H ERBERT G RABES Support from Abroad: Early Modern English Import of Oppositional Pamphlets That there are many kinds and aspects of mobility to be found in Early Modern times should become amply evident in the course of the present discussion. This brings up the question of what the concept of ‘mobility’ actually comprises, especially in regard to the related concept of ‘change.’ On closer inspection it becomes evident that mobility always implies the ability of some sort of change, be it no more than a change of place, whereas a ‘change’ may occur even in the absence of mobility. Also changes may be so radical that no trace is left of whatever was before, whereas with mobility there must still be something left of which we can say that it moves or moved or at least can do so. A typical example are the radical sixteenth-century pamphlets dealt with in this article, texts which in the sense of fixed sequences of particular signifiers remained quite unchanged while having become quite mobile due to the new medium of print. They actually were disseminated far beyond their place of origin, with the result that they enabled a wide dissemination of ideas and opinions, even against the will of church and state. It shows that one of the most incisive influences of the invention of printing on political and cultural development was this new mobility of ideas that undermined the systems of secular and spiritual control over the souls and minds of individuals and the public at large. 1 1 See Herbert Grabes, Das englische Pamphlet I: Politische und religiöse Polemik am Beginn der Neuzeit,1521-1640 (Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1990), passim. It was easy enough to silence dissenters in an oral culture by persecuting, imprisoning, and putting them to death, and it was too time-consuming and costly before the age of print to produce an amount of written copies sufficiently large to ensure a dissemination wide enough to counter any censorship. But it became increasingly difficult to seize the 900 to 1,000 copies of a print-run in those times, especially since brief texts such as pamphlets and broadsheets could easily be disseminated clandestinely and craftily concealed by those who treasured them. Of course the authorities immediately sought to adapt censorship to the new situation, above all by limiting the number of printers and rigorously controlling and intimidating them and authors by threatening such dire punishments as the cutting off of ears, the slitting of noses, and even hanging. H ERBERT G RABES 24 These measures, however, failed to silence opposition, and for the first time in European history we have something like the beginning of a genuine public sphere with a liberal exchange of ideas. This was due to two factors: the already-mentioned elusive circulation of ideas in mass printings, and lack of uniformity among dominant religious and political ideologies in neighbouring Early Modern European states. Texts of a particular kind gagged in one place could be imported from abroad, particularly when compact and easily portable. All this is not just one among many possible cultural-historical constructs of the past (to use poststructuralist New-Speak) but a solidly documented description of a particular part and aspect of what actually happened. I will endeavour to demonstrate as much in the space at my disposal by concentrating on the situation in sixteenth-century England. To a considerable extent, this demonstration will take on a positivist character, but I hope my introduction has already made clear that an array of uninterpreted facts will not do. An array of facts can be very telling, however, when it comes to making plausible a condition created by a new mass phenomenon like the dissemination of written texts printed cheaply in great quantities. Of course, it is true that texts could also be copied in medieval times and the catalogues of the monastic libraries show that until the fifteenth century copies of mostly the same texts could be found in the houses of a particular religious order all over Europe. But it took laborious weeks and months for scribes to produce even one unique copy; no chance, then, of a rapid spread of ideas via a large number of duplicated texts. * The first major oppositional movement in Britain after the introduction of printing was, of course, that of the Protestant reformers. As early as 1520, quite soon after their first publication, copies of Luther’s attack on the supremacy of the Pope and his new view of the sacraments, above all that of the altar, could be obtained from the Oxford bookseller John Dorne. 