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Root or Link? Luther's Position in the Historical Debate over the Legitimacy of the Church of England, 1558–1625

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2011

Ronald H. Fritze
Ronald H. Fritze
Affiliation:
Department of History, Lamar University, P.O. Box 10048, Beaumont, Texas 77710, USA
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Extract

The beginning of Elizabeth i's reign was a happy and confident time for committed English Protestants in spite of their doubtful and precarious position in the world. They had almost miraculously survived both the death of their Protestant king, Edward vi, and the reign of the Catholic queen, Mary, and her foreign husband, Philip n of Spain. It seemed that God was testing Protestantism in England. Since he allowed Elizabeth to succeed to the throne, Protestantism, it seemed, had passed the test. As a result early English Protestants confidently began to formulate their place in both the world and history while attacking the established positions of their Catholic opponents. English Catholics defended themselves from these attacks and replied with some of their own. This debate over the historical situation of the Church of England continued through the reign of James i and beyond. During the course of the debate both sides commented frequently and necessarily on what they thought was Martin Luther's place in church history.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Ecclesiastical History , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , April 1986 , pp. 288 - 302
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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