The Cambridge Reformers were at the heart of the English Reformation. They were the central players on a political and religious scene that had many of the characteristics of a mid-day soap opera. At times the religious scene and the political scene were so interwoven that it is difficult to determine which are ecclesiastical threads and which are political threads. The truth is that in the sixteenth century world the religious culture was the political culture in large part. To summarize the reading for the course in some cohesive manner, it seems best to walk through a few different yet sometimes interrelated themes that are at the core of these English, specifically Cambridge Reformers and consequently the English Reformation.

I. Eucharist

The first major issue or theme revolves around the Eucharist. To the Roman Catholic establishment the doctrine of transubstantiation was a core essential dogmatic. The dispute of Christ’s corporeal presence in the elements stoked the flames of Smithfield and filled the pulpit at Paul’s cross more than once.

Interestingly enough the Cambridge Reformers actually had differing views on this hot sixteenth century topic. The leader of the band against the doctrine of transubstantiation was John Frith. Frith was martyred as a young man and certainly his stance against transubstantiation helped stoke the fire. Frith held to a view of the Eucharist that is usually associated with Calvin, the spiritual presence view. It seems that Frith held to this view even before Calvin. Frith enraged the Catholic authorities when he wrote a little treatise dealing with the Sacrament of the Eucharist. This enraged the likes of Thomas More and others.

Frith and Tyndale were dear friends. We know of two letters that Tyndale wrote to Frith. They emanate a deep affection as a mentor to his apprentice. Tyndale seems to have held a memorial view of the atonement. In actuality he may have held to a spiritual presence along with Frith but just never chose to express it that way. This may actually have been a significant area where the apprentice impacted the mentor.

Cranmer and Ridley moved a bit slower and a bit more calculated in their approach to reform. Cranmer led the way as Ridley functioned under Cranmer in ecclesiastical authority. For a time, in fact, he was a chaplain directly under Cranmer. Both of them originally and for quite sometime held to the traditional Catholic view. They both changed their positions later in their ministries. The differences between the two being that Ridley changed a bit before Cranmer on this issue and that Cranmer was more unstable than Ridley. This was in large part due to his close ties with Henry VIII and the entire political arena.

Barnes was the stray cat of the bunch as it relates to the Eucharist. Although he was a fiery flamboyant preacher against the Roman Catholic institution, he still held to traditional views on the Eucharist. Barnes even declared at his martyrdom that the Eucharist was the real presence of Christ.[1] Interestingly Tyndale warned Frith, in a letter to tread lightly on the issue of real presence in the Eucharist so as not to inflame the extroverted Barnes.

The variation among the Cambridge reformers is fascinating. Some such as Tyndale and Frith were very “antitransubstantiationist.” Others such as Ridley and Cranmer took a while to make the shift from the real presence view to the more memorial concept or to at least the concept of spiritual presence. And Barnes, as seen above remained a transubstantiationist.

II. Vernacular Scripture

These Cambridge men were committed to the having the Scriptures placed in the vernacular of the people. No one exhibited this more than Tyndale. He was the driving force, albeit for the most part posthumous, behind the push for an English Bible. However Tyndale was not alone in his desire for the Scripture in the common English tongue. A fellow Cambridge man named Miles Coverdale came along side Tyndale and not only aided him but also carried on what he had left behind after his death. Coverdale was one the only Cambridge man from my study that actually lived out the duration of his life. He was a man who had political connections through his wife with the King of Denmark. This political tie is what essentially saved the reformer and translator from the flames. Coverdale was instrumental in early English Bible translation. He was known for his own Coverdale Bible, which was the first full English Bible translation, allowed by the authorities in England. He also was instrumental in the translation or better said revision that came to be known as the Great Bible.

Yet Tyndale and Coverdale were not the only reformers to make their mark on the Englishing of the Bible. The Archbishop Thomas Cranmer also was involved in a revision of the Great Bible that later came to be referred to as Cranmer’s Bible. Cranmer was more involved in the political arena of legislation for translation as well as overseeing revision.

Before moving on to the political arena it seems appropriate to mention a translation that was a spark to the Reformation in England. This is Erasmus Greek and Latin text of 1516 (later editions came in 1519 and 1522). This text was the impetus for Bilney’s conversion. Bilney’s conversion was in turn the impetus for reformation at the ecclesial level. Thus with the ecclesial wheel of reformation and renewal beginning to turn it was the perfect time for the sovereign hand of God to move in the political arena of the nation.