2 2 William A. Clebsch, England’s Earliest Protestants 1520-1535 (New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 1964), 12. According to David Birch, Early Reformation English Polemics (Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Universität Salzburg, 1983), 22, it were Luther’s Assertio Omnium Articulorum M. Lutheri per Bullam Leonis x novissimam damnatorum (Wittenberg, 1520), B.M. Cat. 697 h 25 and De Captivitate Babylonica Ecclesiae praeludium Martini Lutheri (Wittenberg, 1520), B.M. Cat. 3905 bbb 81 that so early found their way into England. It helped that the educated elite in Europe had a common language, Latin; the first English translations of Luther’s works date from the years 1534-1538, a period in which Henry VIII was more liberal towards the reformers. Support from Abroad 25 This had certainly not been the case in the 1520s. In 1521, there appeared under Henry’s name the Assertio septem sacramentorum adversus M. Lutherum, 3 for which the Pope accorded him the title of “Defensor fidei,” although it was most probably written by Thomas More or the bishop of Rochester, John Fisher. What we do know for sure is that Fisher preached the official sermon when Luther’s works were ceremoniously burned at Paul’s Cross on May 12, 1521, and that he was again chosen for this task at a second burning of both Luther’s and Tyndale’s works in 1525. Both sermons were subsequently printed several times and they already show many of the features of the polemical pamphleteering that was to become typical of the religious controversies of the age. In a manuscript culture, public book-burnings would have been a highly effective display, but in the 1520s of Gutenberg and Caxton they were merely a symbolic gesture, being unable, for instance, to prevent the dissemination of Tyndale’s English translation of the New Testament, because it was - and here we have an early example of help from abroad - printed in 1525 and 1526 beyond the reach of bishop or king in Germany 4 But this was by no means all. Besides more compendious writings, some 25 pamphlets that were printed abroad during the reign of Henry VIII (mostly in Antwerp, but also in Basle, Paris, and Wesel) were secretly imported to spread the forbidden new Protestant creed in England. One of the first is William Tyndale’s Parable of the Wicked Mammon and smuggled into the country; and between 1534 and 1538 no fewer than 17 editions subsequently appeared in Antwerp. So the attempts of both the Catholic and then the Anglican Church to suppress its dissemination clearly failed. 5 from 1528, opening with Luther’s doctrine “That faith the mother of all good workes justifieth us” and, according to the title-page, “Printed at Malborowe in the Londe of Hesse: By hans Luft” but actually by Johannes Hochstraten in Amsterdam. How effective such help from abroad must have been is evident if we realize that the king in 1529 issued A proclamation for resisting and withstanding of most dampnable Heresyses / sowen within this realme / by the Disciples of Luther and other Heretykes / perverters of Christes religion. 6 3 A Short Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of English Books Printed Abroad 1475-1640, ed. A.W. Pollard and G.R. Redgrave, 2 nd edition, ed. W.A. Jackson. F.S. Ferguson, K. Pantzer (London: The Bibliographical Society, 1976-1986), henceforward cited as STC 13078. For details of Henry VIII’s controversy with Luther see Birch, Early Reformation English Polemics, 21-30. That the threat was meant seriously is proved by the fact that in 1530 one Thomas Hitton was put to death 4 First incompletely 1525 in Cologne (STC 2823) and then in complete form 1526 in Worms (STC 2824). For the controversy with Tyndale and his associates see Birch, Early Reformation English Polemics, 30-88. 5 STC 24454. 6 STC 7772. H ERBERT G RABES 26 on the basis of this proclamation for having sold some of Tyndale’s works; and further evidence is an oppositional pamphlet entitled The Examination of Master William Thorpe 7 printed in the same year in Antwerp. In 1530 there also appeared another proclamation, By the King. For dampning of erroneous bokes, 8 which forbade the purchase of any imported books and decreed that all religious texts had to be cleared by the bishop of the diocese before being printed. These measures were not least a reaction to the appearance of two notorious anticlerical pamphlets from 1529, also printed in Antwerp: A Supplication for the Beggers 9 by Simon Fish and A proper dialogue / between a Gentilman and a husbondman / eche complaynenge to other theyr miserable calamite / through the ambicion of the clergye. 10 there is, yn the tymes of youre noble predecessours passed craftily crept into this your realme an other sort (not of impotent, but) of strong, puissant, and counterfeit holy, and ydell, beggers and vagabundes, whiche, syns the tyme of theyre first entre by all the craft and wiliness of Satan, are now encreased vunder your sight, not only into a great nombre, but also ynto a Kingdome. These are (not the herdes, but the rauinous wolues going in herdes clothing, deuouring the flocke.) the Bishoppes, Abottes, Priours, Deacons, Archedeacons, Suffraganes, Prestes, Monkes, Chanons, Freres, Pardoners and Somners. To give you an idea of just how drastic Fish’s attack on the church was, here are some lines revealing what he means by “the Beggers”: 11 In a verse dialogue written by Barlow and Roy, almost the same accusations can be found: both the gentleman and the husbandman agree that …the clergy without dowte Robbeth the hole countre rounde aboute Both comones and estates none excepte. 