Welsh Recusants and Their Struggle to Return Wales to the Old Faith

The mid to late 16^th century had forced many changes to religion in Wales. The dissolution of the monasteries and the break from Rome, together with the creation of the Church of England, which had been a cornerstone of the reign of Henry VIII (1509-53), had brought chaos and calamity to religious life in Wales. The Catholic Church and her teachings had literally been ripped from the fabric of life in Henry's era. The reign of Elizabeth (1558-1603) was to create perhaps the most prolific impact on religion in the history of Wales to that date. After the slight revival of a return to the Catholic practices and papacy during the reign of Mary (1553-8), Elizabeth once again brought Catholicism to its knees, but in doing so saw rise to more dissention and disruption than possibly all the monarchs who ruled before her. Elizabeth's devotion to the faith of her father Henry the 8^th was a testament to the memory of the man, but was to give rise to the greatest religious changes perhaps seen. The seeming disregard of the Catholic faith and its followers was to cause much pain and suffering amongst the people and clergy. But it was in this darkest of times that the true convictions of the faithful came to light and brought such great changes to the ecclesiastical mesh of the Welsh People.

From the start of the reformation, Wales and her people did not seem overly concerned by Henry 8^th decision to break with Rome. They greeted the religious upheaval with neither hatred nor a love, but rather a practiced indifference. However, through the reigns of Henry and Elizabeth, the seeds of opposition had begun to take root in the Welsh psyche. Henry, whom seemed to dislike any language other than his native tongue, in signing the Act of 1535, decreed the Welsh language "nothing like ne consonants to the natural mother-tongue used in this realm". The King duly noted that for a Welshman to ascend to heaven, he needed to come around to the idea that his worship, even his prayer, needed to be expressed in English, or he would be never reach the to the auspices of being one with the Maker.

Everything the Welsh held dear in this time were taken from them, the vestments and relics of their religion, their language, their methodology of worship, all were removed during the dissolution of the monasteries (1536-40). The loss of the monasteries and the sustenance that helped the Welsh poor to survive; the giving of food and medicinal herbs to keep the body whole, as well as the sustenance of the spiritual soul was devastating, not only to the economic well-being of the populace, but to the very heart of the Welsh nationalistic veracity. These calamities forced the Welsh to rethink their attitudes toward the monarchs of the era.

While Henry's reign saw the end of the monasteries, the reign of Mary was most welcomed in Wales. She remained faithful to the Catholic teachings of her mother, Catherine of Aragon, although she did not return the country to its pre-Reformation status. She had a desire to the head of the Roman Catholic Church, but perhaps this could be explained as simply following in the footsteps of her father and his desire to be a 'supreme head ' of a church. She did not restore the monasteries, but she did not persecute Catholics either. While the Reformation and recusancy was perhaps better known for the fate of Catholicism and Catholics, it could be said that Mary brought forth a new chapter for dissent among those who embraced the reforms of her father. She decreed that the Protestant clergy must convert. Many balked at the declaration and this no doubt enraged the queen. She did not back down and instead she saved her harangue for the Protestants clergy, who would not renounce their Protestant faith and revert to Catholicism. 'Bloody Mary' put many of those who refused to renounce to death, somewhere between 250-300 persons lost their lives. Three prominent Welshmen, William Nichols of Haverfordwest, Rowland White of Cardiff and Robert Ferrar of Carmarthen met this fate.

By the time Elizabeth came to the throne, the religious confusion and change may have led to the people of Wales giving up any hope of normality in the spiritual area. Elizabeth, in the early years of her reign, seemed to have no problem with closeted Catholicism, provided it was hidden from view. The bible was translated into Welsh in this time, but as this was done to counterbalance the use of English in the courts, it would be difficult to assume this could be seen as anything but a meager morsel to try and ease the unrest of the Welsh people. As her reign went on, the persecution of Catholic became more pronounced. However, it was within her time on the throne that the recusants made their presence truly known and evoked some major changes in the views of spirituality held by the Welsh. There were concerted efforts to by staunch Catholics in Wales to keep the faith alive, giving shelter to priests and struggling to conduct Mass and the other ecrudements of Catholic life, while protecting their families and their way of life, most likely protecting their lands and wealth, for the penalties and fines were harsh for those who caught. The Test act of 1563 excluded Catholics from the government, adding yet another blow to the beleaguered movement.

Welsh families such as the Kemeyes of Cefnmabli, the Turbervilles of Pen-llin and the Carnes of Ewenni were but a few of many families of prominence that struggled to keep their faith as they saw fit. While these families were trying to keep the faith going, there were many factors conspiring against them. Fines, levies and the like all took a toll on the people. However, salvation, or at least a countering of the laws came in 1580 when the Jesuits came into Wales. They arrived from a seminary that was established by William Allen and notables such as Edmund Campion and Robert Parsons, who led the faithful in a purpose that was 'spiritual rather than treasonable', led Morgan Philips at Douai in France and these clerics. As hard as they tried, the effects of the monarchy to rein them in was succeeding, and by the end of Elizabeth's reign there were only about 800 declared Catholics in Wales.

