We are looking at some rather uncommon objects.

Their very interest lies indeed in their being objects that have been designed to respond the needs of a very precise - through not small - part of the market of religious objects. But what was common, then? Who were those nonconformists that used very strange, completely unorthodo! liturgical devices? "n #$%& Thomas 'ranmer, who was (rchbishop of 'anterbury under )dward *", edited The Book of Common Prayer that was a try to give to the newly seceded 'hurch of )ngland a liturgy that considered its national character and its legal independence from +ome. This book, along with Tyndale s translation of the Bible, was supposed to bring uniformity of 'hristian rituals in all )ngland, where apparently there wasn t any. When ,enry *""" called the -arliament for the secession from +ome in #$.%, very little changed from the point of view of rituals and how did they were performed. 'ommunion and 'onfession were still at use in a very similar fashion to the 'atholic use and Transubstantiation was still active. /While suppressing the monastic 0rders, ,enry decided to keep both the structure and the leading priests of the 'hurch 1ordained by +ome2. The majority of the bishops meant to avoid dogmatic controversies and they were very reluctant to leave the traditional way to celebrate the 3ass. ( part of them, openly rejected any change and kept a passive attitude to the new primacy. 4o that, in general, a true +eformation did not happened. / 0n the other side of the fence, 5uther s writing were circulating in 0!ford and 'ambridge since the 67s and 5utheran ideas soon entered the 'ourt s milieu. *ery influential characters - as 'ranmer himself - have strong sympathies for )uropean +eformers. But even if the nationalistic ideals of 5uther were highly appreciated, his conclusions were often minimised and limited to the intellectual debate. 0utside the court, however, small sacks of -rotestant refugee, especially from the 8etherlands founded the first -rotestant churches in )ngland and started to preach to growing communities. They were mainly 'alvinists and their ideals attracted many from the middle-low class of the countryside - and in 4cotland. The reign of )lisabeth " directed the 'hurch of )ngland through a more defined 5utheran inspiration. Transubstantiation was no more accepted. ,owever, 4acraments were maintained and also the greater oblation 1or offering2 - though the Body of 'hrist was now found in the Body of the 'ongregates. "t is hard to tell how the population thought about these changes. This would be important to know because in )ngland, more than in other )uropean countries, communities tended to be very small. "n the 'ity of 5ondon, for instance, a population of $7.777 in #$.7 was served by nearly #.777 parishes, all now controlled by the 'athedrals. 'alvinist communities however augmented their

influence, while keeping the distance from the traditional hierarchy. (fter the 'atholic revival of 3ary was over, in #$$&, a new (ct of 9niformity was promulgated by the -arliament, under )lisabeth ". :ames *" enforced the moderate attitude of his predecessor. 8ow that the majority of the bishops had adhered to 5utheranism, the left wing was represented by 'alvinists, known as -uritans, whose influence was great in the commercial class and in the universities. Their goal was to reform the whole )nglish society, starting from the re-organisation of the communities on evangelical principles. They placed the biblical family at the centre of the society and the apostolic 'ommunion as a model for their 'hurch. They truly believed in the +estoration of the primitive 'hurch and in the concrete possibility to obtain perfect societies through the enforcement of the 3osaic 5aw. ,ere, for instance, we see some 'ommunion tokens which identified someone who had attended to all the re;uired activities to receive the )ucharist. 0f course there was a whole system of markers of the moral status of the bearer, as in the case of the ,ester -rynn of ,awthorne. -uritans enjoyed a major role in the )nglish 'ivil War and the destitution of 'harles *". -olitical reasons and religious issues are not clearly separated. 5et s just say that -uritans pushed through a severe morality and a distributed and libertarian management of the social life< while traditionalists rather tended to maintain a hierarchical structure and patronage as a form to control communities. The +estoration of the monarchy after 'romwell s republic meant the end of the -uritan s dream and a harsh repression of any form of free religious association. 'harles "" (ct of 9niformity in #==6 adopted the Book of 'ommon -rayer for the liturgy and prohibited any religious association of more than five people without the consent of the 'hurch of )ngland. (round 6.%77 clergymen left the 'hurch. ( great number of the defeated -uritans fled to the 8ew )ngland and started new colonies. Those who stayed, continued to preach in an unofficial fashion. (fter some attempts to include these groups in the 'hurch of )ngland, the Toleration (ct of #=>& gave them back the freedom of worship< / they could not enjoy public or academical positions until #>#.. 1& .= 2 These objects come precisely from such free communities. (s you can see, no carved image was permitted inside the 'hurch - no music at all - the only furniture admitted being clocks. (s we said before, the reason of the dissent of those people was not doctrinal rather than liturgical. The whole )nglish +eformation can be seen as the history of the changes of its liturgy, therefore of the e!ternal form of the rite. But it is also clear that this e!ternal form mattered to an incredible e!tent, because it shaped the communal life. These object tell us more about the administration of the rites of 'alvinist?-uritan parishes. (s you

may see, the chalice was substituted by large silver cups from which the whole community drank the Blood of 'hrist. 'ompared to the 'atholic and 5utheran functions, the -uritans were much more informal, so to say. The preaching on the Word and the discussion on the needs of the community were not separated. Ban;ueting had a central social role and followed a ritualistic structure as well. This, for instance is a 5ovefeast cup, which was one monthly reunion of the community around the table. This came from "t could have being guided by any member of the 'ongregation and it consisted in food sharing and performing of hymns and praises to @od. "n order not to create confusion with the 5ord s 4upper, the only beverages admitted were water, tea, coffee and lemonade. (nother kind of -uritan ban;uet, still in use today, is Thanksgiving. "n this display, unfortunately, there are no e!amples of probably the most significant object for the life of the communityA i.e. the book. -uritan attitude through writing was defined by an amaBing Beal and level of personal involvement, on one hand< and an e!traordinary C almost obsessive C control on the style and the aesthetic form, on the other. " had the pleasure to handle some of these fantastic diaries at the Dr. William 5ibrary just beside the 'hurch of 'hrist the Eing, near the Warburg. -astor Tim taught me that these were spiritual and personal diaries that anyone in the community was re;uired to keep and to pass to his?her neighbour regularly, so that anyone could know each other s feelings. These were therefore veritable presentations, portrays of each one s selves to the society 1## .# 2.