12 Despite the burning of Tyndale’s works, the demand for an English translation of the Bible remained acute, promoted by A compendious olde treatyse / shewynge / howe that we ought to haue y scripture in Englyshe, 13 7 STC 24045. attributed to Richard Ullerston and printed in 1530 in Antwerp, though according to the title page “Emprented at Marlborow in the lande of Hessen: Be my Hans Luft,” a forged address meant not only to mislead the censors but also to allude to the fact that Luther had produced part of his translation of the Bible into German at Marburg. That the pressure for a translation was effective is 8 STC 7775 and 7776. 9 STC 10883. 10 STC 1462.3. 11 STC 10883. 12 STC 1462.3, Fol. A.v. r . 13 STC 3021. Support from Abroad 27 shown by the fact that in 1534 even the bishops proposed to the king that there should be an English translation of the Scriptures. This does not mean, however, that they had begun to share the theological views of the reformers, as the Protestants were mostly called at that time in England, and during the entire reign of Henry VIII the pamphlets disseminating these views had to be printed abroad, secretly imported, and distributed with the utmost caution. Most of those from the 1530s came from Antwerp, one reason for which may have been that Tyndale lived there after he had to flee England. In 1531, there his sermon The Prophete Jonas 14 appeared and in 1533 a pamphlet on the Protestant interpretation of the transubstantiation, The souper of the Lorde. 15 But it was even dodgy to write and publish forbidden books and pamphlets abroad. In 1534, the year in which a new and improved translation of the Bible appeared, Tyndale was arrested on order of Henry VIII, brought to trial for heresy, and, after an imprisonment of almost two years, burnt at the stake. A similar fate was later to be suffered by John Frith, who in 1529 had published a more compendious attack on the Pope (A Pistle to the Christian Reader. The Revelation of the Anti- Christ, 16 again allegedly printed by “Hans Luft” in Marburg, but actually in Antwerp), and who kept writing subversive works even in the Tower until he was executed on July 4, 1533, among them a pamphlet on the posthumous burning of the reformer William Tracy, with the explicit title The Testament of William Tracie esquire, expounded both by William Tindall and Iho[n] Frith. Wherin Thou Shalt Perceyue with what charite y(e) chaunceler of Worcester Burned whan He Took vp the Deek carcas and made ashes of hit after hit was buried 17 (published 1535) and another one called A Mirroure. To knowe thyselfe 18 (published 1536). Having returned to England under Edward, he was burned in 1553 under Queen Mary because he refused to recant. Less unfortunate was the reformer George Joy, who fled to Germany. He, too, had his writings printed in Antwerp, among them a pamphlet against Thomas More, The Subversion of Moris False Foundacion 19 (1534); A Frutefull Treatis of Baptyme [sic] and the Lordis Souper 20 (1541); one from 1543 with the title Our Sauiour Iesus Christ hath not Overcharged his Chirche with Many Ceremonies, 21 and another from the same year called The Vnitie and Scisme of the olde Chirche. 22 14 STC 2788. 15 STC 24468. 16 STC 11394. 17 STC 24167. 18 STC 11390. 19 STC 14829. 20 STC 24217. 21 STC 14556. 22 STC 14830. H ERBERT G RABES 28 In the 1540s some translations of writings by well-known Protestants from the Continent were published, such as Heinrich Bullinger’s pamphlet The Olde Fayth 23 The last will and last confession of martyn luthers faith co[n]cerming [sic] the principle articles of religion which are in controversy, which he wil defend & mai[n]teine vntil his death, agaynst the pope and the gates of hell draw[n] furth by him at the request of the princes of germany which haue reformed theier churches after the gospel, to be offred vp at the next general councel in all their names & now published before that all the world may haue an evident testimony of his faith if it shall forune him to dye before there be any such cou[n]cel, tra[n]slated out of latyn beware of the pope & of his false prophetes and bissopes for thei wil come in shepys clothing and in angels facys but yet inwardly thei are ravening wolnys [sic]. (Antwerp 1541) and one by Luther, printed at Wesel in 1543 and bearing the more than explicit title: 24 And in the same year appeared The rekening and declaracio[n] of the faith and belief of Huldrik Zwingli. 25 The more aggressive, polemical character of much religious pamphleteering comes, however, into its own less in such theological pamphlets than in those directly aimed against the pope or the bishops. One example, John Frith’s A Pistle to the Christian Reader. The Revelation of Anti-Christ (Antwerp 1529) has already been mentioned, but there are others from the 1540s. Especially those by John Bale, whose style earned him the sobriquet “Bilious Bale,” are quite polemical - for instance, the one called Yet a course at the Romyshe foxe, 26 printed in 1543 allegedly in Zürich but actually in Antwerp, or his Answer to a papysticall exhortacyon, 27 which in 1448 also came out of Antwerp; and how similar the aggressive titles could be is shown by William Turner’s earlier The hunting and fyndyng out of the Romyshe foxe 28 More numerous, however, are those imported pamphlets from the 1540s that directly attack the Anglican bishops, in many cases by revealing their cruel treatment of individual persons. An early example is the already mentioned Examinacion of Master William Thorpe (Antwerp 1529), later ones include a pamphlet opening “Here begynnyth a traetys callyde the Lordesflayle handlyde by the bushops power thresshere Thomas Solme,” (Antwerp 1544). 