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WILLIAM TYNDALE, HENRY VIII, AND THE OBEDIENCE OF A CHRISTIAN MAN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2020

DAVID COAST*
Affiliation:
Bath Spa University
*
Bath Spa University, Newton St Loe, ba2 9bnd.coast@bathspa.ac.uk

Abstract

William Tyndale's The obedience of a Christian man has been credited with influencing the Henrician regime's thinking and propaganda on the subject of obedience to royal authority. According to an anecdote first recorded by the archdeacon of Nottingham, John Louthe, Henry was so delighted by Tyndale's tract that he called it a book ‘for me and all kings to read’, and historians have argued that Henry tried to recruit Tyndale as a royal propagandist or diplomat in 1531. This article argues that Louthe's anecdote was probably a later invention, and that Henry disapproved of the Obedience and its author. There is little evidence that the king tried to recruit Tyndale, but wanted instead to silence him and force him to abjure his heresies. The Obedience contained very little that would have pleased Henry, presenting him as a mere ‘shadow’ of a king, manipulated by evil prelates. While Tyndale rejected rebellion against even tyrannical rulers, this should not be confused with advocating obedience of the kind that Henry might approve of, and the Obedience sanctioned disobedience of various kinds. From the outset, remarkably radical ideas were contained within an apparently ‘conservative’ tradition of English evangelical political thought.

Type
Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press.

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References

1 William Tyndale, The obedience of a Christen man (1528). The earliest extant edition is dated 2 October 1528, but Tyndale indicated in a later work, The practyse of prelates (1530), sigs. K9v–10r, that it had been published in 1527.

2 John Louthe to John Foxe (1579), British Library (BL) Harley MS 425, fo. 144v.

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19 See Louthe to Foxe, BL Harley MS 425, fo. 144r–v, in J. G. Nichols, ed., Narratives of the days of the Reformation (London, 1859), pp. 52–7.

20 Louthe to Foxe, BL Harley MS 425, fo. 144v.

21 John Strype, Ecclesiastical memorials; relating chiefly to religion and the Reformation, i (London, 1721), pp. 112–14.

22 Daniell, Tyndale, p. 244.

23 Louthe to Foxe, BL Harley MS 425, fo. 145r.

24 Ibid., fo. 134v.

25 Ibid., fo. 144v.

26 Ibid., fos. 136r–139r.

27 Nichols, ed., Narratives, pp. 14, 18–19, 20–1.

28 Strype, Ecclesiastical memorials, i, pp. 112–14.

29 Freeman, ‘Research, rumour and propaganda’, pp. 807–10; King, John, ‘“The light of printing”: William Tyndale, John Foxe, John Day, and early modern print culture’, Renaissance Quarterly, 54 (2001), pp. 5285, at pp. 60–1CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Thomas S. Freeman, ‘Fate, faction, and fiction in Foxe's Book of martyrs’, Historical Journal, 43 (2000), pp. 601–23, at p. 603; John King, ‘Fiction and fact in Foxe's Book of martyrs’, in David Loades, ed., John Foxe and the English Reformation (Aldershot and Brookfield, VT, 1997), pp. 14–15.

30 For the reliability of Foxe, see Patrick Collinson, ‘Truth and legend: the veracity of John Foxe's Book of martyrs’, in Patrick Collinson, Elizabethans (London and New York, NY, 2003), pp. 151–78; Patrick Collinson, ‘John Foxe as historian’, The acts and monuments online (www.johnfoxe.org/index_realm_more_gototype_modern_type_essay_book_essay3.html, accessed 28 July 2020); Freeman, ‘Fate, faction, and fiction’, pp. 601–24.

31 John Foxe, ed., The whole workes of W. Tyndall (London, 1573), sig. B2v.

32 Foxe, John, Acts and monuments (1583), p. 1158Google Scholar.

33 Simon Fish, A supplicacyon for the beggers (1529); Ives, Anne Boleyn, p. 163 n. 39. However, see also ibid., p. 385 n. 49; Freeman, ‘Research, rumour and propaganda’, p. 809.

34 MacCulloch, Cromwell, p. 120; Mozley, Tyndale, p. 122; Haas, ‘Simon Fish, William Tyndale, and Sir Thomas More's “Lutheran Conspiracy”’, pp. 127–31, 135 n. 2.

35 D. Wilkins, ed., Concilia magnae britanniae et hiberniae, iii (London, 1737), p. 733.

36 S. W. Singer, ed., The life of Cardinal Wolsey (2 vols., London, 1825), i, pp. 181–3; Edward Hall, Edward Hall's chronicle (London, 1809), p. 759; J. S. Brewer, ed., Letters and papers, foreign and domestic, of the reign of Henry VIII (L&P) (21 vols., London, 1864–1910), iv, pp. 2548–55.

