The time has come to jump just over 3000 years to a more modern European monarch, Henry VIII of England. In yesterday’s post (under same title) we saw how the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten became embroiled in matters of “religion”, an experience shared by his remote successor. The situation in each country was in some respects different. In Egypt the gods were worshipped on a local/national basis. There were differences of opinion between monarchs and high priests, but other nations and foreign policy would not necessarily come into the picture. In Western Christian Europe at the end of the Middle Ages the situation was very different.
When the Roman Empire dissolved and disintegrated during the Dark Ages a unifying force remained – Christianity as embodied in the Western Catholic Church, under a Pope normally based in Rome. This was a civilizing influence under which the evolving states of Western Europe had their being. In theory such an arrangement could keep states on peaceful terms with one another and provide a means of settling differences under Christian principles. Unfortunately theory and practice do not always coincide. The Church became involved in a more militant role in international politics. The Crusades were an example of how war could become an acceptable policy. The Norman invasion of England had the sanction of the Christian Church, as had the later Norman-English incursion into Ireland. As time went on Popes and monarchs were often related to each other and family ties were important in international policy.
England, being an island, naturally had a strong “go it alone” preference. A feature of th 16th. century was the growing wealth and power of emerging nations. France and Spain were major players. But physically small states like England, the Netherlands, and North German states were taking advantage of new opportunities created by the discovery of America to expand their wealth and power. Manufacture and trade were not an invention of modern times! Henry’s father, Henry VII had in the interests of peace and goodwill with Spain arranged a marriage between his son Arthur and a Spanish Princess, Catherine of Aragon. When Arthur died prematurely his younger brother Henry was expected to inherit his wife as well. (Such were royal marriages – more reminiscent of the cattle market than “Mills and Boone”).
Alongside this international and commercial scene were aspects of the Church. Henry VIII was a devout follower of religious practices. The Pope had awarded him the title of “Defender of the Faith”, which he retained to the end of his life – he was in no way a “Protestant”. But there was one aspect of the Church with which Henry did not agree. This was not theological but more administrative – namely the function of the Church as an international body with influence over international relations. England, like other emerging powers was developing an independent outlook. Matters came to a head when Henry responded to pressure from his advisors to remarry and hopefully produce a male heir, which was felt to be vital for England’s continued existence and safety. Since this would break the marriage-based alliance with Spain this was not acceptable to Church policy – or international policy.
Another aspect of the religious set-up was the monastic system. The enormous benefits brought to Europe by the civilizing influence of the monasteries were beginning to be looked at differently as the system was in a process of decline, no longer so necessary and not performing well. But another factor was that monastic administration rested in the hands of authorities in Rome. This went against the growing independent outlook prevalent in England. A third factor, which we have already mentioned in the case of Akhenaten was that the monastic establishments were wealthy and were endowed with large areas of land, which the monarch could use to buy loyalty from his supporters. This entailed a break with the Pope, as representing the international aspects of the Church.
Here a comparison with Akhenaten is timely. Henry had no major quarrel with the Church’s theology. Akhenaten on the other hand created a new theology, the worship of the Sun – Aten. Henry brought the system of churches, clergy, bishops, under his control, making the religious system in England subject to the Crown.. Akhenaten’s changes were of similar nature except that he abolished the traditional deities and replaced them with one God. The system worked in England – the main clash between Church and State in England which springs to mind is the fall of Archbishop Laud in Charles I’s day to parliamentary pressure. It worked because for years afterwards religious practices remained stable . Eventually in England Protestantism gained ground, and in the 1640’s Puritanism emerged for a time as a religious force. In Egypt a conservative people, while accepting apparently the Pharaoh’s system, returned to traditional practices as soon as the monarchy changed. So “hasten slowly” would appear to be the motto where religious changes were contemplated.
An interesting example of an attempt to introduce a new religion occurred in the course of the French Revolution when the government introduced for a time worship of “The Supreme Being”. The traditional Church had already “fallen from grace” so to speak, and this was a palliative, which was short-lived.
Akhenaten’s revolutionary reforms may be a reason why during his reign Egypt was under aggressive pressure from neighbouring states, perhaps not because their religious concepts were being threatened but taking advantage of internal unrest which was bound to exist in Egypt. In the case of England the links between Henry’s break with the Church’s international influence and opposition from the other European states can be easily assumed. Yet too much can be made of “religion” here. Spain’s opposition to England in the years to come, culminating in the Spanish Armada episode in 1588 would have been more due to the clash between England and Spain in the American trade than religious doctrine. Religion is so often a convenient scapegoat for other more mundane issues like trade and commerce.