29 23 STC 4070.5. allegedly from Basle but actually printed in Antwerp; George Joye’s attack on the bishop of Winchester entitled George Joye confuteth, Winchesters false arti- 24 STC 16984. 25 STC 26138. 26 STC 1309. 27 STC 1274a. 28 STC 24354. 29 STC 22897. Support from Abroad 29 cles, 30 allegedly printed at Wesel but likewise from Antwerp; A brefe chronicle concernynge the examinacyon and death of the blessed martyr Christ syr Iohan Oldcastell the lorde Cobham 31 (1544) and The Epistle exhortatorye of an Englyshe christiane vnto his derelye beloued contreye of Englande against the pompouse popyshe bysshoppes therof, as yet the true members of theyr fylthye father the great Antichrist of Rome 32 from the same year, both by John Bale and printed in Antwerp. The Epistle is the most acidulous of Bale’s pamphlets. Bale, who under Henry VIII had fled to the Low Countries, Germany, and Switzerland, became bishop of Orrery in Ireland under Edward VI, had to flee to the continent again under Mary, and returned after her death. He is also both the editor and co-author of The first examinacyon of Anne Askewe lately martyred in Smythfelde, by the Romysh popes vpholders, with the elucydacyon of Johan Bale 33 from 1546 and The latter examinacyon of Anne Askewew lately martyred in Smythfelde, by the wicked Synagoge of Antichrist, with the Elucydacyon of Iohan Bale 34 from the following year, both allegedly printed “at Marpurg in the lande of Hessen” but actually in Wesel by the well-known Protestant printer Dirik van der Straten. In the pamphlet about the first examination, Bale obviously wants to demonstrate how the charge of heresy was brought against an innocent woman through absurd questions like “whether a mouse eatynge the hoste, receyued God or no? ”; 35 And as for that ye call your God, is but a pace of breade, For a more profe therof (marke it whan ye lyst) let it lye in the boxe but iii. Monthes, and it wyll be moulde, and so tune to nothynge that is good. in the one about the second examination it is shown that she was condemned to be burned at the stake in accordance with the first of the Six Articles from 1539 because she would not accept the dogma of transubstantiation and is reported to have told bishop Gardiner something he could not possibly have countenanced: 36 A special controversy arose because the third of the conservative Six Articles, by which the king hoped to stop any reformist development in his Church, forbade priests to marry, any marriages from previous years being annulled. Support from abroad came in 1541 in the shape of three pamphlets by wellknown Protestants, all printed in Antwerp: A very godly defence, ful of lerning, defending the marriage of prietes, gathered by Philip Melanchton, [and] sent vnto the Kyng of Englond, Henry the aight, translated out of latyne into englysshe, by lewes 30 STC 14826. 31 STC 1276. 32 STC 1291. 33 STC 848. 34 STC 850. 35 STC 848, Fol. A.viii. v . 36 STC 850, Fol. D.vii. r —D.viii. v . H ERBERT G RABES 30 benchame; 37 George Joye’s The defence of the marriage of preistes; 38 and The Christen state of matrimonye 39 Most of the pamphlets that were published between the end of the reign of Henry VIII and that of Mary Tudor in 1558 are also of a religious kind and were written by reformers. As the protection of Edward VI meant that they could be printed in England, imports from abroad dwindled, being resumed only after the Catholic Mary’s accession to the throne in 1553. Once again, the reformers could only have their writings printed abroad, and their importation and dissemination was a perilous affair. While most of the earlier reformist pamphlets were printed at Antwerp, during the reign of Queen Mary they came from the Protestant north of Germany, that is, from Emden or Wesel, with some emanating from Strasburg or Geneva. by Heinrich Bullinger. Particularly at the beginning of the rigorous Catholic Counter- Reformation in 1553 and 1554, a whole number of open letters were published expressing consolation, encouragement, and admonishment of the reformers that had fled the country, exhorting their flock in England to remain true to the ‘right religion.’ An important question immediately dealt with was how far one could go in adapting to the new situation without risking eternal damnation: that is, whether inner emigration was theologically viable. Some of these pamphlets were only ostensibly printed abroad, mostly at “Roane” (Rouen? ), and a Protestant printer like John Day was obviously taking a great risk in secretly printing them in London. A typical example is the anonymous 1553 pamphlet Whether Christian faith maye be kepte in the heart, without confession openly to the worlde as occasion shal serve. Also what hurt cometh by them that receiued the Gospell, to the present at masse vnto the simple and vnlearned, 40 attributed by Bale and Coverdale to bishop John Hooper; and there are some more from 1554, one by Hooper, 41 two by Bale, 42 and an incunable, 43 that were all intentionally given this misleading origin. Most of the pamphlets of this kind, however, came from Wesel, for instance Certain homilies of m. Joan Calvine conteining profitable and necessarir, admonition[n] for this time, with an apologie by Robert Horn 44 from 1553, and, from the following year, Thomas Becon’s A comfortable Epistle, too Goddes faythfull people in Englande; 45 37 STC 17798. 