A translation of Roger Ascham’s Apologia pro Caena Dominica and contextual analysis.
This thesis comprises a translation and contextual analysis of a sixteenth century Latin tract entitled Apologia pro Caena Dominica (‘On the Defence of the Lord’s Supper’) written by Roger Ascham. The tract has never been translated and is scarcely referenced in history writing. It is an important work that has major implications for the existing portrayal of Ascham and, more broadly, the development of Protestantism during the Edwardine Reformation. In history, Ascham is recognised mainly for his humanist scholarship and classical pedagogy. He is not known for his theological activities, his anticlericalism or his involvement in the religious conflicts of the Reformation. His Apologia, which was devoted to an attack on the Mass and the priesthood at a critical time in the religious debates about the Eucharist, problematizes this depiction. A close review of the tract reveals a man fully engaged with, experienced in and committed to the cause of Protestant reform. The work also prompts a necessary reappraisal of the relationship between humanism and theology, both of which operated in parallel and harmony in his campaign for doctrinal change. The Apologia, composed in 1547, the first year of Edward VI’s reign, was theologically progressive. Its status as an early manifesto for radical reform helps supplement our understanding of the contested pace and nature of the Reformation at the start of this remarkable reign. Written as a direct response to a series of theological disputations which were held in the University of Cambridge on the issue of the Mass, the Apologia provides new evidence for the vital role the University played in the advancement of religious reform. Protestant in outlook, yet at the same time highly independent in approach and subject to a range of influences, this work is also emblematic of the diversity within early Protestantism.
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