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by Dr.David Starkey
On 1st May the Friends of Shakespeare’s Church once
again hosted a lecture in Holy
Trinity Church by one of the
country’s best known and most
highly regarded television
historians. In 2007 we were
enthralled by Michael Wood
speaking on “India”. This year
David Starkey gave us an
equally absorbing talk on“Church, State and Crown”
during the Tudor period.
Dr.Starkey is an atheist, and, as he told us, in his youth at University, religion was
dismissed with contempt. “The opium of the people” was the approved view. It
is not so now. Religion can be a potent political force, as we all know only too well, with the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism, which he attributes to the fact that in Islam Church and State are not separate. This was also the case in England, pre-Reformation. Dr.Starkey gave a telling illustration, comparing our Queen at the opening of Parliament surrounded by her secular Peers and Commons, with Henry Vlll, who would have been surrounded almost exclusively by Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops and Abbots.
Dr.Starkey went into the causes of the Reformation. We were all taught at school that this was quite simply because Henry wanted a divorce from his Queen, Catherine, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn and have a son. Basically, Dr.Starkey said, this was so, but owing to international political complications the Pope could not grant the divorce.
Therefore it led to the rift with Rome and all that followed. Unusually, this was a revolution which started from the top - the monarch - downwards, rather than from the people, upwards.
It would take too long to cover all the points made, but every detail of Dr.Starkey’s lecture was of great interest, enlivened too with vivid humorous touches.
A question and answer session followed, after which a full audience vigorously applauded another outstanding event for the Friends of Shakespeare’s Church.
Caroline Mosey
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