Peter Martyr Vermigli | |
|---|---|
Pietro Martire Vermigli | |
 Pietro Vermigli (1560)[a] | |
| Born | Piero Mariano Vermigli 8 September 1499 Florence, Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 12 November 1562(1562-11-12) (aged 63) Zürich, Swiss Confederacy |
| Alma mater | University of Padua |
| Ordination | 1525 |
| Theological work | |
| Era | Reformation |
| Tradition or movement | Reformed tradition |
| Notable ideas | Defense of theReformed doctrine of the Eucharist |
Peter Martyr Vermigli[b] (/vɜːrˈmɪɡli/; 8 September 1499 – 12 November 1562) was an Italian-bornReformed theologian. His early work as a reformer inCatholic Italy and his decision to flee forProtestant northern Europe influenced some other Italians to convert and flee as well. In England, he influenced theEdwardian Reformation, including theEucharistic service of the1552Book of Common Prayer. He was considered an authority on the Eucharist among the Reformed churches, and engaged in controversies on the subject by writing treatises. Vermigli'sLoci Communes, a compilation of excerpts from hisbiblical commentaries, became a standard Reformed theological textbook.
Born inFlorence, Vermigli entered areligious order and was appointed to influential posts asabbot andprior. He came in contact with leaders of the Italianspirituali reform movement, and read Protestant theologians such asMartin Bucer andUlrich Zwingli. He came to accept Protestant beliefs aboutsalvation and the Eucharist. To satisfy his conscience and avoid persecution by theRoman Inquisition, he fled Italy for Protestant northern Europe. He ultimately arrived inStrasbourg where he taught on theOld Testament of the Bible under Bucer. English reformerThomas Cranmer invited him to takean influential post atOxford University where he continued to teach the Bible. He also defended his Eucharistic beliefs againstCatholic proponents oftransubstantiation in a public disputation. Vermigli was forced to leave England on the accession of the CatholicQueen Mary. As aMarian exile he returned to Strasbourg and his former teaching position. Vermigli's beliefs regarding the Eucharist andpredestination clashed with those of leadingLutherans in Strasbourg, so he transferred to ReformedZürich where he taught until his death in 1562.
Vermigli's best-known theological contribution was defending theReformed doctrine of the Eucharist against Catholics andLutherans. Contrary to the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, Vermigli did not believe that the bread and wine are changed into Christ's body and blood. He also disagreed with the Lutheran view that Christ's body is ubiquitous and so can bepresent in the Eucharist. Instead, Vermigli taught that Christ remains inHeaven even though he is offered to those who partake of the Eucharist and received by believers.
Vermigli developed a strong doctrine ofpredestination independently ofJohn Calvin. His interpretation was thatGod's will determines election and thereprobation of the non-elect. Vermigli's belief is similar but not identical to Calvin's. Vermigli'spolitical theology was important in theElizabethan religious settlement; he provided theological justification forroyal supremacy, the doctrine that the king of a territory, rather than any ecclesiastical authority, rules the church.
