From the rival claims of York and Lancaster the succession to the English throne had been a matter of fierce contention for many years. The struggle of the opposing factions amongst the nobility, known in history by the term, "The Wars of the Roses," broke out about the time when Gutenberg's labors at the printing press began, and greatly hindered the peaceful triumph of the arts and literature. The country was deeply affected in all its interests by these civil wars. Commerce was reduced to its lowest state; ignorance covered the land, and true piety had scarcely any existence, except amongst the despised and persecuted Lollards.
Such was the condition of things when Henry VIII. ascended the throne in 1509. Uniting in his person the claims of the rival houses of York and Lancaster, he received the devotion of both. Everything seemed to favor the young monarch, and give hope of a peaceful and popular reign. His father, Henry VII., had successfully founded the Tudor dynasty, left him with a people outwardly quiet, and an exchequer overflowing with what would now amount to ten or twelve millions of gold. He was young-about eighteen-said to be "majestic in port, eminently handsome, and rioting in health and spirits." His manners were frank and open, and being most accomplished in all the manly exercises of the time, he became the idol of the nation. His marriage and coronation were followed by a constant succession of gaieties and amusements on the most expensive plan, which rapidly reduced the treasures accumulated by his parsimonious father.
Henry had also a taste for letters. He delighted in the society of scholars, and lavished upon them his patronage. Having been destined by his father for the church, and educated accordingly, his naturally vigorous mind had been greatly improved by education, so that in mental accomplishments he far exceeded the princes of his age. The new study of revived classical literature had for some time been much cultivated in England. This was not the Reformation, but it exposed the ignorance of the clergy, and prepared the public mind for the approaching change. The priests were now as opposed to the scholars as to the heretics. They railed against the invention of printing, the manufacture of paper, and the introduction of such heathenish words as nominatives and adverbs: they were all of Satan, and sources of heresy-but, as the king favored the most illustrious of the scholars, it was not so easy to have them murdered or burnt as poor Hun and Brown.
But of all the learned men now in England, the one they hated most was Erasmus. He could not endure-as we have already seen in the course of our history-the greed, the gluttony, and the ignorance of the monks. He had often leveled against them his keenest shafts, and his most pungent satire. He had also indulged in some of his witty sarcasms against the bishop of St. Asaph; and, though he was a favorite at court, he must be banished if he cannot be burnt. The bishops set to work accordingly. Erasmus, seeing their intentions, and true to his nature, left the country. This event was overruled by a gracious providence in the most blessed way. He went straight to Basle, and published his Greek and Latin New Testament. Copies were straightway despatched to London, Oxford, and Cambridge, where they were received with great enthusiasm. The priests had thought to maintain the darkness by driving away the master of letters, but his departure was the means of restoring to England the light of eternal truth-the pure gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Before Luther had posted up his theses, the holy scriptures were circulated in England. Thus was the Reformation chiefly accomplished by the word of God. There the Person and glory of Christ are revealed as the Savior of sinners; salvation through faith in His precious blood, and oneness with Him through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
"The Reformation in England," says D'Aubigne, "perhaps to a greater extent than that of the continent, was effected by the word of God. Those great individualities we met with in Germany, Switzerland, and France-men like Luther, Zwingle, and Calvin-do not appear in England; but holy scripture is widely circulated. What brought light into the British Isles subsequently to the year 1517, and on a more extended scale after the year 1526, was the word-the invisible power-of the living God. The religion of the Anglo-Saxon race-a race called more than any other to circulate the oracles of God throughout the world-is particularly distinguished for its Biblical character."