Religion, History and G. R Balleine – Part 3
(The Reformation in Jersey)
By Jason St John Nicolle
From "The Pilot", 1991
Part III Discontented Catholics?
AND SO, after an adjournment of a month, the court of Jersey history reconvenes; the issue to be decided, the cause and nature of the religious revolution of the sixteenth century, better known as the Reformation. The jury are ushered to their seats. The black-suited, white-stocked lawyers stop whispering to each other; they turn once again to the files and authorities which lie opened in front of them, and a self-conscious, expectant silence fills the air.
The prosecution, led by the familiar and respected figure of George Reginald Balleine, has already stated its case. It has argued that the Protestant faith was established rapidly on Jersey, and with widespread popular support: "The victory of Protestantism was complete" by 1553 — the year which saw the death of Edward VI, and the accession of his sister Mary. It was yet another example of the inevitable triumph of the Evangelical faith.
But that was at last month's hearing; the jury has now to hear the arguments of the other side. Will Advocate Balleine's version of events be challenged? Whose version will the jury find the more convincing? All eyes are now on the defence, as their counsel rises to address the court.
“ Members of the jury, Advocate Balleine has argued that the Reformation on Jersey was imposed rapidly and with widespread popular support — he would like us to believe that this was a revolution 'from below.' The defence will argue that this is a view which has no foundation in historical fact. It will seek to establish that the faith of the Reformers took some fifty years to seize the hearts and minds of Islanders. Its eventual triumph owed nothing to the alleged superiority of its Evangelical doctrine, and everything to the capricious realities of power politics. This was no Reformation 'from below'; it was a Reformation 'from above.”
"The prosecution's case consists of several arguments; but a single assumption has provided the foundation for the whole edifice, and I shall deal with this assumption first. The assumption is simply this: we can take it for granted that there was widespread dissatisfaction with the beliefs and practices of Catholicism in the 1520's, 30's and 40's. Having started with this assumption, it is natural for the prosecution to picture discontented Catholics embracing the new Protestant faith at the earliest opportunity; it has to have been a Reformation 'from below.' But if we remove the necessity for supposing widespread discontent, we also remove the necessity for supposing that Protestantism was widely welcomed.”
"Unfortunately, we will never know for sure what most Islanders really thought of the Catholic Church on the eve of the Reformation; the surviving evidence is simply too limited. But one thing is certain: we cannot assume that Islanders were necessarily dissatisfied with the faith of their forefathers.”
"Take, for instance, the case of Brelade Alexandre, Constable of St Brelade. When he was on his deathbed in 1537, he made a will; and among his bequests was one wheat rente to endow an annual mass, to be said on the anniversary of the day of his burial, for the health of his own soul and the souls of his ancestors. There would have been no point making the bequest if Alexandre had not genuinely believed in the spiritual efficacy of the Catholic Mass.”
"We can be fairly certain that a good number of Alexandre's fellow Jerseymen would have shared the Constable's belief in the sacramental framework of late mediaeval catholicism. Several would have belonged to religious clubs, known as Confraternities, which organised annual anniversary masses to mark the death of benefactors. There seem to have been about two dozen separate confraternities on Jersey during the 1530's and 1540's; two-thirds of them survived until 1550, when they were wound-up by a Royal Commission. It is impossible to say how many members belonged to each club, and their functions were not solely religious; but their very existence presupposes widespread confidence in the Sacrifice of the Mass.
"We know that ensuring the provision of a mass could be a matter of the utmost seriousness. In 1529, the parishioners of St Martin complained about a wheat rente which had not been paid for twenty years. They were annoyed because it has formed the endowment for a weekly mass; they had been denied the spiritual benefit of 1,040 masses, 'to the prejudice both of the living and the dead.' The precision of their calculation reveals the depth of their concern.
"We will never know whether these examples give a representative picture of attitudes towards Catholicism on the eve of the Reformation; but they are sufficient to show that it would be wrong to assume that Jerseymen of the 1530's and 40's were necessarily discontented with the faith of their forefathers. This was the assumption on which the prosecution's case was based; and it has been shown to be untenable. It is now time to consider the prosecution's second proposition: that Jerseymen and women were quickly won over to the new faith. The arguments ...
But the counsel for the defence is not allowed to finish his sentence: the Judge has granted another adjournment.