Vermigli was born inFlorence, the centre of theFlorentine Republic, on 8 September 1499 to Stefano di Antonio Vermigli, a wealthy shoemaker, and Maria Fumantina.[3] He was christened Piero Mariano the following day.[5] He was the eldest of three children; his sister Felicita Antonio was born in 1501 and his brother Antonio Lorenzo Romulo was born in 1504.[6] His mother taught himLatin before enrolling him in a school for children ofnoble Florentines.[c] She died in 1511, when Piero was twelve.[7] Vermigli was attracted to theCatholic priesthood from an early age.[8] In 1514 he became anovice at theBadia Fiesolana, a monastery of theCanons Regular of the Lateran.[9] The Lateran Canons were one of several institutions born out of a fifteenth-century religious reform movement. They emphasised strict discipline, and could be transferred from house to house rather than being bound to stability in one place, as was the custom of Benedictine monasticism. They also sought to provide ministry in urban areas.[10] Peter's sister followed him into the monastic life, becoming a nun the same year.[11]
On completing his novitiate in 1518, Vermigli took the name Peter Martyr after the thirteenth-centuryDominican SaintPeter of Verona.[3] The Lateran Congregation had recently decided that promising young ordinands should be sent to the monastery ofSaint John of Verdara inPadua to studyAristotle, so Vermigli was sent there.[12] TheUniversity of Padua, with which Saint John of Verdera was loosely affiliated, was a highly prestigious institution at the time.[13] At Padua, Vermigli received a thorough training inThomisticscholasticism and an appreciation forAugustine andChristian humanism.[14] Vermigli was determined to read Aristotle in his original language despite the lack ofGreek teachers, so he taught himself.[15] He also made the acquaintance of prominent reform-minded theologiansPietro Bembo,Reginald Pole, andMarcantonio Flaminio.[3]
Vermigli wasordained in 1525 and probably received hisDoctor of Divinity around that time.[3] Thechapter-general of the Congregation elected him to the office of public preacher in 1526.[16] His first series of sermons was inBrescia later that year. He then preached for three years, travelling around northern and central Italy.[3] Unlike the practice of other preaching orders which usually only preached atLent andAdvent, the Augustinians preached year-round.[17] He also gave lectures on the Bible as well asHomer in Lateran Congregation houses.[3]
In 1530 Vermigli was appointedvicar of the monastery atSan Giovanni in Monte, Bologna.[3] There he learnedHebrew from a localJewish doctor so he could read the Old Testament scriptures in their original language.[18] Even among those who sought deeper biblical study, it was uncommon for clergy to learn Hebrew, though not unheard of.[19] In 1533 the chapter-general elected Vermigliabbot of the two Lateran monasteries inSpoleto.[d] At this post he was also responsible for twoconvents.[e] The discipline in the monastic houses in Vermigli's care had been lax before his arrival, and they had become a source of scandal in Spoleto. There was also a history of a power struggle between theBishop of Spoleto,Francesco Eroli, and the Spoletan abbacy, to the point that the bishop had excommunicated Vermigli's predecessor, only to be overturned by Rome. Vermigli brought order to his houses and mended the relationship with the bishop.[22]
The chapter general re-elected Vermigli to the Spoletan abbacy in 1534 and again in 1535, but he was not elected to lead any house the following year. He may have been identified as a promising reformer who could help with reform efforts in higher places.[23] Vermigli was in contact with the Catholic leaders working on theConsilium de emendanda ecclesia, an internal report on potential reforms of the Church commissioned byPope Paul III. He may have even travelled to Rome to assist in writing it.[24]
The Congregation elected Vermigli abbot of the monastery atSan Pietro ad Aram, Naples in 1537.[24] There he became acquainted withJuan de Valdés, a leader of thespirituali movement.[25] Valdés introduced Vermigli to the writings of Protestant reformers.[3] Toward the end of his time in Naples, he readMartin Bucer's commentaries on theGospels and thePsalms, andZwingli'sDe vera et falsa religione [de].[26] Reading these works was an act of ecclesiastical defiance, but not an uncommon one in reformist circles. Vermigli seems to have slowly moved in a Protestant direction primarily through the study of the Bible and theChurch Fathers, especially Augustine. He probably read Protestant literature critically; it was common for those in reform-minded circles to do so while remaining in the Catholic Church.[27] Vermigli embraced the Protestant doctrine ofjustification by faith alone during this time, and he had probably rejected the traditionalCatholic view of the sacraments.[28] Vermigli also seems to have influenced Valdés. Scholars believe that Valdés's strong doctrine ofdouble predestination, that God has chosen some people for salvation and others for damnation, was learned from Vermigli. Vermigli in turn had acquired it from his study of eitherGregory of Rimini orThomas Aquinas at Padua.[29]