As Wales came into the reign of James I, there were some events, which may have given the recusants a bit of hope that their movement could be gaining a foothold. In 1650, there was an attempt by the Puritans to restructure education and the Welsh church. However, this was unsuccessful and this most likely continued to fuel the anti-Catholic fever that not only was sweeping Wales, but also in England. An example of the hysteria that was beginning to cause panic among non-Catholics was the Great Fire in London in 1666. Speculation was running rampant that for some reason Catholics were some way, partly if not wholly responsible for the devastation in the aftermath of the disaster. It seems that the biggest blow to the movement undoubtedly came in 1679, three years after Charles II decreed that the death penalty should not be evoked for religious 'offences'. Fathers John Lloyd of Avergavenny and Philip Evans of Monmouth, were tortured and killed for the alleged crime of treason against the crown.

The deaths of the Fathers (who were later made saints) may have sounded the beginning of the end of the recusany movement in Wales, but perhaps strengthened the resolves of the truly faithful to remain strong. This led to the start of migration to the New World in the early 1680s, and to James II trying to reinstate Catholicism as the state religion. While persecution was still happening up to 1735, it was perhaps this very intolerance that led the recusant movement to spawn what undoubtedly became the most significant piece in the history of the Welsh movement; the start of the Non-Conformist movement. The seeds of Methodism began to be felt throughout the principality and was followed by others, and this is perhaps the greatest legacy the recusants left us. Catholicism was never to see a return to prominence, but years of abuse and intolerance had led to a break with the Church that Henry had created and began to give Welsh a say in their religious life, to worship as they chose, not as they were ordered to do.

The recusants themselves were not successful in returning Wales to the Old Faith, to the arms of Catholicism and Rome. But through the persecution and suffering of more than a century, the recusants fostered a strong devotion to the faith of their forefathers. They practiced their faith in secret. Some were martyred for their conviction and commitment to their belief in freedom to choose to practice faith as they saw fit. In essence, they may have viewed Henry's creation of the Church of England for his own benefit as sacrilegious and blasphemous, and choose the role of recusant as the only way to be assured of a safe passage in heaven, rather than be drawn into a religion founded as a way to cater to the whim of a pompous and overbearing monarch. Whatever the reasoning, and no matter that Catholicism did not rise to its former glory; the recusants succeeded in giving Wales alternatives of worship and faith.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

Castledon, Rodney, The Little Book of Kings and Queens of Britain, Bath, Paragon, 1999

Edwards, Owen, A Short History of Wales, London, T. Fisher Unwin Ltd, 1922

Graham, Gerald S., A Concise History of the British Empire, Norwich, Jarold and Sons Ltd, 1970

Haigh, Christopher (Ed), The English Reformation Revisited, Cambridge, Cambridge Univeristy Press, 1987

Jones, Gwynfor, Government, Religious Change and the Social Order 1534-1603, Cardiff, University of Wales Press, 1989

Jones, Norman, The English Reformation: Religion and Cultural Adaptation, USA, Blackwell Publishers, 2002

MacCulloch, Diarmaid, The Later Reformation in England 1547-1603, London, Macmillan Press, 1990

Neale, J.E., Queen Elizabeth I, London, Cox and Wyman Ltd, 1971

Thomas, W.S.K., Tudor Wales 1485-1603, Llandysul, Gomer Press, 1903

Williams, Glanmor, History of Vales Vol 3, Recovery, Reorientation and Reform, Oxford, Claredon Press, 1987

Harmswoth History of the World, Volume 6 (No title page in Book)

The Story of the British People in Pictures, London, Odhams Press Litmited (No date was found in this book)

WEBSITES

1. 'The Reformation and Persecution' http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/1719/cathcardiff.html (15/3/03)
2. A short History of the Catholic Church at Llandudno' http://www.catholic-forum.com/churchsites/serenymor/history.html (15/8/03)
3. MacCaffrey, Rev. James, S.J (1914), 'The History of the Catholic Church' (2001) http://catholicity.elcore.net/MacCaffrey/HCCRFR_TOC.html (15/3/03)
4. Gee, Harvey and Hardy, William John; 'The Act Against Recusants (1593)', Documents Illustrative of English Church History, (2001) http://history.hanover.edu/texts/ENGreft/er87.htm (15/3/03)

JOURNALS

Fleming, Peter, 'Revisiting the English/Reformation', Primary History, Spring 2002, pp. 12-14, 2002