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178 Law & Just. - Christian L. Rev. 37 (2017)
How the Reformation Shaped Ecclesiastical and Secular Law in Great Britain

handle is hein.journals/ljusclr178 and id is 41 raw text is: HOW THE REFORMATION SHAPED ECCLESIASTICAL AND SECULAR LAW IN GREAT BRITAIN FRANK CRANMER Abstract: The Reformation in England unlike in Scotland was primarily about governance rather than theology. Theological change came after the death of Henry VIII. As a consequence, its impact on Anglican church law was only gradual and by the time of the Act of Uniformity the Church of England was an ecclesiastical hybrid, with fairly Catholic liturgy alongside some rather Calvinist doctrinal statements and Western Canon law continued in force unless consciously revoked, so the impact of the Reformation on Anglican church law was not either as profound or as immediate as one might imagine. Moreover because the church courts continued to have both a civil and a quasi-criminal jurisdiction, the canon law had a considerable influence on the development of secular law in both jurisdictions: in England and Wales primarily through the doctrine of equity and the continuation of ecclesiastical jurisdiction over matters that are now dealt with by the secular courts and in Scotland as a primary source of Roman law principles that influenced the development of Scots law. The English and Scots Reformations1 Like the other national Reformations, the English Reformation was not an event but a process and a long-drawn-out one at that. Unlike the Continental or Scottish Reformations, however, the English Reformation was not predominantly about theology but largely about power politics or, if you like, sovereignty. English churchmen were by no means unaware of the theological ferments in Continental Europe 1 This paper was presented at the Kirchenrechtslehrertagung in Halle from 4-6 May 2017, to which I was kindly invited by Prof Dr Hans Michael Heinig. It has been vastly improved by Norman Doe's comments on my draft and by discussions at the conference but any remaining infelicities are mine.

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