Hm ... Got me stumped too, Mark. I suspect however that it might depend on
which court type you're thinking off -- Thomas More would give, no doubt, a
different answer than a committed Lutheran.
As it stands, "The Reformation" would refer to a broader range of events
than simply Henry's break with Rome, and I don't think the end result would
fit either of the two Usual Suspects, Calvanism or Luthernaism.
I can't even think off-hand of any reference texts that might give some
leverage on this, except maybe _The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian
Church_.
Sorry not to be able to be more helpful.
Robin
As a PS, the OED entry for REFORMATION in this sense has citations from
about 1530, so the term *might* have been current and applied by some to
Henry's Changes.
Here's the relevant bit:
REFORMATION, n1 ...
3 b. spec. Usu. with the and capital initial. The great religious movement
of the 16th cent., the object of which was the reform of the doctrines and
practices of the Church of Rome, and which ended in the establishment of the
various Lutheran and Reformed Protestant Churches of Europe (with their
later worldwide offshoots); esp. the reform carried out within the Churches
of England and Ireland (from 1534 onwards) and the Church of Scotland
(1560); (also) the period of time covered by this movement. Now hist.
The origins of the Reformation lie in the 14th- and 15th-cent. criticisms of
the traditional teaching and institutional nature of the Church made by
bodies such as the Lollards and the Hussites, but the Reformation is usually
thought of as beginning in 1517 when Martin Luther issued ninety-five theses
criticizing Church doctrine and practice. Over the following cent., the
ideas of Luther and those of other reformers, especially Calvin and Zwingli,
spread, were further developed, and became the dominant expressions of
Christian faith across much of Europe, esp. the north.
[1531 Bp. W. Barlow Dyaloge Lutheran Faccyons sig. d 4v, Martyn
Luther..was iugged to be syngulerly chosen of god nowe in these latter days,
for a dew reformacion of the hole worlde.
?1550 J. Bale Apol. agaynste Papyst Ep. Ded. sig. A.iii, The most
christen reformacyon of thys churche of Englande, whych is to other natyons
a most wurthie spectacle, so they very turkyshely deryde & mocke.]
1563 N. Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 67 We ar sa tribulit be ȝow..for nocht
assenting generalie to ȝour prætendit Reformatioun.
1566 J. Rastell Third Bk. beware of M. Iewel f. 58v, Comparing it with
the Popishe Religion, and the Protestantes Reformation, let vs see, which of
the two, is more like vnto it.
1588 J. de Frégeville Reformed Politicke 44 To the end to ship the
Clergy in the League, they wer perswaded, that within six moneths the
Reformation should be vtterly extinguished.
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1958) IX. 53 Those great assistants of the
Reformation, Luther, and Calvin.
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-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Weiss
Sent: Monday, December 08, 2014 6:33 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Query
Received this from a friend: "What would contemporary court types have
called Henry VIII's religious break from Rome? I'm editing a novel in which
Anne Seymour keeps calling it 'The Reformation.'"
Got me curious, and I have no idea. Anybody have an answer, before I bother
Robin Hamilton?
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