38 STC 21804. 39 STC 4045. 40 STC 5160.3. 41 A Soveraign Cordial For a Christian Conscience (1554), STC 5157. 42 An Excellent And A right learned meditacion, STC 17773. 43 A Letter Sent From A banished Minister of Iesus Christ vnto the faithful Christian flocke in England (1534), STC 10016. 44 STC 4392. 45 STC 1716. Support from Abroad 31 Thomas Sampson’s A letter to the trew professors of Christes Gospel; 46 A godly letter sent too the fayethfull in London, Newcastle, Barwykw, and to all other within the realme of Englande, that loue the co[m]minge of oure Lorde Iesus by Iohn Knox. 47 At Emden there appeared An epistle written by Iohn Scory the late bishope of Chichester vnto all the faythfull that be in prison in Englande, or in any other troble for the defence of Goddes truthe 48 (1555). With regard to Luther’s A faithful admonition of a certeyne true pastor and prophete 49 From Emden also came several pamphlets teaching absolute steadfastness in one’s creed by example: A brief declaracion of the Lordes Supper, written by the singular learned man, and most constant mastir of Iesus Christ, Nicholas Ridley Bishop of London prisoner in Oxforde, a litel before he suffred deathe for the true testimonie of Christ (1554) we only know that it came from Germany. 50 (1555); Certayne godly, learned, and comfortable conferences betuuene the tuuo reuerende fathers and holye martyres of Christe, D. Nicolas Ridley late byshoppe of London, and M. Hugh Latymer, sometime bishop of Worcester, during the tyme of their emprisonmentes 51 (1556); and The copy of certain letters to the Queene, and also to doctour Martin and doctour Storye, by the most Reuerende father in God, Thomas Cranmer Archebishop of Canterbirye from prison in Oxforde: who (after long and most greuous strayt emprisoning and cruell handling) most constantly and willingly suffred Martyrdom ether, for the true testimonie of Christ, in Marche 1556. 52 And, as we know from John Foxe’s Actes and Monuments 53 Emden was also where two pamphlets addressed to the English nobility were printed, both with a primarily religious, but also political, intention: A nevv booke of spirituall physick for dyuerse diseases of the nobilitie and gentlemen of Englande, made by William Turner doctor of Physik (1563), not only the bishops Latimer, Ridley, Hooper, Ferrar and Cranmer, but very many ordinary believers, would rather suffer death at the stake than pretend to give up their religious beliefs. 54 (1555) and A short descrition of Antichrist unto the Nobilitie of Englande, and to all my brethren and countreymen borne and dwelling therin, with a warnynge to see to, that they be not deceaved by the hypocisie and crafty conveyaunce of the Clergie 55 46 STC 21683. (1557), attributed to John Old. Of both a political and religious nature were the pamphlets against the so-called ‘Spanish Marriage.’ On July 20, 1554, immediately before the mar- 47 STC 15059.5. 48 STC 21854. 49 STC 16981. 50 STC 21046. 51 STC 21047.7. 52 STC 5999. 53 Published in seven editions 1563-1632 (STC 11227-11228). 54 STC 24361. 55 STC 673. H ERBERT G RABES 32 riage of Queen Mary to Philip of Spain, there appeared in Emden A FAYTHFULL admonition made by Iohn Knox, vnto the professours of Gods truthe in Angland, wherby thou mayest learne howe God wyll haue his churche exercised with troubles, and how he defendeth it in the same, 56 a pamphlet in which - in contrast to what the title suggests - the focus is on the disastrous political and economic consequences of the marriage. And in A supplication to the queens majesty, 57 which appeared in February 1555 in three editions at Strasbourg, it is likewise the political danger for the nobility of England and the financial consequences that forms the basis of the argument. Yet the most radical positioning against the ‘Spanish Marriage’ is to be found in the pamphlet called Certayne Questions Demaunded and asked of the Noble Realme of England, of her true naturall children and Subiectes of the same, 58 allegedly printed in London but actually at Wesel. It contains questions that, a century before the beheading of King Charles I, were already shaking the foundation of the monarchical order of the state, for instance, “Whether there be two kind of tresones, one to the kynges persone, & a nother to the body of the relme …,” 59 or “Item, whether the Realme of England belong to the Quene, or to her subiectes? ” 60 Whereas the rhetoric in this pamphlet quite clearly aims at open rebellion, another one that appeared in 1555 in three editions, one at Strasburg 61 and two at Emden, 62 under the title A Warnyng for Englande / Conteynyng the horrible practises of the Kyng of Spayne / in the Kyngdome of Naples / and the miseries whereunto that noble Realme is brought. Whereby all Englishe men may understand the plage that shall light uon them / yf the Kynge od Spayn / obteyne the Dominion of Englande, contains many concrete reproaches of the Queen and the Spaniards, but only asks for penitence and prayers to God that he may destroy all traitors and save England. The widespread hatred of the Spaniards was exacerbated by the loss of Calais, due to the fact that Philip had drawn England into his war with France. While a pamphlet by Bartholomew Traheron called A Warning to England to Repente, and to Turne to god from idolatrie and poperie by the terrible exemple of Calece, given the 7. of March, Anno D. 1558, 63 56 STC 15069. most probably printed at Wesel, again asks for a change of heart and prayers for help, a much longer political tract, published by Christopher Goodman in January 1558 in Geneva, shows a quite different, aggressive attitude. How Superior Powers Ought to Be Obeyed Of Their subiects: and wherin they may lawfully by Gods worde be disobeyed and resisted. Wherin also 57 STC 17562. 58 STC 9981. 59 Fol. A. 4. v . 60 Fol. A. 4. v . 61 STC 10014. 62 STC 10015 and 10015.5 63 STC 24174. Support from Abroad 33 is declared the cause of all this present miserie in England, and the onely way to remedy the same 64 In view of this lively oppositional pamphleteering, it is understandable that during the reign of Queen Mary censorship became increasingly rigorous. is a pamphlet aimed primarily at Queen Mary, who is held to deserve capital punishment because of her heresy, her persecution of the true believers, and for committing treason against her own country. 65 Finally, according to a proclamation of June 6, 1558, the mere possession of heretical or treasonable writings could bring capital punishment under martial law. Nevertheless, Mary was the first English ruler who not only faced a relatively broad religious and political opposition, but who was unable to silence the new medium of print and prevent the importing of oppositional pamphlets and books. * In the second half of the sixteenth century, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, there was a remarkable increase in the number of printed texts, including pamphlets. Almost all of the controversies were still of a theological kind or concerned church government, although, with the claim of Mary Stuart to the English throne and the threat of a Spanish invasion, some acute political themes were also in circulation. With the end of this phase of the Counter- Reformation upon the death of Queen Mary, a considerable number of longer and shorter attacks on the Catholics were published; but as this could be done quite openly under Elizabeth, these books and pamphlets were, of course, printed in London. And as the Catholic counter-attacks in the form of pamphlets came later, 66 one might assume that there would have been hardly any importing of oppositional pamphlets for a while. That this was not the case, however, was owing to the fact that the more radical reformers were not at all content with the ‘Elizabethan Settlement’ as set down in the 1559 Parliamentary Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity, which consisted in combining Protestant theology with traditional liturgy and church government. Reformers demanded a relinquishing of all ‘Romish’ ceremonies and outward signs as well as a Presbyterian reform of church government, that is, a removal of the bishops. It is no wonder that they immediately found themselves in strong opposition to the new Church authorities, who suppressed them under the contemptuous appellation of ‘Puritans.’ 67 64 STC 12020. Once again, these 65 See Frederick S. Siebert, Freedom of the Press in England 1476-1776 (Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1952) and David M. Loades, “The Press under the Early Tudors: A Study in Censorship and Sedition,” Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society 4 (1964), passim. 66 See Peter Milward, Religious Controversies of the Elizabethan Age. A Survey of Printed Sources (London: The Scholar Press 1978), 3-8. 67 According to Thomas Fuller, The Church History of Britain … (1655) IX. i § 66; cf. OED, ‘Puritan.’ H ERBERT G RABES 34 Puritans had to have their writings printed secretly in England or abroad, 68 and antagonism first flared openly in the so-called ‘Vestments controversy’. This was triggered by the new archbishop of Canterbury, Matthew Parker, who in March 1566 removed 37 London ministers from office after they had refused to wear the traditional gowns at an official enquiry. As a reaction, several oppositional pamphlets were printed in Emden and smuggled in: To my louynge brethren that is troublyd about the popishe apparel, two short and comfortable epistles 69 by Anthony Gilby; To my faythfull Brethren now afflicted, & to all those that unfaynedly loue the Lorde Jesus … 70 by William Whittingham; and The fortress of fathers 71 A second controversy kicked in when John Field and Thomas Wilcox, in An Admonition to the Parliament, signed “I.B.” 72 published anonymously in 