People tend to be sensitive – and conservative- when it comes to changes in belief and practice being imposed from above – and it does not only apply to religion. Henry and his daughter Elizabeth “kept the brakes on” in matters of religious change. Henry’s son Edward VI, (Tutankhamun’s opposite number), Henry’s daughter Maty Tudor, and later James II forced the pace of change and created serious unrest, as happened in the case of Akenhaten.
Another issue involved could perhaps be best described as sovereignty. We will be looking at that in the third part of this post. This is where international combinations for diplomacy or commerce fit in.
In the course of history we are overwhelmed by chains of events. These events are generated by a wide variety of sources. Not a few have their origin in the emergence of ideals, springing from new conceptions of life – what it is – whether it could be changed – how it should be changed. A feeling of malcontent can produce a negative and destructive reaction. Such a reaction can be short-lived and easily put down. It can be a different story however when thinkers come forward and start working out exactly how and under what guiding principles changes can be made. It is here where ideas evolve into ideals, which need to be well ahead of action in order for an agreed unified thinking to precede action.
Half- formed ideals can be non-productive. Actions resulting from them can be inconsistent, and affairs can be in a state of flux and confusing change. This has been the case in many political upheavals over the centuries. Often issues are not simple, but embrace political, social, religious, economic and other aspects of life. Several sets of ideals juggling for space together can be, to say the least, confusing.
One such event was the English Civil War of the 1640’s. On the political front ideas were emerging that arbitrary rule by a non-representative few was not an perfect situation when actions were being taken which could be detrimental to many. Again, it was felt that an already-existing body, Parliament, was better equipped to manage affairs. It could be said that this concept had become an ideal. It was felt, by the way, that there was nothing inconsistent with this ideal working alongside a cooperative monarch.
However, when we create one ideal which affects an important area of life, parallel ideals will emerge to accompany it. Thus in England the ideal of political reform was accompanied in many peoples’ minds by long-standing thoughts of religious reform. Henry VIII and Elizabeth I had evolved a centrally/nationally organised English Church still carrying features of the preceding externally controlled “Roman” Church. There was now a growing feeling among Protestants/Puritans that a more ideal religious system should be more democratic, non-hierarchical, not centrally organised, and not under control of the King. It is interesting we see a merging if both political and religious ideals. It is also worth keeping in mind that many people would favour retaining the religious system and changing the political one. Others would have thought the other way.
The next few years, with evolving ideals and concepts, were a nightmare in retrospect. The King failed to mould his ideals to the prevailing climate, suffering dethronement and execution. The existing Republic failed to become our modern concept of a “Parliamentary Democracy”. The Puritan system of thinking favoured “disintegration” of political authority rather than integration and central control – Democracy if you like but Democracy run riot. Cromwell, proponent of the ideal of Parliamentary Democracy, found it impossible to run the country consistently with a Parliament where every man had a voice – and used it. Cromwell eventually, finding things unworkable, had to sink his ideals and run the country without Parliament. Virtual military dictatorship followed – this is a very important point. In such situations where a chaotic system of ideas/ideals clash firm rule has to be imposed for the general welfare. A break-down in self-discipline leads to the imposition of external discipline. This is not an opinion so much as a statement of historical fact.
One fact I should mention here since it will emerge here in different form is that England was allowed to struggle through its mess without foreign invasion. The nations of Europe were dedicated to the Divine Right of Kings. Parliamentary control was unthinkable. Louis XIV of France was a major follower of the doctrine of Royal Prerogative. Yet he left England alone and seems to have accepted his “brother” Cromwell as England’s Head of State. There was no invasion of England by the massed armies of France, Austria, Spain, Italy etc. to restore the political and religious system. Contrast that with France after its Revolution some 150 years later. One may presume Louis had “other fish to fry” – and the English navy was never far away.
I don’t think it is fully realised how significant the English Civil War was in the history of Europe and indeed of the world. Ideals were evolved, which led to modern systems of Parliamentary Democracy. It certainly led to more examples of “History Repeats Itself”.
