He returned to Oxford ostensibly with the intention of promulgating his newly acquired religious views. It was his opinion that a separation of church and state was desirable, but general acceptance of that idea did not come for more than a century. In one of his earliest writings he remarked,
“As touching the superior powers of the earth, it is well known to all that have read and marked the Scripture that it appertaineth nothing unto their office to make any law to govern the conscience of their subjects in religion.” — Quoted by Philip Schaff in A History of the Christian Church, vol. 6, p. 76.
Hooper came into national prominence about the time of the adoption of the Six Articles. His opposition to that set of regulations, accompanied by his growing Zwinglian bias, soon made him an object of suspicion among the leaders at Oxford, and led to his departure. It is also possible that about this time Sir Thomas Arundel, in whose house Hooper resided, suspected the Refonner’s views and sent him to Dr. Gatdiner, bishop of Winchester, to verify his suspicions. This forced Hooper to leave England.
At this juncture Hooper seems to have gone to Paris. He returned to England, however, before the danger was past, only to go back to the Continent again.
In Zurich, Heinrich Bullinger received him warmly. Other Reformers also welcomed him gladly, for the refugee brotherhood grew rapidly and carried with it an aura of mutual helpfulness. At Strasbourg he met Anne de Tserelas of Antwerp, whom he married in 1546 in Basel. There he made his home and devoted himself to an intensive study of Hebrew and to further indoctrination of Zwinglian beliefs.
The accession of Edward VI in January of 1547 paved the way for Hooper’s return to England, but he did not remain long. He returned to Switzerland to stay two years, all the while associating with the Reformers Bullinger, Bucer, and Laski.
Once again in London, in 1549, his sermons renounced sin, castigated the evils and abuses of the church, and described the reprehensible iniquities prevalent in the world. Frequently he lectured twice a day and filled churches with eager listeners. By this time the Reformation stood on firm
footing, though the country had not fully shaken off papal doctrines and abuses.
It was at this time that he occupied the place of a leader to the Reformers, constantly urging acceptance of the middle ground of Zwingli and Calvin, as opposed to Lutheranism and Catholicism. Apparently he felt that his preaching was effective, for he wrote to Bullinger:
“The Archbishop of Canterbury, the bishops of Rochester, Ely, St. David’s, Lincoln, and Bath, were sincerely bent on advancing the purity of doctrine, agreeing in all things with the Helvetic church.” — Quoted by Thomas McCrie in Life of John Knox, page 336.<LINK>
He now became Protector Somerset’s chaplain and held the same position under Warwick. His views on the eucharist gained him the opportunity of presenting a series of sermons before the king during Lent, and as a result he was offered the bishopric of Gloucester. This he refused because it entailed the wearing of vestments, which he believed synonymous with popery and idolatry, and because the wording of the oath of supremacy did not meet with his approval.
After he spent a few weeks in Fleet prison, followed by some bitter wrangling, a compromise dispensed with Hooper’s wearing the vestments after his consecration. The king had issued a statement permitting
Archbishop Cranmer to ignore the use of vestments altogether in this particular service, but one side was as stubborn as the other: Cranmer refused to consecrate Hooper without the garb, and Hooper was ready to forgo the bishopric rather than accede to wearing the vestments.
Even the opinion of Bucer and Peter Martyr that vestments might be worn without sinning, did not convince Hooper that such apparel had any virtue except to enhance dependence upon popery. Hooper had for his support the opinions of many of the leading ecclesiastics of the time, who favored the dropping out of the church service all ceremonies savoring of the Church of Rome. And with these views the Puritans concurred.
Promptly after his consecration as bishop of Gloucester in 1551, Hooper left for his new post. His reforming zeal covered the entire diocese with its
311 clergymen. Often he preached four sermons a day, and he also outlined a series of lessons for the improvement of his clergy.
When the results proved unsatisfactory, he began a personal inquiry into the educational and theological preparation of these men. He asked
questions relating to the Decalogue, to the Lord’s Prayer, and the apostle’s creed. The following list contains examples of this inquiry:
“How many commandments? Where written? Can you say them by heart? What are the Articles of the Christian faith? Can you repeat them? Can you recite the Lord’s Prayer? How do you know it to be the Lord’s prayer?” — J.J. Blunt, A Sketch of the
Reformation in England, page 161.
The low educational state of the clergy is also indicated by Preserved Smith:
“A reform of the clergy was also undertaken, and was much needed. In 1551 Bishop Hooper found in his diocese of 311 clergymen, 171 could not repeat the Ten Commandments, ten could not say the Lord’s Prayer in English, seven could not tell who was its author, and sixty-two were absentees, chiefly because of pluralities.” — The Age of the Reformation, page 314.
From this year to the time of his death Hooper was a member of the commission whose duty it was to report on canon law.
His elevation to the bishopric of Worcester in 1522 apparently did not raise such a furor as his consecration at Gloucester had done. He continued his strict discipline at Gloucester, and instituted a program of reform at Worcester as well. Constantly he fought against lapses from his ideals and strove to break down opposition, which occasionally led to mild violence.
With Mary’s rise to power in July, 1553, Hooper’s plans were undone.
Less than two months after her reign began he was an inmate of Fleet prison on a vague charge of nonpayment of a debt to the queen. Possibly this charge was intended to bridge the gap until necessary laws against heresy could be passed by Mary’s first Parliament, which was to meet from October 5 to December 6, 1553.
His imprisonment appears harsh and unjust, even for sixteenth-century standards. Hooper described it as follows:
“..having nothing appointed to me for my bed but a little pad of straw and a rotten covering, with a tick and a few feathers therein, the chamber being vile and stinking; until by God’s means, good people sent me bedding to lie in. On the one side of which prison is the sink and filth of the house, and on the other side the town ditch, so that the stench of the house has infected me with sundry diseases.” — John Foxe, Book of Martyrs, page 168.
He was degraded by the bishop of London early in 1554. On March 19 of that year he received a visit from the bishops of Winchester, London, Durham, Chichester, Llandaff, and other men listed collectively as the queen’s commissioners, apparently to tell him that he had been deprived of his bishoprics.
On January 22, 1555, a group of bishops pleaded with him to return to the church and admit the pope’s jurisdiction. He replied that he could not accept papal doctrine so contrary to Scriptures.
A few days later he was subjected to another examination by which his persecutors purposed to gain his recantation. With him at this hearing was John Rogers, who preceded him to the stake.
As the ineffectiveness of this interview became apparent, they were both taken to the Clink, a prison in Southwark, preparatory to their transfer to Newgate, a prison more detestable than the Fleet.
The following day, after still another examination, he was delivered to the secular power to be taken to Gloucester to die among his parishioners, where his assistance to the poor had won him a place of high esteem, in spite of his harsh demeanor.
The night before the execution he said to the officials,
“My request, therefore, to you shall be only that there may be a quick fire, shortly to make an end; and in the meantime, I will be as obedient unto you, as yourselves would wish.” — Quoted by Ruth G. Short in Stories of the Reformation in England and Scotland, page 144.
On February 9, 1555, he was fastened to the stake with an iron hoop.
Though the fire was kindled three times, and though he had three bags of powder on his body to hasten the end, it took three quarters of an hour of agony, in the presence of thousands of people, before he perished.
And what had been his crimes? He had married and refused to relinquish his wife; he did not believe in the bodily presence of Christ in the bread of the Lord’s Supper; he denied the pope’s authority as the head of the church; and he opposed the wearing of the priestly costume.