Convocation of 1563

St Paul's Cathedral, London, view as in 1540

The Convocation of 1563 was a significant gathering of English and Welsh clerics that consolidated the Elizabethan religious settlement, and brought the Thirty-Nine Articles close to their final form (which dates from 1571). It was, more accurately, the Convocation of 1562/3 of the province of Canterbury, beginning in January 1562 (Old Style).

Summary

Matthew Parker who was Archbishop of Canterbury had prepared documents outlining further reform in the Church of England, as had other bishops. A more thorough-going reform agenda was supported by over 30 of the participants. A compromise version, the "six articles", was narrowly defeated on a vote. The result was that the momentum for reform of the Church by its constitutional procedures was halted. Parker steered the outcome towards the via media.^[1] "Swiss-inspired reformists" were headed off.^[2]

The Convocation restored the position of the Thirty-Nine Articles in the Church of England. More accurately said, the Forty-Two Articles of Edward VI were reduced to a draft at this point, which was widely supported, and eventually enforced after 1571. There were further proposals from reformers, in particular on canon law and liturgy, some of which originated from a group among the bishops. These, however, proved contentious, and did not pass. Subsequent contestation of the same issues made some of them a matter of authority.^[3]

Collinson comments that

Moves to improve the settlement in the convocation of 1563 were led by the bishops rather than by 'Puritans' in the lower house [...]^[4]

Dawley writes that probably the surprise of the Convocation

[...] was not the amount of support given to the Precisians but the unexpected extent of loyalty to the existing regulations,

"Precisian" being the term used by Parker for his opponents on the issue of clerical dress.^[5]

Participants

Bishops

Of 20 bishops of the time (the see of Oxford being vacant), there were 12 who had left the Kingdom of England under Mary Tudor: the "Marian exiles". Of those who had remained, some had done so covertly.

Name	Exile?	See	Comments
Gilbert Berkeley	Frankfurt	Bath and Wells
Richard Cheyney	No	Bristol, Gloucester	Did not subscribe the 39 articles (ODNB)
Matthew Parker	No	Canterbury
William Barlow	Germany, Poland, Emden	Chichester
Thomas Bentham	Zurich, Basle	Coventry and Lichfield
Richard Cox	Frankfurt	Ely	Probably a reforming bishop
William Alley	No[6]	Exeter	drafts
John Scory	Emden	Hereford
Nicholas Bullingham	Emden[7]	Lincoln
Edmund Grindal	Frankfurt	London	Reformer, supported attempts to revise the Prayer Book rubrics.[8]
John Parkhurst	Zurich	Norwich
Edmund Scambler	London	Peterborough
Edmund Gheast	No[9]	Rochester	drafting of article XXIX
John Jewel	Strasbourg, Zürich, Padua	Salisbury
Robert Horne	Zurich, Frankfurt, Strasburg	Winchester
Edwin Sandys	Frankfurt, Augsburg, Strasbourg, Zürich	Worcester	Draft on the sign of the cross in baptism (ODNB)
Rowland Meyrick	No[10]	Bangor
Hugh Jones, as proxy	No	Llandaff
Thomas Davies	No	St. Asaph
Richard Davies	Geneva	St. David's

Of these bishops, 19 attended at the start—not Jones, who was acting as proxy for the aged Anthony Kitchin.^[11][12]

Lower House

There were 27 in the Lower House of Convocation who had been émigrés of Queen Mary's time.^[13] An estimate of over 50 who had conformed in Mary's reign has also been given.^[14] Carlson argues for a definite group of 34 Puritan reformers in the Lower House.^[15]

Deans

Name	Exile?	Standing in convocation	Comments
John Bale	Basel[16]	Prebendary of Canterbury.[16]
William Bradbridge	No[17]	Chancellor of Chichester[17]	Voted for the six articles.[17]
William Day		Provost of Eton College	Supporter of the six articles.
Gabriel Goodman		Dean of Westminster (ODNB)	Against further reform.
Francis Mallett		Dean of Lincoln	Voted by proxy.
Alexander Nowell		Dean of St Paul's	Prolocutor on the nomination of Matthew Parker,[18] reformer, drafted catechism
Laurence Nowell		Dean of Lichfield	Brother of Alexander; voted to change ceremonies (ODNB)
John Pedder[19]	Frankfurt[19]	Dean of Worcester	Supported 21 requests, voted for six articles, subscribed the 39 articles.[19]
John Salisbury[20]		Dean of Norwich	Subscribed to the 39 articles, signed the petition for discipline.[21]
Thomas Sampson	Frankfurt, Zürich, Geneva, Lausanne (ODNB)	Dean of Christ Church, Oxford	Radical, opponent of ceremonial

