They were led out to execution at the
Smithfield, on July 30, 1540.
To show how ' impartial ' justice was, it was
decreed that three Lutherans, by name of
Barnes, Garret, and Jerome, who had been
convicted of heresy, should suffer with them.
Powell and Barnes were old antagonists, and
Powell had written a pamphlet repudiating
Barnes allegation that Catholics were disloyal.
All six complained that they had had no
trial of any kind.
Three hurdles were requisitioned, and on each
one of them, side by side, and tied together,
were bound a Lutheran and a Catholic, to the
huge amusement of the spectators.
They were dragged to Smithfield, where the
Lutherans were burned alive as heretics.
Powell and his two companions were hung,
and, while still alive, taken down, mutilated,
and disembowelled, then decapitated and
quartered.
Their quarters were distributed among the
gates of the City, and their heads impaled
on London Bridge.
The French Ambassador, writing to his King,
remarked of the incident : " They have quaint
ways of managing things in England; those
who are for the Pope are hanged, and those
who are against him are burnt."
Edward Powell, ' the glory of Oxford ', was
aged 72, when he died that horrible death.
He was beatified in 1886, that is, the Pope
declared him to be in enjoyment of
heavenly bliss, the first step toward official
recognition as a martyr.
I have quoted this long narrative, because, as
I see it, this is a typical example of the kind
of political power struggle that epitomises the
nature of human soceities, from Sumeria up
to the present day. Indeed, there are some
almost exact parallels on the news today,
from several countries, and no doubt, many
others going on in the background, which
don't make the headlines.
If you have the power, like King Henry, then
you can interpret ' the rules ' in whatever
manner you wish.
Edward Powell, with remarkable courage or
rashness, asserted that the authority of the
Church was above that of the King.
But what right had the Church ? He meant,
of course, the Roman Catholic Church, headed
by the Pope in Rome, who bases his authority
upon the Petrine succession. That is, he was
Bishop of Rome, and, as such, successor of
St. Peter, the vicar, or vice-regent, and disciple
of Jesus Christ, who was martyred in Rome
in 67 A.D.
Of course, the Pope's claim to that position
of authority has always been rejected by the
Churches of the Eastern Orthodox rite based
at Byzantium ( Constantinople, now Istanbul.)
So, depending upon your interpretation, the
Pope's authority is also questionable.
And, of course, during Powell's lifetime,
Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, was
challenging the supreme authority of the
Pope, and initiating the Reformation, tearing
Europe apart, and setting up enmities which
still revebrate today, nearly five hundred years
later.
The Pope, of course, made up his own
interpretation of the ' rules ' , marketing and
selling ' indulgences ' ( ' if you pay me cash,
I'll make sure that your sins are forgiven, so
that when you die, you end up in Heaven,
rather than suffering eternal torment ' - a
rather eccentric interpretation of the New
Testament, possibly ? ) so that he could
raise the funds for his pet ego trip, St. Peter's
in Rome.
At the beginning of his reign, King Henry
had married Catherine of Aragon, his brother's
widow. Because of some ecclesiastical dispute
about the validity of such a union, he was
forced to acquire a Papal dispensation.
Nearly twenty years later, when he wanted to
divorce Catherine, the Pope was unwilling to
agree, partly because Rome was in the hands
of Catherine's nephew, Emperor Charles V
Finally Henry overthrew Papal jurisdiction,
allowing his divorce, allowing himself the
revenues and lands of the monasteries and
churches previously dedicated to Rome, and
initiating the English Reformation. A new set
of rules for everyone, and yet another cycle
of re-interpretation of what Christ actually
meant, taught, and stood for, and what it
meant to be ' a Christian ', something which
all the characters in this unsavoury tale
would have insisted that they themselves
were.
Or perhaps you interpret this text rather
differently ?
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