III. Religion and Politics

This theme is so large in the English Reformation; particularly with a view to these Cambridge Reformers that literally volumes could be written and have been written on the subject. Some oft these men could play the political game well. In fact some played it so well that it has forever cast a suspicious light on their role in English history. Such is the case with Cranmer. His definitive, contemporary biographer Diaramaid MacCulloch spends over six hundred pages unpacking his life and basically reaches the unsettling conclusion that we may never know the real Cranmer’s convictions. The book however does develop the historical narrative from a Protestant approach thus casting Cranmer more as a politically savvy reformer than a confused waffling moderate. In any event Cranmer’s exploits range from his involvement in the marital antics of Henry VIII to the burning of Anabaptist Joan Bocher. He was hated by many staunch Catholics such as Stephen Gardiner and Bishop Bonner. He was the closest of all men to Henry VIII and in this sense Cranmer is indeed an enormous player in the development of the reformation. Without his political exploits and influence on the monarchy England would probably not experienced the Reformation as quickly as it did.

While Cranmer worked as the friend of the political arena others had a love/hate relationship with the reigning authority. Tyndale, for example, was despised for the most part by Henry VIII. This was no doubt in large part due to the influence of the Catholic humanist Sir Thomas More. Yet Tyndale was not always despised by the egocentric monarch. In 1528 Tyndale published The Obedience of a Christian Man. In this volume he clearly stated the responsibility of subjects to honor and obey their king as the supreme, God-ordained ruler of the land. Henry got his hands on a copy of this through his second wife Anne Boleyn and expressed his joy in reading its contents.

Robert Barnes relationship with the monarchy is one of paradox. He was a key ambassador for the country in Germany, where he became well acquainted with Luther. Yet even though he worked with the government he was not at all liked by Henry. And of course as history shows, if one was not liked by Henry, then life in England did not bode well. Barnes was outspoken and somewhat flamboyant Protestant as a preacher. This combined with his irritation of Henry eventually led Barnes to Martyrdom, even though he did abjure once prior.

Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley were united in death in one of the most famous accounts of martyrdom in English history. Yet while they had a common end thy both reached that end in different ways. Latimer had been converted by Thomas Bilney, a fellow Cambridge reformer. Bilney went to the confessional booth to confess his “sin” of embracing the new doctrines and through his “confession” he led Latimer to Christ. Latimer was a golden throated orator, probably the greatest of the reformation (with the possible exception of Barnes). Later in life his oratorical skill landed him the position of the preacher to young King Edward VI and his court. As a whole Latimer was more focused toward preaching to the common folk than he was with entertaining the monarchs. Ridley however served for a time during Edward’s reign as the Bishop of London. He had previously served as a chaplain under Cranmer. He was a man of nobler estate than Latimer. It is difficult to pinpoint Ridley’s conversion but it was clear that toward the latter part of his ministry he had a strong commitment to the Reformation cause.

Thus the political involvement of each reformer was very different yet vital to the Reformation’s life blood in its own unique way.

IV. Relationships

This may seem like a bit of a different twist on the lives of these men. However it seems significant to tie these great men together to demonstrate that this ecclesial revolution was a relatively unified effort. This is not to say that there were not differences along the way, such as Barnes and Frith on the subject of the Eucharist. But as a whole these men fed off of each other. Tyndale was a mentor of sorts to Frith. It is evident that they were very close due to Frith’s involvement in helping him translate the Bible and due to the letters that Tyndale sent Frith when the latter was in prison. Tyndale was also closely associated with Miles Coverdale. Coverdale helped him translate the Pentateuch in Hamburg, Germany. He may have even stayed with Tyndale for a time in Antwerp. Coverdale later worked with Cranmer and others on the Great Bible.

Bilney had a great impact on Latimer, as previously discussed. But it is important to note that Bilney also was instrumental in the conversion of Robert Barnes. This is yet another piece of evidence for Bilney being the great impetus to ecclesial reform.

Ridley and Cranmer were close associates on a professional level. They worked very closely for quite sometime during Cranmer’s stint as Archbishop. Along with Ridley Cranmer was also associated with the older Latimer because he was a leading preacher in the land and did perform some royal court preaching duties. Latimer in turn was united with Ridley in death but what is not as well known is that these three, Cranmer, Ridley and Latimer were all joined together in prison (along with John Bradford). They actually bunked together for a brief time, strengthening one another for what they would ultimately endure.

These men: Tyndale, Bilney, Coverdale, Latimer, Frith, Ridley, Barnes, and Cranmer were all scholars from Cambridge who helped change the face of England and give to the world a reformation that forever impacted English speaking people. Their commitment to the supremacy of the Word of God, their involvement in the political arena, and their relatively unified front set the stage for revolution.

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[1]James McGoldrick. Luther’s English Connection: The Reformation Thought of Robert Barnes and William Tyndale (Milwaukee, Northwestern: 1979), 164.