(The Reformation in Jersey)
By Jason St John Nicolle
From "The Pilot", 1991
Part III Discontented Catholics?
AND SO, after an adjournment of a month, the court of Jersey history reconvenes; the issue to be decided, the cause and nature of the religious revolution of the sixteenth century, better known as the Reformation. The jury are ushered to their seats. The black-suited, white-stocked lawyers stop whispering to each other; they turn once again to the files and authorities which lie opened in front of them, and a self-conscious, expectant silence fills the air.
The prosecution, led by the familiar and respected figure of George Reginald Balleine, has already stated its case. It has argued that the Protestant faith was established rapidly on Jersey, and with widespread popular support: "The victory of Protestantism was complete" by 1553 — the year which saw the death of Edward VI, and the accession of his sister Mary. It was yet another example of the inevitable triumph of the Evangelical faith.
But that was at last month's hearing; the jury has now to hear the arguments of the other side. Will Advocate Balleine's version of events be challenged? Whose version will the jury find the more convincing? All eyes are now on the defence, as their counsel rises to address the court.
“ Members of the jury, Advocate Balleine has argued that the Reformation on Jersey was imposed rapidly and with widespread popular support — he would like us to believe that this was a revolution 'from below.' The defence will argue that this is a view which has no foundation in historical fact. It will seek to establish that the faith of the Reformers took some fifty years to seize the hearts and minds of Islanders. Its eventual triumph owed nothing to the alleged superiority of its Evangelical doctrine, and everything to the capricious realities of power politics. This was no Reformation 'from below'; it was a Reformation 'from above.”
"The prosecution's case consists of several arguments; but a single assumption has provided the foundation for the whole edifice, and I shall deal with this assumption first. The assumption is simply this: we can take it for granted that there was widespread dissatisfaction with the beliefs and practices of Catholicism in the 1520's, 30's and 40's. Having started with this assumption, it is natural for the prosecution to picture discontented Catholics embracing the new Protestant faith at the earliest opportunity; it has to have been a Reformation 'from below.' But if we remove the necessity for supposing widespread discontent, we also remove the necessity for supposing that Protestantism was widely welcomed.”
"Unfortunately, we will never know for sure what most Islanders really thought of the Catholic Church on the eve of the Reformation; the surviving evidence is simply too limited. But one thing is certain: we cannot assume that Islanders were necessarily dissatisfied with the faith of their forefathers.”
"Take, for instance, the case of Brelade Alexandre, Constable of St Brelade. When he was on his deathbed in 1537, he made a will; and among his bequests was one wheat rente to endow an annual mass, to be said on the anniversary of the day of his burial, for the health of his own soul and the souls of his ancestors. There would have been no point making the bequest if Alexandre had not genuinely believed in the spiritual efficacy of the Catholic Mass.”
"We can be fairly certain that a good number of Alexandre's fellow Jerseymen would have shared the Constable's belief in the sacramental framework of late mediaeval catholicism. Several would have belonged to religious clubs, known as Confraternities, which organised annual anniversary masses to mark the death of benefactors. There seem to have been about two dozen separate confraternities on Jersey during the 1530's and 1540's; two-thirds of them survived until 1550, when they were wound-up by a Royal Commission. It is impossible to say how many members belonged to each club, and their functions were not solely religious; but their very existence presupposes widespread confidence in the Sacrifice of the Mass.
"We know that ensuring the provision of a mass could be a matter of the utmost seriousness. In 1529, the parishioners of St Martin complained about a wheat rente which had not been paid for twenty years. They were annoyed because it has formed the endowment for a weekly mass; they had been denied the spiritual benefit of 1,040 masses, 'to the prejudice both of the living and the dead.' The precision of their calculation reveals the depth of their concern.
"We will never know whether these examples give a representative picture of attitudes towards Catholicism on the eve of the Reformation; but they are sufficient to show that it would be wrong to assume that Jerseymen of the 1530's and 40's were necessarily discontented with the faith of their forefathers. This was the assumption on which the prosecution's case was based; and it has been shown to be untenable. It is now time to consider the prosecution's second proposition: that Jerseymen and women were quickly won over to the new faith. The arguments ...
But the counsel for the defence is not allowed to finish his sentence: the Judge has granted another adjournment.
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