The 1500's! The
Great Reformation! New Ideas! New Beliefs! New Religions!
Reigning
Monarchs dictated the 'favoured' religion!
Failure to
adhere to the 'favoured' religion could lead to great danger
- Imprisonment! Torture! Execution!
Adhering to the
'wrong' religion brought risks to personal wealth, freedom
and life
The Shakespeare
and Arden family traditionally adhered to the 'old' Catholic
religion
RELIGION OF THE SHAKESPEARE
FAMILY - CATHOLIC PLOTS AGAINST QUEEN ELIZABETH I !
When the parents
of William Shakespeare were married the Catholic Queen Mary
( Bloody Mary) ruled England (r.1553-1558). Mary believed
passionately in the Catholic religion and persecuted
Protestants who were burned alive for their beliefs ( hence
Bloody Mary )
Queen Elizabeth
I (r.1558-1603) succeeded her sister Mary and adhered to the
Protestant religion and restored Protestantism as the
official religion
There were many
Catholic plots against Queen Elizabeth I - many Catholics
wanted to replace Elizabeth with her cousin Mary Queen of
Scots
In 1583 Edward
Arden, the head of the Catholic Arden Family was executed
for his Catholic beliefs and for plotting against the life of the
Queen. Edward Arden's son-in-law, John Somerville, was also
arrested, tortured on the rack and died in the Tower of
London for being supporters of the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots
John
Shakespeare, the Bard's father, was fined for not attending
Protestant Church services
A document was
found in 1750 in the rafters of the family home in
Stratford-Upon-Avon and this “spiritual testament”
believed to be written by John Shakespeare is a fervent
declaration of the Catholic faith
THE RELIGION OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Schools taught
the official religion - but the teachers of William
Shakespeare were Catholic. One of his teachers, Robert
Dibdale was ordained a priest, and was martyred in 1586
It was dangerous
to adhere to the old Catholic religion and the daughters of
William Shakespeare attended the Protestant Church
The career of
Shakespeare would have been seriously affected if he was
believed to be a Catholic
Strict laws
regulating the theater prohibited any explicitly religious
or current political events from being represented on stage
- but William Shakespeare makes repeated, sympathetic,
references to Catholicism in his plays
PROTESTANT VERSUS CATHOLIC
In the early 1500's the people of England all practised the Roman Catholic
religion. The practises of the Catholic religion were questioned during
the Reformation and the beliefs of men such as the German Martin Luther
(1483 - 1546) prompted a new religion called Protestantism...
The term
'Protestant' was adopted when supporters of Martin Luther
formally protested against efforts to limit the spread of
Luther's new ideas
So what were the
differences between the Catholic and Protestant beliefs?
CHURCH SERVICES & THE BIBLE
Catholics
believed that Church Services and the Bible should be in
Latin, as it had been for 1000 years
Protestants
believed that Church Services and the Bible should be in the
language of the people so that the ordinary people could
understand them
THE PRIESTS
Catholics
believed that Priests were the link between God and the
people and that the Pope was ordained by God. Priests were
special and expected to devote their lives to God and remain
unmarried and wear elaborate robes
Protestants
believed that people could find God without a priest or a
Pope and that Ministers were ordinary people who should lead
normal lives and wear ordinary robes
SINS
Catholics
believed that Priests and the Pope were able to forgive sins
- at a price. Gifts, or indulgences, were given to the
church
Protestants
believed that only God could forgive sins
CHURCHES
Catholics
believed that Churches celebrate God and elaborately
decorated with statues and shrines
Protestants
believed that Churches should be plain allowing the
congregation to concentrate on the sermons
