing Catholicism due to fear of similar persecution.

 

One site of importance when considering Catholic persecution is Harvington Hall, which was used as a hide-out for bishops. It was designed so that the bishops could hide in a number of places in order to avoid arrest.

 

Many sites which would now be wonderful heritage sites were destroyed and ransacked for important artefacts.

 

The reformation also damaged relationships with European catholic powers, such as Spain, France and Italy.

 

Despite single-handedly causing religious civil war, Henry VIII’s patience was wearing thin with Anne Boleyn’s failure to provide him a male heir to the throne. Henry accused her of having a string of affairs and Anne subsequently lost her head for high treason on 19th May, 1536 at the Tower of London. 

 

Henry took little time to find a new wife, marrying Jane Seymour eleven days after Anne Boleyn’s execution.  Later, in 1537, Jane fell pregnant and gave birth to the son Henry so desperately yearned. Edward was born on 12th October, 1537.

 

Edward VI followed in his father’s footsteps in terms of protecting the Church of England and Protestant values. On his death on 6th July, 1553, it was announced that the heir to the throne had been changed in Edward’s will. Lady Jane Grey, was proclaimed Queen of England on 6th July, 1553.

John Dudley, owner of Dudley Castle in the Black Country, was one of Edward VI’s chief advisors in the latter years of his reign. He advised Edward to replace his two half-sister’s rights to the crown and replace her with Lady Jane Grey. Edward agreed with John Dudley’s plan, even though Dudley was resented by many influential figures during the young king’s reign.

 

Edward VI wanted Lady Jane Grey to become queen as he wanted to protect Protestants from persecution. This was similar to the tactic his father used to brutally attack the Catholic faith during the reformation. He knew that Mary, the legitimate heir to the throne, would incur stronger persecution to Protestants as she wanted a return to strong Catholicism.

 

John Dudley was executed by Queen Mary I on 23 August, 1553, on Tower hill, for his attempts to prevent Mary’s right to the throne. Lady Jane Grey was imprisoned in the Tower of London and executed within the confines of the tower on 12th February 1554, at the age of sixteen. Jane was asked shortly before her execution if she wanted to convert to Catholicism. Lady Jane refused to do so. Looking back, it is phenomenal how Protestantism had such a rapid effect on so many people, including Lady Jane Grey. The Church of England had only been established for nineteen years.

 

Around fifty years later, in 1605, a plot was hatched to kill the King of England and the Members of his Parliament. The details of the plot were discussed firstly at Lichfield Cathedral, in the Midlands. What became known as the Gunpowder Plot was also referred to as the “Midlands Plot,” not only because many of the conspirators were Midlands born, but also because the plot was decided almost entirely within the Midlands.

 

By 1605, the Tudor reign was gone and had been replaced by the Stuarts. The last Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I, died in 1603, and Britain was faced with a new uncertain era.

 

King James I was a devout Protestant, but the Catholic community expected the new king to be more tolerant of them. They were very much mistaken, as James proved them wrong by ordering all Catholic priests to leave England and James’ government was taking out repressive policies against the Catholic community. This led to the Catholics developing a great sense of hatred towards the repressive James I.  It was no surprise that someone would try to kill the King, but no-one expected such an extravagant attempt.

 

Fourteen Catholic men, including Guy Fawkes, were behind the plot. On 5th November, 1605, the conspirators managed to heave 36 huge barrels of gunpowder in the cellar of the House of Lords. According to many historical accounts, Guy Fawkes was only discovered when a guard decided to do a random check of the cellars, which was very rare. Had the guard not checked the cellar, the plan would probably have succeeded.  Guy Fawkes was arrested and taken to the Tower of London to be tortured. Fawkes later gave away the names of the remainder of the plotters.

 

However, Guy Fawkes was not the leader, Robert Catesby was. Catesby was born around 1572 in the Midlands and grew up in a Catholic family.  Catesby had tried to spark rebellion in 1602, even attempting to get the Spanish on board, but they declined the chance to avenge their loss of the Spanish Armada in 1588.

 

Following the plot’s failure, Catesby and many of his men fled north from London, arriving at Holbeche House in Staffordshire. Many of the men were, ironically, injured following a gunpowder mishap!

 

The authorities found the men and closed in on Holbeche House, but the plotters didn’t give up without a fight. During the battle, it was reported that the same musket ball killed both Catesby and Thomas Percy. Catesby’s head was chopped off and taken to the House of Commons to be stuck on the roof as a warning to anyone with similar ideas. Christopher and John Wright died from their wounds suffered during the gunpowder accident.

 

The seven remaining conspirators were captured and put on trial, along with Guy Fawkes, on 27th January 1606. None of them denied treason probably due to fear of further torture. The eight conspirators were all hung, drawn and quartered over two days in Januray 1606. In addition to this, the bodies of the plotters who died at Holbeche House were exhumed and their heads were removed to be displayed on pikes.

 

Within history, often important links are missed between events from the past and their effects upon contemporary society. Many historians fail to spot these links, which are important as they make us understand why we are where we are.

 

Would we all be Catholics if Henry VIII hadn’t been bored with his wife or would Protestantism have grown in Britain following Martin Luther’s plan?  Would we have Bonfire Night if not for the Gunpowder Plot? Would the Gunpowder Plot have happened if King James I was tolerant to the Catholic population? There aren’t always clear answers, but certain events happen and have direct effects upon our future ways of life.  

 

Henry VIII’s brutal reformation is bad history as many people may believe that the only way to get what you want is to be an aggressor. Henry VIII caused bitter civil warfare to get what he wanted.

Parallels can be made with contemporary society. Under Saddam Hussein’s regime, animosities were caused between the Sunni and Shiite Islamic groups, which saw hundreds of thousands of people massacred by the regime. Because of the war in Iraq in 2003, the country was further destabilised as Britain and the USA invaded in attempts to remove Saddam Hussein from power.

 

Sunni and Shiite groups fought on the streets and this led to civil warfare on a greater scale than that in 1530’s England. Elsewhere in the Middle East, disagreements still exist between Israel and Palestine. Civil warfare takes place particularly on the Gaza Strip, as Jewish Israelis and Arabic Palestinians fight over who owns the land.

 

LINKS
The Reformation crops up throughout the publication and there are several references in the Cumbria section articles. There’s another ghost tale, linked to the Gunpowder plotters’ last stand at Holbeche Hall in Three Stories from the Haunted Black Country, also in the Black Country section. The story of Furness Abbey, ruined by the Reformation, in The Ghosts of Furness Abbye, in the Cumbria section also links to the stories of treason. For more stories about the Tower of London, where Jane Grey, John Dudley and the Gunpowder plotters were executed, look at The Norman Footprint in the London section.