'Only agreeable to a Custom which prevailed from the Establishment of the Reformation': An 18th century Anglican defence of imagery
many of them, after their having been stripped of their superstitious Ornaments at the Reformation, had never afterwards been Sufficiently repaired: Some through Age or Accidents were fallen to Decay; and others through Negligence, Inattention, or Parsimony, were destitute of all just Elegance, or even any Degree of external Decency. Repeated Complaints of this Kind offended the Piety, and excited the Zeal of Charles I. He was very intent on finishing the Repairs, and in adding to the Magnificence of the Cathedral of his Metropolis; and next to this some other particular Churches, as well as their general State throughout the Kingdom, became Objects of his passionate Concern. Hence in 1630, he published a Proclamation, commanding the Archbishops and Bishops to take Special Care that the Parish Churches in their Several Dioceses, being 'Places consecrated to the Worship of God, be kept in decent Repair; and to make use of the Power of the Ecclesiastical Court to oblige the Parishioners to this Part of their Duty.'
Archbishop Laud, who whilst he was in the See of London, had earnestly recommended all Measures of this Kind, exerted his warmest Efforts, in enforcing the Execution of these Injunctions throughout his Province. And in Virtue of them the Spirit of building, repairing, and adorning Churches, prevailed every where in a very singular and extraordinary Manner. The polite Arts indeed, in Consequence of National Opulence and of Royal Patronage, otherwise flourished, but much more, when thus devoted to the Service of Religion. True Architecture was now fully known and practised, and more particularly the Genius of Inigo Jones was no less employed on religious than civil Edifices.
About this Time Church-Music received great Improvements under the Direction of Lawes; and Painting was indebted to the Pencils of Rubens and Vandyke for a Degree of Perfection she had never before known in England ... some Paintings of Scripture History were at this Time particularly placed at the Back of the Communion Table, though in a Manner only agreeable to a Custom which prevailed from the Establishment of the Reformation. The Art of staining and painting Glass was now much cultivated, and those who professed it, were incorporated by a Royal Charter; and this Art they particularly exercised in decorating some Churches, and more especially in repairing or renewing some Windows which were decayed through Age, or had suffered through Accidents or Violence.
By these and other Means, a great Number of Churches received very considerable Improvements. It is no wise improbable indeed, but that whilst a Spirit of making them prevailed throughout, the whole Kingdom, particular Instances might occur, (according to Complaints which were afterwards made) of injudicious and superstitious Embellishments. However, very few real Instances of this Kind appear to be given; and in general, such a Degree of Elegance was bestowed on some Churches, and Magnificence on others, as was productive of good Effects, and as was becoming Structures dedicated to the Services of Religion
But indeed before all these Works and Designs could be compleated, the Flames of a consuming Civil War burst out with irresistible Violence, and spread an universal Chaos of Confusion.
As is very clear from this account, any notion that the improvements in church architecture and decoration in the Caroline Church equated to a 'Counter-Reformation' is, quite frankly, nonsense. The entire emphasis was upon commending the reformed Church of England. In the words of the King's Proclamation, it was "a great dishonour to our Christian profession, that the consecrated places of Gods worship and Divine Service are no better looked unto".
This was reflected in Laud's concern that both Recusants and converts viewed the worship in parish churches as impoverished and lacking dignity. As Laud stated:
the great motive which wrought upon them to disaffect, or think meanly of the Church of England, was, that the external worship of God was so lost in the Church (as they conceived it), and the churches themselves, and all things in them, suffered to lie in such a base and slovenly fashion in most places of the kingdom. These, and no other considerations, moved me to take such care as I did of it; which was with a single eye, and most free from any Romish superstition in anything.
He also attacked his opponents for thus undermining attempts to restore Recusants and converts to the communion of the Church of England:
As if the externall decent worship of God could not bee upheld in this Kingdome, without bringing in Popery.
What is more, as Laud insisted, this upholding of decent externals in the Church's worship had been "settled either by law of custom" under Elizabeth. As The Ornaments of Churches Considered had previously demonstrated, the Elizabethan Settlement was not iconoclastic, pursuing "a middle Course" when it came to imagery in churches: removing objects of superstition, forbidding veneration, but retaining imagery, particularly stained glass, which proclaimed evangelical truth. The Ornaments of Churches Considered captures this with its insistence that the Caroline approach to churches and images was "only agreeable to a Custom which prevailed from the Establishment of the Reformation". It was, in other words, an attempt to commend and strengthen the appeal of the reformed Church of England of the Elizabethan Settlement.
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