1572, presented “A View of popishe abuses yet remaining in the Englishe Church,” 73 to which archbishop John Whitgift immediately answered, 74 Thomas Cartwright published a reply, 75 Whitgift defended his Answer, 76 and The second replie of Thomas Cartwright: against Doctor Whitgiftes second answer, touching the Churche discipline 77 Also in Germany, namely Cologne, two pamphlets were printed in the 1570s defending the Family of Love, a mystic religious group of Anabaptists, founded in the Netherlands by Henry Nicholis (or Niclaes) and with some colonies in England. This indicates that this sect also needed support from abroad. The first, anonymous pamphlet, A [Br]ief rehersall of [the] belief of the goodwilling [in E]nglande / which are named, the [Fame]lie of Love, was printed in Heidelberg in 1575 and therefore is of interest here. 78 is from 1575, the second one, A reproofe, spoken and geeuen-fourth by Abia Nazarenus, against all false Christians, seducing ypocrites, and enemies of the trueth and loue, 79 In the 1580s, more pro-Catholic pamphlets were printed abroad and smuggled in, such as Robert Parson’s An epistle of the persecution of Catholickes from 1579. 68 See Cyndia Susan Clegg, Press Censorship in Elizabethan England (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997). 69 STC 10390. 70 STC 10389. 71 STC 1040. 72 STC 10847. 73 Title page. 74 An Answer to a certen libel intituled, An admonition to the Parliament (1572), STC 25427. 75 A reply to An answere made of M. doctor Whitgyfte Againste the Admonition (1573), STC 4711. 76 The defense of the aunswere to the Admonition, against the Replie (1574), STC 25430. 77 STC 4714. 78 STC 10681.5. 79 STC 77. Support from Abroad 35 in England 80 (Douai 1582). After Antwerp fell into the hands of the Spaniards in 1585, it became the place where a number of recusant Catholic pamphlets were printed instead of the earlier Protestant ones. Exerting a highly negative impact on the further treatment of Catholics, especially priests, in England was A declaration of the sentence and deposition of Elizabeth, the vsurper and pretensed quene of England 81 by Pope Sixtus V, which appeared in Antwerp in 1588. The danger was that, as long as they obeyed the pope, they could from then on be charged with high treason. In 1589, at a time when even after the victory over the Armada further Spanish attempts of invasion were feared, Richard Verstegen alias Rowlands published in Antwerp The copy of a letter lately written by a Spanishe gentleman, to his friend in England, 82 and, in 1592, A declaration of the true causes of the great troubles, presupposed to be intended against the realme of England. 83 Further pro-Spanish pamphlets by Robert Parsons, A relation of the King of Spaines receiving in Valliodolid, and in the Inglish College of the same towne, in August last part of this yere. 1592 84 and Newes from Spayne and Holland 85 Yet besides the further trouble with the Jesuits and the so-called ‘Seminary Priests’ that in the 1590s had been infiltrated into England in greater numbers, the controversy between the Puritans and the Anglican bishops became fiercer after John Whitgift, ordained archbishop in 1583, had in his Articuli from the following year, were also printed there. No wonder that Queen Elizabeth, in a proclamation of 18 October 1591, demanded that all people showing sympathy for the pope or the Spaniards or who gave shelter to such people must be reported to the authorities. 86 of 1584 begun to re-implement the traditional Anglican liturgy. The result was that though the most famous attacks on the bishops, the Marprelate Tracts from 1588-89, were secretly printed in England, quite a few books and pamphlets by Puritans were again printed abroad. As Antwerp was controlled by the Spaniards, the new favourite printing place was Middelburg, where a lively trade connection regarding the wool trade existed and where a sympathizing Protestant printer was found in Richard Schilders. There appeared in 1588, for instance, The humble petition eof the communaltie to their nost [sic] renowned and gracious soveraigne the lady Elizabeth […] by the godly ministers tending to reconciliation; 87 80 STC 19406; for the controversies with the Catholics during the reign of Queen Elizabeth see Catholicism and Anti-Catholicism in Early Modern English Texts, ed. Arthur Marotti (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1999). in 1590 Edward Dering’s Certain godly 81 STC 22590. 82 STC 1038. 83 STC 10005. 84 STC 19412.5. 85 STC 22994. 86 STC 4583. 87 STC 7585. H ERBERT G RABES 36 and verie comfortable letters, full of Christian consolation; 88 in 1592 Job Throckmorton’s A petition directed at her most excellent Maiestie wherein is deliuered 1 A meane howe to compound the ciuill dissention in the church of England. 