This dissertation studies adaptations of monastic literary culture between the first decades of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the English Reformation. My discussion focuses on the writings of John Whethamstede, John Lydgate, Richard Whitford and Thomas More. I argue that, while these authors aim to satisfy readers’ desires for elaborate and authoritative forms of piety, they actually provide models of reading and patterns of disciplined living that restrict lay piety within orthodox boundaries. I begin with an introductory chapter that situates this adaptation of monastic reading within broader literary and cultural developments, such as the growing popularity of humanist reading and Protestantism, in order to demonstrate that monastic ideals remained culturally relevant throughout this century. This chapter also aims to prompt a further reassessment of the division that is often created between the medieval and early modern periods. Chapters Two and Three focus on the use of monastic reading practices within a Benedictine context. Chapter Two examines the historiographic poetry and prose of John Whethamstede in which the abbot both positions himself at the forefront of contemporary Latin literature and, at the same time, signals the differences that set the cloistered reader apart from his secular counterpart. Chapter Three examines Lydgate’s incorporation of monastic devotional culture into the Life of Our Lady through the depiction of the Virgin as living out an exemplary religious vocation and through the arrangement of the text to facilitate calculated meditative responses from readers. Chapters Four and Five then shift to the first decades of the sixteenth century. Chapter Four examines Richard Whitford’s orthodox programme of monastic and social reform that aimed not only to meliorate the individual’s ethical life but also to revitalize Catholicism and engage directly with Protestantism. Finally, Chapter Five looks back two decades to investigate More’s borrowings from different elements of religious life in his Life of Pico and Utopia that seek to manage the spiritual aspirations of the laity and to depict a society in which, much as in a monastery, the desires of the individual are shaped by and subordinated to the ideals of the community. / Thesis (Ph.D, English) -- Queen's University, 2009-10-30 11:56:09.669

The purpose of this thesis is to present Sir Thomas More's views on the sacrament of Holy Orders with particular reference to the English clergy using as evidence More's own writings and relevant manuscript material as well as various other contemporary sources. The discussion of More's activity as ecclesiastical patron, based on manuscript sources, will illuminate this previously undocumented aspect of his involvement in clerical affairs. It will indicate how far his views on the English clergy are corroborated by those priests he presented to benefices in addition to providing us with a detailed look at the problems associated with early 16th Century patronage. More's activity as a royal councillor, seen through his own eyes and revealed in his writings and other sources, will be discussed as it touches on the English spirituality. Particular attention will be paid to the development of More's criticisms of the clergy and his emerging understanding of the sacrament of Orders as it took shape in his polemical career. His duties as Lord Chancellor, particularly his campaign against heretics in England and heretical writings abroad, will be presented as well as his opposition to secular statutory reforms of the clerical estate. More's activity as secular judge of clerical litigants in the courts of Star Chamber and Chancery will be analysed on the basis of manuscript evidence of those courts and his own comments found in his published and private writings. Finally, More's concluding remarks on both controversial doctrinal issues and the part played by the English clergy in the Henrician Reformation (to 1535) will be discussed as it is found in the works written from the Tower.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Lehigh University, 1997. / Includes vita. Bibliography: leaves 210-221.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 2010. / Title from OhioLINK ETD abstract webpage (viewed May 17, 2010). Advisor: Susanna Fein. Keywords: Book of the Duchess; Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation; Pericles; Devotions upon Emergent Occasions; Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners; Chaucer; Shakespeare; Thomas More; Donne; Bunyan; defenses against mortality.

