Introduction
In 1534, Henry VIII declared political and religious independence from Rome; but two of his closest friends, John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, and Sir Thomas More, his Chancellor, defied him and were executed. What followed has left a more lasting and visible mark on the country than any other event in English history, and we must let Charles Dickens recount it at length.
WHEN the news of these two murders got to Rome, the Pope raged against the murderer more than ever Pope raged since the world began, and prepared a Bull, ordering his subjects to take arms against him and dethrone him. The King took all possible precautions to keep that document out of his dominions, and set to work in return to suppress a great number of the English monasteries and abbeys.*
There is no doubt that many of these religious establishments were religious in nothing but in name, and were crammed with lazy, indolent, and sensual monks. There is no doubt that they imposed upon the people in every possible way; that they had images moved by wires, which they pretended were miraculously moved by Heaven; that they had bits of coal which they said had fried Saint Lawrence,* and bits of toe-nails which they said belonged to other famous saints; penknives, and boots, and girdles, which they said belonged to others; and that all these bits of rubbish were called Relics, and adored by the ignorant people.*
Henry had some difficulty in getting the larger religious Houses shut down; we may let American historian D. H. Montgomery take up that tale. “Henry, it is reported, sent for a leading member of the House of Commons, and laying his hand on the head of the kneeling representative, said, ‘Get my bill passed by to-morrow, little man, or else to-morrow this head of yours will come off.’ The next day the bill passed, and the work of destruction began anew.”
St Lawrence (225-258) was one of seven Roman deacons martyred for refusing to pay homage to the gods of Rome, during the reign of Emperor Valerian. The Imperial edict called for beheading, but Lawrence so irritated the judge (told to bring forth the treasures of his church, he pushed forward some beggars) that he was thrown onto a red-hot gridiron, where he died. Pope Sixtus II died in the same purge, as did St Denis, Bishop of Paris, St Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage and St Eugenia, an abbess in Rome. St Lawrence’s feast day is August 10th.
Relics that are rifled from the Lost Property office or the barbecue are obviously of no intrinsic value. But what should you do when the relics are real, and moreover yours? See Fr Vitalis and the Familiar Face.
If you like what I’m doing here on Clay Lane, from time to time you could buy me a coffee.
Buy Me a Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and there is no need to register.