2 A proofe that they who write for reformation, doe not offend against the stat. of 23.Eliz. c. and therefore till matters be compounded, deserue more fauour 89 (a pamphlet which also appeared in Geneva in 1591 under the name of Henry Barrow 90 ); in 1596 A brief apologie of Thomas Cartwright against all such slaunderous accusations as it pleaseth Mr Sutcliffe in seuerall pamphlettes most iniuriously to load him with; 91 in 1599 Andrew Willet’s A Christian letter of certaine English protestants, vnfained fauourers of the present state of religion, authorised and professed in England 92 which was directed at Richard Hooker, who, in 1594-97, had published his comprehensive and learned critique of the Puritan position, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Politie; and Hugh Broughton’s Declaration of generall corruption of religion, Scripture and all learning; wrought by D. Bilson… 93 of 1603 also came from Middelburg. At Dort, where the famous Synod of Dort was somewhat later to take place, a pamphlet appeared in 1596 called The examinations of Henry Barrow Iohn Greenwood and John Penrie, before the high commissioners, and Lordes of the Counsel. Penned by the prisoners themselves before their deathes, 94 while John Penry’s earlier confession I Iohn Penry, doo heare as I shall answere before the Lord my God in that great day of iudgement set downe summarily the whole truth and nothing but the truth which I hold and professe at this hower… 95 The full importance of the much increased mobility of ideas and opinions by means of the new medium of print can, of course, only become evident when not only the oppositional pamphlets but also the longer tracts and whole books printed abroad and secretly imported are included in the picture. But an overview of the pamphlets alone shows that the loss of the monopoly of influence on public opinion was to reduce radically the prospects of sustaining the former monopoly of political power and the ability to impose a particular religious creed on the people. With regard to further developments in Britain, it may suffice at this point to mention that more than twenty-two thousand pamphlets are extant from the time of the Civil War, when censorship broke down, and there was clearly an overwhelming variety and mobility of views circulating in the country, to the point of confusion. But if that was an exceptional situation, there is no question that the far from 1593 is only known to have been printed abroad, but not exactly where. 88 STC 6682.5. 89 STC 1521. 90 STC 1522 a. 91 STC 4706. 92 STC 13721. 93 STC 3855. 94 STC 1519. 95 STC 19608. Support from Abroad 37 greater efficiency of today’s media means that we have to somehow cope constantly with such variety and mobility - often to the point where the confusion of the cyberworld and transglobal importation are so insidious and invisible as to be beyond the control not only of church and state, but of ourselves as individuals, with or without creed. Yet what history can teach us is that it still seems better for a society to risk some confusion than to find itself in a situation in which mobility in terms of a circulation of ideas and opinions or even physical mobility is tightly controlled and the narrow framework of a particular political ideology or a particular religious confession is forced upon the people by strict censorship and even brutal force of an authoritarian state. It is worth noting that Oliver Cromwell, who started out to build a new Jerusalem in England, is reported to have said towards the end of his life that what in looking back on the period of his rule he was most proud of was that none of the different sectarian groups with political dreams he relied on ever became dominating. H ERBERT G RABES 38 Works Cited Birch, David. Early Reformation English Polemics. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Universität Salzburg, 1983. Clebsch, William A. England’s Earliest Protestants 1520-1535. New Haven, CT: Greenwood Press, 1964. Clegg, Cyndia Susan. Press Censorship in Elizabethan England. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997. Fuller, Thomas. The Church History of Britain. 1655, ed. James Nichols, 3 vol. London: Thomas Tegg, 1837. Grabes, Herbert. Das englische Pamphlet I: Politische und religiöse Polemik am Beginn der Neuzeit (1521-1640). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1990. Loades, David M. “The Press under the Early Tudors: A Study in Censorship and Sedition,” Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society 4 (1964): 29-50. Luther, Martin. Assertio Omnium Articulorum M. Lutheri per Bullam Leonis x novissimam damnatorum. Wittenberg, 1520. ---. De Captivitate Babylonica Ecclesiae praeludium Martini Lutheri. Wittenberg, 1520. Marotti, Arthur, ed. Catholicism and Anti-Catholicism in Early Modern English Texts. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1999. Milward, Peter. Religious Controversies of the Elizabethan Age. A Survey of Printed Sources. London: The Scholar Press, 1978. Pollard, A.W. and G.R. Redgrave, eds. A Short Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of English Books Printed Abroad 1475-1640, 2 nd edition, ed. W.A. Jackson. F.S. Ferguson, K. Pantzer. 2 vols. London: The Bibliographical Society, 1976-1986; vol. 3: Katherine F. Pantzer, ed. A Printers’ and Publishers’ Index, Other Indexes & Appendices, Cumulative Addenda & Corrigenda. London: The Bibliographical Society, 1991. Siebert, Frederick S. Freedom of the Press in England 1476-1776. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1952.