Subsequent examples we will look at briefly will include America, Ireland, Russia, with main emphasis on France and Napoleon The theme will be “ideals” – Are they good? Do they work? Can they be made effective? Ideals exist in the mind of man – how successfully can they be translated into reality – and action? A policy is described as “too unrealistic” – How do we correct that?
THOUGHTS INSPIRED BY A BANK FAÇADE
Looking at that photograph of a bank in New Zealand with its Corinthian columns made me think of what Rome was all about.
The fact that the Romans derived that architectural style from Greece and modified it to suit their own concepts is an indication of how ideas flow from one area and period to another. The fact that a couple of thousand years later on another Empire carried the concept some 12,000 miles to its most distant colony gives pause for thought.
It is significant that the building is a bank. In Victorian and Edwardian times banking and finance had a higher and more respected profile than, sadly, they do today. Whether it is the Bank of England in London’s Threadneedle Street or the Bank of New Zealand in Dannevirke, Rome became the obvious model for architectural design. It represented stability, power, achievement, in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Business and commerce produced great architectural monuments in those periods. We only have to look at the commercial centres (those parts which still survive from that era) in Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, Melbourne, and Shanghai, to name but a few.
Is this analogy fair to Rome? Perhaps those elements of classical style in commercial architecture have been hijacked from Rome. Rome had vast sources of wealth, not just in land, but in trade, commerce, and manufacture. And yet the greatest examples of Roman architectural achievement are to be seen today not in commercial establishments but in temples, public baths, buildings where political and legal business were transected, and structures to house mass entertainment. In the Roman system business and commerce were consistently kept “under the carpet”. Land gave status in society and political influence. Business created wealth, but the Equites, the class to which the commercial element belonged, no matter how wealthy they became, could rarely rise to the senatorial class in society and government.
How does this compare with the Victorian attitudes to wealth not derived from land? There are signs that the old barriers were breaking down. The nouveaux-riches might be ridiculed over the upper-class dinner table — but by virtue of their marriage to daughters of the less well-to-do leaders in society, and their capacity to make loans and donations to individuals and political groups, many succeeded in entering “high society”. Dickens makes much of this aspect of life in his works.
How strong is the influence of the traditional “landed gentry” in today’s world, would be hard to answer. Public schools in Britain still influence the ranks of Parliament and the civil service, but such traditional power is much diminished. Even in the “democratic” USA, surprisingly, we still see the influence of both wealth and of the traditional universities in politics. Could any citizen who was not very wealthy ever be elected President of the United States nowadays?
One should not forget to examine the influence of the “learned professions”. Of these the law and the Church emerge as the most obvious seats of influence. In the mediaeval period inEurope the Church, containing the educated members of society, had naturally great influence on lay leaders such as monarchs. Thomas a Becket, Cardinals Wolsey, Richelieu, Mazarin, are but a few examples. Echoes of the same temple/church system are to be found in Sumaria and Egypt with clashes between the religious and civil powers.
This tended to change — perhaps as education became more widespread and less ecclesiastically influenced. Greece and Rome seem to have established lay supremacy in government. InRome it would appear that prominent political figures often became priests, rather than the other way round.
In Britain also education, probably by becoming more widespread, reduced ecclesiastical influence on government. Henry VIII provides an interesting example in his making the monarch head of the ecclesiastical establishment, a solution which many Egyptian Pharaohs and later European monarchs would have been glad to find. (With the notable example of Pharaoh Akenaten, who closed down existing centres of worship, taking over control of religion, and creating a new version of God — Aten — something even Henry Tudor did not get round to!)
The role of the legal profession in government has always been important. An understanding of law and of the Constitution is obviously important in political administration. Knowledge of society and of business has often taken second place. Rome does not seem to have had a distinct “legal class”. Young men aspiring to politics often spent some time in the legal field, as well as in the Army, more as a matter of acquiring experience before entering politics. Perhaps the nearest one can get to a specific legal class in more modern times is the Noblesse de Robe in pre-revolutionary France. Perhaps one reason the Revolution of 1789 lost its momentum was because of the endless constitutional debates in the National Assembly carried out by its large quota of lawyers. Lawyers often played a distinguished part in the British Empire but on an individual basis.
Another pressure group which has played a dominant role in politics throughout history is the Army. But this is a whole topic in itself which we will look at again.