37 Campeggio to Sanga, 3 Apr. 1529, L&P, iv, p. 2379.

38 Eustace Chapuys to the emperor, 6 Dec. 1529, Pascual de Gayangos, ed., Calendar of state papers, Spain (CSP Spain) (13 vols., 1862–1954), iv, part 1, no. 224.

39 Richard Nix, bishop of Norwich to [?], 14 May 1530, BL Cotton MS, Cleopatra E v/2, fo. 389r–v.

40 Singer, ed., Life of Wolsey, i.

41 BL Add. MS 62135, fos. 48r–65r, printed in Singer, ed., Life of Wolsey, ii, pp. 201–5. See also Mozley, Tyndale, p. 143; Daniell, Tyndale, p. 246; Freeman, ‘Research, rumour and propaganda’, p. 809 n. 37; Ives, Anne Boleyn, p. 133.

42 BL Add. MS 62135, fo. 58r–v.

43 Ibid., fo. 48v.

44 Ibid., fo. 58r.

45 Singer, ed., Life of Wolsey, ii, p. 202 n. 9.

46 D'Alton, Craig, ‘The suppression of Lutheran heretics in England, 1526–1529’, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 54 (2003), pp. 228–53CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

47 Hacket to Wolsey, 28 June 1528, L&P, iv, pp. 1938–9; Hacket to Wolsey, 14 July 1528, ibid., pp. 1971–2; West to Hacket, 2 Sept. 1528, ibid., p. 2037; Rinck to Wolsey, 4 Oct. 1528, ibid., p. 2083; West to Wolsey, [Mar. 1529], ibid., p. 2374; West to Wolsey, [Apr. 1529], ibid., pp. 2405.

48 Rinck to Wolsey, 4 Oct. 1528, ibid., p. 2083; West to Hacket, 2 Sept. 1528, ibid., p. 2037.

49 Barlow, Jerome and Roy, William, Read me and be not wroth for I saye no thynge but trothe (Strasbourg, 1528)Google Scholar; William Tyndale, The parable of the wycked mammon (1528), sigs. A2r–3r.

50 Hacket to Wolsey, 20 Aug. 1528, L&P, iv, p. 2022; Hacket to Wolsey, 13 Apr. 1529, ibid., pp. 2403–5.

51 Wooding, Henry VIII, pp. 88, 99.

52 Rinck to Henry VIII, 4 Oct. 1528, L&P, iv, p. 2083. See also The National Archives (TNA) SP 1/50, fos. 145r–146v.

53 Rinck to Wolsey, 4 Oct. 1528, L&P, iv, p. 2083; West to Hacket, 2 Sept. 1528, ibid., p. 2037.

54 Vaughan to Henry VIII, [Apr. 1531?], BL Cotton MS, Titus B. I., fo. 69r–v.

55 Ibid., fo. 70r.

56 Cromwell to Vaughan, [early May 1531?], BL Cotton MS, Galba B. X., fo. 338r–v.

57 Ibid., fo. 339r.

58 For the commission, see Susan Wabuda, ‘A day after doomsday: Cranmer and the Bible translations of the 1530s’, in Kevin Killeen et al., eds., The Oxford handbook of the English Bible in early modern England, c. 1530–1700 (Oxford, 2015), pp. 29–33; Wilkins, ed., Concilia, iii, pp. 727–37. Chapuys claimed that this committee was only set up because of the publication of Tyndale's Practice, but the Practice was not mentioned in the committee's report or the subsequent proclamation. See Chapuys to the emperor, 17 Dec. 1530, CSP Spain, iv, part 1, n. 539. The commission also discussed an official translation of the Bible.

59 Wilkins, ed., Concilia, iii, pp. 728–9.

60 Henry VIII to the vice-chancellor of Cambridge, 4 May 1530, in J. Lamb, ed., A collection of letters, statutes and other documents from the MS. library of Corpus Christi College (Cambridge, 1838), p. 26; Cromwell to Wolsey, 17 May 1530, L&P, iv, p. 2869; D'Alton, Craig, ‘William Warham and English heresy policy after the fall of Wolsey’, Historical Research, 77 (2004), pp. 337–57, at p. 354CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

61 L&P, iv, item 6401, p. 2872, transcribed in Wilkins, ed., Concilia, iii, p. 719.

62 Ibid., pp. 736–7.

63 Paul L. Hughes and James F. Larkin, eds., Tudor royal proclamations (3 vols., New Haven, CT, 1964–9), i, pp. 193–7.

64 Ibid., p. 194.

65 Rex, ‘The crisis of obedience’, p. 881.

66 Marshall, Heretics and believers, p. 178; MacCulloch, Cromwell, p. 139; Daniell, Tyndale, p. 210.

67 Chapuys to the emperor, 17 Dec. 1530, CSP Spain, iv, part 1, n. 539. The proclamation does not appear to have survived – Chapuys reports that the king had all copies burned. However, see L&P, v, Appendix, pp. 768–9.