The two concepts of hypocrisy and heresy are completely disparate in modern use, and yet they were related in two ways during the early modern period. Firstly, both terms were prominent charges in the polemical exchanges of the English Reformation. Consequently, in this thesis they provide useful tools for studying the effects of controversy on language. The meaning of hypocrisy and of heresy was of considerable concern to many controversialists, and yet the resulting attempts at defining these terms contributed to their destabilization and incoherence. These terms were also related in a second respect throughout the early modern period. Given the universal conviction at that time that there was only one “true” church, and given the consequent pressures imposed by churches (both Catholic and Protestant) to enforce conformity to their own religions, it was inevitable that judgements had to be made concerning the convictions and internal beliefs of others. Such judgements were central in charges of heresy and hypocrisy; hence in this thesis the concepts of hypocrisy and heresy provide useful tools for studying early modern understandings of intentionality and judgement. The writings of Sir John Cheke, William Perkins, Bishop Joseph Hall and Sir Francis Bacon are shown to display concern combined with confusion and incoherence over these topics. However, Sir Thomas More’s Dialogue Concerning Heresies is shown to contain an intricate and coherent analysis of intentionality and judgement vis a vis heresy. But, More’s foundation for judgement and knowledge was the consensus fidelium, a foundation which simply was not available to the later Protestant writers. Lastly, Thomas Hobbes’s treatments of hypocrisy and heresy are examined. In effect, Hobbes negated the judgement of intentions where both concepts were concerned. He acknowledged and accepted the separation of internal belief from external profession. Likewise he accepted the impenetrable nature of the human mind and heart in a way his forebears had not. By examining Hobbes’s treatment of these concepts in light of the polemical confusion and conceptual incoherence of the preceeding century, a better understanding of Hobbes’s philosophy is obtained and the relevance of early modern theology for intellectual history is demonstrated.

The two concepts of hypocrisy and heresy are completely disparate in modern use, and yet they were related in two ways during the early modern period. Firstly, both terms were prominent charges in the polemical exchanges of the English Reformation. Consequently, in this thesis they provide useful tools for studying the effects of controversy on language. The meaning of hypocrisy and of heresy was of considerable concern to many controversialists, and yet the resulting attempts at defining these terms contributed to their destabilization and incoherence. These terms were also related in a second respect throughout the early modern period. Given the universal conviction at that time that there was only one “true” church, and given the consequent pressures imposed by churches (both Catholic and Protestant) to enforce conformity to their own religions, it was inevitable that judgements had to be made concerning the convictions and internal beliefs of others. Such judgements were central in charges of heresy and hypocrisy; hence in this thesis the concepts of hypocrisy and heresy provide useful tools for studying early modern understandings of intentionality and judgement. The writings of Sir John Cheke, William Perkins, Bishop Joseph Hall and Sir Francis Bacon are shown to display concern combined with confusion and incoherence over these topics. However, Sir Thomas More’s Dialogue Concerning Heresies is shown to contain an intricate and coherent analysis of intentionality and judgement vis a vis heresy. But, More’s foundation for judgement and knowledge was the consensus fidelium, a foundation which simply was not available to the later Protestant writers. Lastly, Thomas Hobbes’s treatments of hypocrisy and heresy are examined. In effect, Hobbes negated the judgement of intentions where both concepts were concerned. He acknowledged and accepted the separation of internal belief from external profession. Likewise he accepted the impenetrable nature of the human mind and heart in a way his forebears had not. By examining Hobbes’s treatment of these concepts in light of the polemical confusion and conceptual incoherence of the preceeding century, a better understanding of Hobbes’s philosophy is obtained and the relevance of early modern theology for intellectual history is demonstrated. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Martim Vasques da Cunha de Eca e Almeida.pdf: 2045988 bytes, checksum: f3491b41f6ba7b2c38e5f1b05d59afec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-12-17 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This Master Degree thesis, Thomas More and the religious crisis in humanist thinking: the utopian crossroads, studies the life and work of More between 1478 and 1516, expecting to show it is representative of the religious crisis which the whole European humanism was undergoing at that time. We surmise the book which depicts most clearly this crisis is Utopia (1516). In our analysis, we used several instrumental concepts developed by the philosophers Eric Voegelin, Leo Strauss, Michael Oakeshott and others, in order to examine in detail both the historical period indicated above and the Utopia, and conclude that most future tendencies of modernity were already indicated there / O objetivo da dissertação de mestrado Thomas More e a crise religiosa no pensamento humanista: o impasse da utopia é estudar a vida e a obra do grande pensador humanista entre os anos de 1478 e 1516, com a justificativa de que a sua análise mostrará de que ela é representativa da crise religiosa que ocorria no pensamento humanista europeu daquela época. Nossa hipótese é de que o livro que retrata essa crise é Utopia (1516). Para isso, abordaremos conceitos de filósofos como Eric Voegelin, Leo Strauss, Michael Oakenshott e outros, além de uma análise minuciosa do período histórico demarcado e do escrito Utopia, para chegar à conclusão de que ali já se encontravam as tendências futuras da modernidade