Book Review: A History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland by William Cobbett

A History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland by William Cobbett

This history was written in the early 1800s by an English Protestant, so a reader might suspect a bias toward the Protestant view of the events that began during King Henry VIII's reign from 1509 to 1547. Nothing could be further from the truth. William Cobbett's central thesis is that the Protestant Reformation was a disaster for the English people both socially and economically. As King Henry broke away from the Roman Catholic Church over his desire for male offspring (and another wife), many forces came into play. Some of the nobility (including some church hierarchy) saw this as a chance to jump on Luther's bandwagon and establish a religion more to their tastes. Also, the churches and monasteries in England had amassed a lot of wealth. When the church became state-sponsored, all the buildings and lands were seized by the government. Most of the monasteries became estates for nobles who were in the king's favor. Any citizen who did not adopt the new state religion was fined, jailed, or, in many cases, executed. After going through seven wives and getting only one male offspring (with two older step-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth), the situation became a tumult when Henry died. Successive monarchs switched the state-approved faith back and forth. Political intrigues within the country and with other countries caused problems. Cobbett chronicles the history up to his present day under the reign of George III.

Cobbett takes the Catholic perspective due to his thorough research. He documents that the pre-Reformation riches of the Catholic institutions were reinvested in the local people and economy. The lands were leased at very reasonable rates to peasant farmers, rates that catastrophically increased with secular land owners. The monasteries often acted as hotels and hospitals (as part of their religious function to love and care for others, especially the poor), providing a safe place for travelers to stay or a treatment for illnesses. Having the church as a separate authority from the king and secular government provided a check on abuse, one of the more famous results being the Magna Carta. Cobbett shows how people were driven into poverty without the safety net of the Church's charitable mission and the government became more draconian (especially in its treatment of Catholics and other non-Anglicans). His research is shocking and convincing.

Unfortunately, his rhetorical style leaves something to be desired. If he were alive today, he'd have a show on AM talk radio. He is very acerbic and dismissive, often rambling off on tangents that are entertaining but much less relevant. Occasional anti-semitic remarks and more frequent xenophobic remarks (he has nothing good to say about German mercenaries or William and Mary's Dutch intrusion on the throne) make the text less palatable to modern eyes, though allowances need to be made for the time when he wrote. He castigates Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth, and both Cromwells. I often chuckled and winced at the same time. Some people like that style of writing, which is fine, but I don't.

Mildly recommended.

Sample text of him sermonizing while providing the historical context:

Mary Stuart, born in 1542 (nine years after the birth of Elizabeth), was daughter of James V., king of Scotland, and of Mary of Lorraine, sister of that brave and patriotic nobleman the Duke of Guise, who, as we have seen, was so basely murdered by the vile traitor Coligny. [p. 251]