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Questions about Supplication against the Ordinaries

Short answers, pulled from the story.

What was the Supplication against the Ordinaries?

The Supplication against the Ordinaries was a petition passed by the House of Commons in 1532 listing grievances against Church of England clergy. It contained a preamble and nine specific charges targeting practices such as ex officio heresy trials, excessive court fees, and the Convocation's independent power to make Church laws.

Who presented the Supplication against the Ordinaries to King Henry VIII?

The Speaker of the Commons, accompanied by knights and burgesses, presented the Supplication to Henry VIII on the 18th of March 1532 during an audience with the King.

Who wrote Stephen Gardiner's reply to the Supplication against the Ordinaries?

Stephen Gardiner, the Bishop of Winchester, drafted the Convocation's formal response to the Supplication. His was the only reply entered into the register of the Convocation of Canterbury, and it defended the Church's independent power to make canon law by citing scripture and ecclesiastical tradition.

What were the main charges in the Supplication against the Ordinaries?

The nine charges included the Convocation's independent legislative power, the use of subtle questioning to trap men in heresy trials, ordering laymen to travel outside their dioceses for Church courts, excommunication for minor offences, excessive court fees, heavy charges for instituting clergy into benefices, nepotistic appointment of young persons to Church offices, an excess of holy days observed without devotion, and clergymen holding secular offices.

What role did Thomas Cromwell play in the Supplication against the Ordinaries?

Historian Geoffrey Elton argued the government, with Cromwell's involvement, shaped the Supplication into its final form before Parliament debated clerical abuses. Cromwell had kept similar complaints drafted after debate in 1529 that were never enacted. Historian Stanford Lehmberg suggested Cromwell may have drafted the 1532 Supplication himself, though the question remains unresolved.

What happened to the Supplication against the Ordinaries after the Convocation replied?

The King received the Convocation's reply around the 27th of April 1532. A proposed second reply was corrected by John Fisher at Rochester in May 1532, when delegates visited him regarding the Submission of the Clergy. Whether that second reply was ever presented to the King is not known to historians.