68 Rawdon Brown, ed., Calendar of state papers relating to English affairs in the archives of Venice, iv: 1527–1533 (London, 1871), no. 642.

69 Vaughan to Cromwell, 3 Aug. 1529, L&P, iv, p. 2604.

70 Vaughan to Cromwell, 1 Dec. 1530, TNA SP 1/58, fo. 173r.

71 Vaughan to Henry VIII, [Apr. 1531?], BL Cotton MS, Titus B. I., fos. 69r–70r.

72 Cromwell to Vaughan, [early May 1531?], BL Cotton MS, Galba B. X., fos. 338r–340v.

73 Ibid., fo. 339r.

74 Ibid., fo. 338v.

75 Vaughan to Henry VIII, 20 May 1531, TNA SP 1/65, fos. 252r–254r. Vaughan clearly received some version of this draft, since his reply echoed some of its language. Nevertheless, it seems likely that Cromwell's final letter to Vaughan downplayed or omitted much of Henry's tirade, which would explain why he ignored the explicit royal order to cease negotiations. Vaughan also referenced a conciliatory message that was not included in Cromwell's draft.

76 Vaughan to Cromwell, 19 June 1531, TNA SP 1/66, fo. 47r.

77 Chapuys to the emperor, 17 Dec. 1530, CSP Spain, iv, part 1, n. 539.

78 Tyndale to Vaughan, 22 Jan. 1531, BL Cotton MS, Galba B. X., fo. 2r; Vaughan to Henry VIII, 26 Jan. 1531, ibid., fo. 42r; Vaughan to Henry VIII, 20 May 1531, TNA SP 1/65, fo. 253v.

79 Vaughan to Cromwell, 25 Mar. 1531, TNA SP 1/65, fo. 169r; Vaughan to Henry VIII, 20 May 1531, ibid., fo. 253v.

80 Vaughan to Henry VIII, 26 Jan. 1531, BL Cotton MS, Galba B. X., fo. 42v; Vaughan to Cromwell, 25 Mar. 1531, TNA SP 1/65, fo. 169r; Vaughan to Henry VIII, 20 May 1531, ibid., fo. 253r.

81 Vaughan to Henry VIII, 26 Jan. 1531, BL Cotton MS, Galba B. X., fo. 42r.

82 Vaughan to Henry VIII, 20 May 1531, TNA SP 1/65, fo. 253r.

83 Ibid., fos. 252v–253r.

84 Cromwell to Vaughan, [early May 1531?], BL Cotton MS, Galba B. X., fo. 340r.

85 Chapuys to the emperor, 17 Dec. 1530, CSP Spain, iv, part 1, n. 539.

86 R. E. Fulop, ‘John Frith (1503–1533) and his relation to the origin of the Reformation in England’ (Ph.D. diss., Edinburgh, 1956), pp. 117–19.

87 Korey Maas, The Reformation and Robert Barnes (Woodbridge, 2010), pp. 24–5; Vaughan to Cromwell, 14 Nov. 1531[?], BL Cotton MS, Titus B. I., fo. 373r.

88 Maas, Reformation and Robert Barnes, pp. 27, 31.

89 Vaughan to Henry VIII, 26 Jan. 1531, BL Cotton MS, Galba B. X., fo. 42v.

90 Vaughan to Henry VIII, [Apr. 1531?], BL Cotton MS, Titus B. I., fo. 70r.

93 Charles V to Henry VIII, [July 1531], L&P, v, no. 354.

94 Elyot to Norfolk, 14 Mar. 1532, BL Cotton MS, Vit. B. XXI., fo. 54r.

95 Tyndale, Obedience, fos. 29r, 32r.

96 Ibid., fos. 6v–7r, 9v, 32r, 44v, 46r.

97 Ibid., fos. 10v, 30v, 47r.

98 Ibid., fo. 21r.

99 Ibid., fo. 13r–v.

100 Ibid., fos. 41v–42r, 77v–78r, 155v, 156v.

101 Ibid., fos. 6r, 53v.

102 Ibid., fos. 38r–v, 80v.

103 Ibid., fos. 33v–34r

104 Ibid., fos. 38r, 42r, 73v–74r, 80v.

105 Ibid., fos. 38v–39r, 41v–42r, 53v, 154v.

106 ‘Answer to the petitions of the traitors and rebels in Lincolnshire’, in David Sandler Berkowitz, Humanist scholarship and public order: two tracts against the Pilgrimage of Grace (London, 1984), p. 175; Richard Morison, A lamentation in which is shewed what ruyne and destruction cometh of seditious rebellyon (1536), sig. A4r; William Tyndale, An exposition upon the V, VI, VII chapters of Mathew (1533), fo. 28r–v.

