English Chantries: The Road to Dissolution

by Alan Kreider

Overview

The chantries of medieval England were founded in the belief that intercessory masses shortened the period spent by souls in purgatory. They played a greater role in the daily life of sixteenth-century Englishmen than did monasteries, yet up to now the dissolution of the chantries has not been a popular subject of study. Alan Kreider rectifies this, establishing the importance of the chantries in the story of late medieval and Reformation England. He discusses their social and religious significance. He explains the role of purgatory in the founding of chantries and in the theological debates, popular preaching and political struggles unleashed by the Reformation that led to their confiscation. He explores the forces that led the governments of Henry VIII and Edward VI to jettison traditional practices, and he underlines the pain of state-fostered religious change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781725232150
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	09/14/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	294
File size:	58 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Alan Kreider is Professor of Church History and Mission (retired), Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, IN.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 The Intercessory Institutions and Their Priests 5

Chapter 2 The Intercessory Priests' Practical Contributions 38

Chapter 3 The Founding of the Chantries: Chronological Contours 71

Chapter 4 "Extinguishing the Flames of Purgatory" (I): To the Ten Articles (1536) 93

Chapter 5 "Extinguishing the Flames of Purgatory" (II): To the King's Book (1543) 125

Chapter 6 Anticipatory Dissolutions 154

Chapter 7 The Henrician Chantries Act, 1545: Selective Suppression 165

Chapter 8 The Edwardian Chantries Act, 1547: Systematic Dissolution 186

Appendix 1 Royally Initiated Dissolutions of Intercessory, Institutions, 1540-1545 211

Appendix 2 Foundations Dissolved by Virtue of the 1545 Chantry Act 214

Notes 217

Bibliography 265

Index 275