Nicholas Wotton, Dean of Canterbury, did not attend.(ODNB)

Archdeacons

Name	Exile?	Standing in convocation	Comments
John Aylmer	Switzerland	Archdeacon of Lincoln	Held back in debate,(ODNB) subscribed to the 39 articles.[22]
Robert Beaumont	Geneva.[23]	Archdeacon of Huntingdon[23]	Among the 33 signatories.(ODNB) Supported the six articles.[23]
John Bridgewater	No	Archdeacon of Rochester	Voted against the six articles. (ODNB)
Thomas Cole	Frankfurt[24]	Archdeacon of Essex	One of the 34 proposing the seven articles; abstained on the six articles.[24]
Robert Crowley		Archdeacon of Hereford?. Canon of Hereford.(ODNB)
Thomas Lever		Archdeacon of Coventry	reformer.
John Mullins		Archdeacon of London	Supported seven articles, abstained on six articles.
John Pullain[25]	Geneva[25]	Archdeacon of Colchester	Advocate of Calvinism.[25]
Nicholas Robinson		Archdeacon of Merioneth
Richard Rogers	Frankfurt[26]	Archdeacon of St Asaph[27]	Reformer.
Thomas Spencer	Zürich[28]	Archdeacon of Chichester[29]
John Watson		Archdeacon of Surrey	Conservative.(ODNB)
Thomas Watts	Frankfurt (ODNB)	Archdeacon of Middlesex	Reformer.
Robert Wisdom	Frankfurt, Heidelberg (ODNB)	Archdeacon of Ely	Voted for six articles.

Proctors

Name	Exile?	Standing in convocation	Comments
Thomas Bickley	France[30]	Proctor for Coventry and Lichfield,	Reformer.
Walter Bower		Proctor for the clergy of Somerset[29]
James Calfhill		Three votes; proctor for the London clergy and Oxford chapter[31]	One of the 34 signing the seven articles. (ODNB)
Thomas Godwin		Proctor for Lincoln chapter (ODNB)	Voted for further reform.
Thomas Huet	No	??; precentor of St David's Cathedral (ODNB)	Signed the 39 articles.
Thomas Lancaster		??	Voted for six articles. (58/59 ODNB)
Robert Lougher		Proctor for the clergy of the diocese of Exeter (ODNB)	Opposed six articles.
Stephen Nevinson		Proctor for the clergy of the diocese of Canterbury (ODNB)	Reformer
Andrew Peerson		Proctor for Llandaff (ODNB)	Voted against six articles.
Michael Renniger		Proctor for Winchester chapter (ODNB)	Reformer.
Arthur Saul		Proctor for Gloucester chapter (ODNB)	Reformer.
John Walker	Not known (ODNB)	Proctor for the Suffolk clergy
Robert Weston		Proctor for the Lichfield clergy[32]
Percival Wiburn		Proctor for Rochester chapter (ODNB)

Procedure

The Convocation was called simultaneously with a Parliament, and took place in London, in St Paul's Cathedral.^[33][34] Its sessions took place from 11 January to 14 April 1563 (N.S.).^[35] Robert Weston opened the Convocation on 12 January, formally, with a prorogation to the following day.^[36] The actual proceedings of Convocation opened on 13 January, when the Litany was sung, and a Latin sermon by William Day preached.^[37][38][39]

The 39 Articles, to 1571

The subsequent passage of the 39 Articles into the orthodoxy of the Church of England was tortuous. There are various versions of the Articles: manuscript from the Convocation, printed in Latin (Reyner Wolfe) and English by John Cawood and Richard Jugge (1563); printed later.^[40] A bill in the Parliament of 1566 to confirm the articles from the Convocation was halted in the House of Lords, by pressure from the Queen.^[41]