107 Tyndale, Obedience, fo. 80v.

108 Dickens, English Reformation, pp. 110–11; Guy, Tudor England, p. 121; Ryrie, The gospel and Henry VIII, pp. 58–9.

109 Tyndale, Obedience, fos. 78r–v, 154r.

110 Marshall, Reformation England, p. 42.

111 Rex, ‘The crisis of obedience’, p. 875; Wooding, Henry VIII, p. 171.

112 Martin Luther, Temporal authority: to what extent it should be obeyed, in Walther I. Brandt, ed., Luther's works, xlv (Philadelphia, PA, 1962), pp. 81–129. For Luther's political thought, see Skinner, Foundations, ii, pp. 12–19, 81–8, 191–205; Oakley, ‘Christian obedience and authority, 1520–1550’, pp. 163–82; Carty, Jarrett A., God and government: Martin Luther's political thought (Montreal, 2017)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

113 Luther, Temporal authority, pp. 83–4, 109–12, 113, 116.

114 Tyndale, Obedience, fo. 33r.

115 Ibid., fos. 29v, 151v. This point was later made by Luther. See Martin Luther, Luther's warning to his dear German people, in Franklin Sherman, ed., Luther's works, xlvii (Philadelphia, PA, 1971), p. 19.

116 Tyndale, Obedience, fos. 15r, 42r, 51r.

117 Ibid., fo. 154r–v.

118 Ibid., fo. 23r–v.

119 Ibid., fo. 23v.

120 Ibid., fo. 23r–v.

121 Martin Luther, A sincere admonition by Martin Luther to all Christians to guard against insurrection and rebellion, in Brandt, ed., Luther's works, xlv, pp. 57–8, 61–2.

122 Martin Luther, Admonition to peace (1525) and Against the robbing and murdering hordes of peasants (1525), in H. T. Lehmann and R. Schultz, eds., Luther's works, xlvi (Philadelphia, PA, 1967).

123 Luther, Warning, p. 13.

124 Tyndale, Obedience, fo. 23v.

125 Ibid., fos. 39v, 68r.

126 Luther, Warning, pp. 19–20.

127 Tyndale, Obedience, fo. 24r–v.

128 Eppley, Defending royal supremacy, p. 27.

129 Tyndale, Obedience, fos. 77v–78r, 152r.

130 Thomas More, The confutatyon of Tyndales answere (1532), sigs. D4v–E1r. For More's works against heresy, see Betteridge, Thomas, Writing faith and telling tales: literature, politics, and religion in the work of Thomas More (Notre Dame, IN, 2013), pp. 111–53Google Scholar.

131 More, Confutatyon, sig. D4v.

132 Tyndale, Obedience, fos. 22v–23r, 38r.

133 Eppley, Defending royal supremacy, p. 27.

134 More, Confutatyon, sigs. D3r–4v.

135 Cromwell to Vaughan, [early May 1531?], BL Cotton MS, Galba B. X., fo. 339r.

136 Thomas Swinnerton, A litel treatise ageynste the mutterygne of some papists in corners (1534), sig. C1r–v.

137 Henry VIII, A glasse of the truthe (1532), sigs. C4r, C7r. See also Swinnerton, A litel treatise, sigs. B8r–v, C1r–v.

138 Henry VIII, Glasse of the truthe, sigs. C4r, C7r, E1v–2r.

139 Henry VIII, ‘Answer to the petitions of the traitors and rebels in Lincolnshire’, 10 Oct. 1536, in St Clare Byrne, ed., Letters of Henry VIII (Newcastle, 1936), p. 143; Henry VIII, ‘To the rebels in Yorkshire’, 2 Nov. 1536, in ibid., p. 152; Richard Morison, An exhortation to styr all Englyshe men to the defence of theyr countreye (1539), sig. B2v.

140 Tyndale, Practyse, sigs. K2r–v, K3v.

141 Ibid., sig. H4r.

142 Ibid., sigs. H2r, K9v.

143 Ibid., sigs. A4v–A5r.

144 Ryrie, The gospel and Henry VIII, p. 59; Rex, Richard, Henry VIII and the English Reformation (Basingstoke, 1993), p. 26CrossRefGoogle Scholar.