This post attempts to refute the Anglo-Catholic assertion that the 18th century was a period of bland worship in the Church of England. Tractarian authors seized an opportunity to discredit genuine High Churchmanship in the Church of England by appropriating
This post attempts to refute the Anglo-Catholic assertion that the 18th century was a period of bland worship in the Church of England. Tractarian authors seized an opportunity to discredit genuine High Churchmanship in the Church of England by appropriating to them the name “High and Dry.” However, I will show you that this is not an accurate picture of High Church worship, at least in certain places, during the 18th century. In fact, the 18th century High Churchmen were heirs to Caroline spirituality and ceremonial. While the focus of this research is to determine the worship practices of High Churchmen in the 18th century, there are a few references to ceremonial practice before and after that time.
Ceremonies in the Church of England have suffered continuously since the Reformation between those who view the Act of Supremacy as being sufficient (High Church) and those who believe that further reform is necessary (Low Church), that is churchmanship. While was not originally a term describing differences in practice it has come to describe that. After the turmoil of the years spanning from 1549 to 1559, the long reign of Elizabeth provided the English people with relative stability, both politically and religiously. During her reign, the differences between reformist clergy, called Puritans, and the traditionalist clergy in favor of the supremacy, being called “Anglican” ironically, crystallized. These internal conflicts continued to intensify throughout the reign of Elizabeth and into the next two monarchs’ reigns. Reforming clergy thought they had won the war when James I, a Presbyterian from Scotland, ascended the throne, but he proved to be useless to their cause and instead favored the Anglicans. During Charles’s reign, religious strife would merge with political chaos. Charles was not a moderate churchman like James, but, rather, an ardent High Churchman who appointed William Laud to the see of Canterbury. With royal assent, Laud began a High Church campaign to restore some things lost after the Reformation. For instance, the 1604 canons were enforced and Communion tables were returned to their former place at the east wall of the chancel, placed altar-wise. Communion rails were erected to separate the chancel from the nave. After various complex and interwoven events, the English Civil War began when Laud and Charles were executed. The monarchy was abolished and Parliament first ruled the land, then Oliver Cromwell ruled. After the Restoration of the monarchy and episcopacy, Anglicanism as we now know it finally came to be, for the 1662 Prayer Book was published with the 39 Articles and Ordinal, the formularies of Anglicanism. However, the Laudian bishops who fled the country before the rise of Cromwell, were the bishops who 