References

1. Patrick Collinson (1 January 1979). Archbishop Grindal, 1519-1583: The Struggle for a Reformed Church. University of California Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-520-03831-8.
2. Paul D. L. Avis (2002). Anglicanism and the Christian Church: Theological Resources in Historical Perspective. A&C Black. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-567-08849-9.
3. Felicity Heal (2005). Reformation in Britain and Ireland. Oxford University Press. p. 362. ISBN 978-0-19-928015-5. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
4. Collinson, Patrick. "Sandys, Edwin". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/24649. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
5. Powel Mills Dawley (1955). John Whitgift and the Reformation. Adam & Charles Black. pp. 66 and 70.
6. Orme, Nicholas. "Alley, William". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/397. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
7. Lock, Julian. "Bullingham, Nicholas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/3917. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
8. G. J. R. Parry (22 August 2002). A Protestant Vision: William Harrison and the Reformation of Elizabethan England. Cambridge University Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-521-52218-2.
9. Freeman, Jane. "Guest, Edmund". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/11712. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
10. Evans, Mihail Dafydd. "Meyrick, Rowland". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/18643. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
11. Charles Hardwick (1852). A history of the Articles of religion: to which is added a series of documents, from A. D. 1536 to A. D. 1615; together with illustrations from contemporary sources. H. Hooker. pp. 128–9. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
12. Theodore K. Rabb; Jerrold E. Seigel (8 December 2015). Action and Conviction in Early Modern Europe: Essays in Honor of E.H. Harbison. Princeton University Press. p. 139 note 23. ISBN 978-1-4008-7606-8.
13. William P. Haugaard (1968). Elizabeth and the English Reformation: The Struggle for a Stable Settlement of Religion. CUP Archive. p. 27. GGKEY:LA9WJTAP5T9. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
14. William P. Haugaard (1968). Elizabeth and the English Reformation: The Struggle for a Stable Settlement of Religion. CUP Archive. pp. 389–90. GGKEY:LA9WJTAP5T9. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
15. Theodore K. Rabb; Jerrold E. Seigel (8 December 2015). Action and Conviction in Early Modern Europe: Essays in Honor of E. H. Harbison. Princeton University Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-4008-7606-8.
16. "Bale, John" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
17. Carleton, Kenneth. "Bradbridge, William". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/3165. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
18. Patrick Collinson (1 January 1979). Archbishop Grindal, 1519–1583: The Struggle for a Reformed Church. University of California Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-520-03831-8.
19. "Pedder, John" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
20. William P. Haugaard (1968). Elizabeth and the English Reformation: The Struggle for a Stable Settlement of Religion. CUP Archive. p. 7. GGKEY:LA9WJTAP5T9. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
21. "Salisbury, John (1500?-1573)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
22. "Aylmer, John" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
23. "Beaumont, Robert (d.1567)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
24. Usher, Brett. "Cole, Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5856. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
25. "Pullain, John" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
26. Lehmberg, Stanford. "Rogers, Richard". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23994. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
27. Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "Rogers, Richard (1532?-1597)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 49. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
28. Christina Hallowell Garrett (10 June 2010). The Marian Exiles: A Study in the Origins of Elizabethan Puritanism. Cambridge University Press. p. 8 note 5. ISBN 978-1-108-01126-6.
29. John Rouse Bloxam (1857). A register of the presidents, fellows, demies, instructors in grammar and in music, chaplains, clerks, choristers, and other members of Saint Mary Magdalen College in the university of Oxford, from the foundation of the college to the present time. p. lxx.
30. "Bickley, Thomas" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
31. Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1886). "Calfhill, James" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 8. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
32. James Murray (21 July 2011). Enforcing the English Reformation in Ireland: Clerical Resistance and Political Conflict in the Diocese of Dublin, 1534-1590. Cambridge University Press. p. 266. ISBN 978-0-521-36994-7.
33. s:The Cambridge Modern History/Volume II/Chapter XVI
34. Bruce C. Daniels (6 September 2012). New England Nation: The Country the Puritans Built. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 20–. ISBN 978-1-137-02563-0.
35. Theodore K. Rabb; Jerrold E. Seigel (8 December 2015). Action and Conviction in Early Modern Europe: Essays in Honor of E. H. Harbison. Princeton University Press. p. 133 note 1. ISBN 978-1-4008-7606-8.
36. Hook, Walter Farquhar (1860). "Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury". Internet Archive. London: Bentley. pp. 341–2. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
37. Usher, Brett. "Day, William". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/7373. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
38. Ralph Churton (1809). The Life of Alexander Nowell Dean of St. Paul's. University Press. p. 8.
39. Church of England (1849). The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, According to the Use of the United Church of England and Ireland: Together with the Psalter Or Psalms of David ... and the Form Or Manner of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. The Text Taken from the Sealed Book for the Chancery ... With Notes, Legal and Historical. For the Ecclesiastical History Society. pp. 540 note.
40. John James Tayler (1853). A retrospect of the religious life of England: or, The church, Puritanism, and free inquiry. J. Chapman. p. 55. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
41. Wallace T. MacCaffrey (8 December 2015). Shaping of the Elizabethan Regime. Princeton University Press. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-4008-7586-3.