Vermigli's move away from orthodox Catholic belief became apparent in 1539 when he preached on1 Corinthians 3:9–17, a passage commonly used as proof of the doctrine ofpurgatory.[30] Vermigli did not take this view in his preaching, though he did not openly deny the existence of purgatory.[31]Gaetano da Thiene, an opponent of thespirituali, reported his suspicions of Vermigli to the Spanish viceroy of NaplesDon Pedro de Toledo, who prohibited Vermigli's preaching.[32] The prohibition was removed on Vermigli's appeal toRome, with which he received some help from powerful friends he had made in Padua, such as Cardinals Pole and Bembo.[33] Despite this controversy, Vermigli continued to rise in the Lateran Congregation. He was made one of four visitors by the chapter general in 1540.[3] The visitors assisted therector general by inspecting the Congregation's religious houses.[34]
In 1541 the Congregation elected Vermigli to the important post of prior ofBasilica of San Frediano inLucca.[33][f] The prior at San Frediano exercised someepiscopal authority over half the city, as well as control of the Lateran's religious houses.[35] As at his earlier post in Spoleto, the monks of the San Frediano monastery, as well as the clergy of Lucca, were known for moral laxity, which led to an openness to the new Lutheran religion there.[36] Vermigli saw his task as one of education as well as moral correction.[37] He set up a college based on humanist principles of education and modelled on the newly foundedSt John's College, Cambridge, andCorpus Christi College, Oxford. Instruction was in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.[25] Among the professors were the humanistsImmanuel Tremellius,Paolo Lacizi,Celio Secondo Curione,[3] andGirolamo Zanchi, all of whom would later convert to Protestantism.[38] The Congregation recognised Vermigli's work by appointing him to a disciplinary commission of seven canons in May 1542.[3]
Vermigli was widely respected and very cautious. He was able to continue his reform efforts in Lucca without any suspicion of unorthodox views, despite a papal meeting there withEmperor Charles V in 1541.[39] His eventual downfall was caused by two of his followers, one of whom openly questioned papal authority and another who celebrated a Protestant form of the Eucharist.[3] The reconstitution of theRoman Inquisition in 1542 may have been in part a response to the fear that Lucca and other cities would defect from the Catholic Church.[40] The authorities of theRepublic of Lucca began to fear that their political independence from theHoly Roman Empire was at stake if their city continued to be viewed as a Protestant haven. Bans on Protestant books heretofore ignored were enforced, religious feasts which had been dropped were reinstated, and religious processions were scheduled to assure Rome of Lucca's loyalty.[41]
Vermigli was summoned to a Chapter Extraordinary of the Lateran Congregation, and his friends warned him that he had powerful adversaries. These increasingly foreboding events contributed to his decision to ignore the summons and flee, but he was finally persuaded by his conscience against theMasses he was bound to perform.[42] Vermigli fled Lucca forPisa on 12 August 1542 by horse with three of his canons.[g] There he celebrated a Protestant form of the Eucharist for the first time.[44] When he stopped in Florence, staying in Badia Fiesolana where he had entered religious life, Vermigli learned thatBernardino Ochino had arrived there.[45] Vermigli convinced Ochino, a popular preacher with Protestant leanings, to flee Italy as well.[46] On 25 August Vermigli left forZürich by way ofFerrara andVerona.[47]
Once Vermigli arrived in Zürich he was questioned regarding his theological views by several Protestant leaders includingHeinrich Bullinger,Konrad Pellikan, andRudolph Gualther. They eventually determined that he could be allowed to teach Protestant theology,[48] but there was no position vacant for him to fill there or inBasel, where he went next. In a letter to his former congregation in Lucca, he explained his motives for leaving and also expressed discouragement at not being able to find a post.[49] Basler humanistBonifacius Amerbach assisted him with money, and reformerOswald Myconius recommended him to Martin Bucer inStrasbourg, with whose writings Vermigli was already familiar.[50] Vermigli moved to Strasbourg and became a close personal friend and ally of Bucer,[51] who granted him the chair of Old Testament at theSenior School, succeedingWolfgang Capito.[52] He began by lecturing on theminor prophets, followed byLamentations,Genesis,Exodus, andLeviticus.[53][h] Vermigli was delighted to be able to teach from the original-language text of the Old Testament, as many of his students could read Hebrew.[55] He was well-liked by his students and fellow scholars.[56] Vermigli was known for precision, simplicity, and clarity of speech in contrast to Bucer's propensity for digressions which sometimes left his students lost.[57]
Two of Vermigli's former colleagues in Lucca—Lacizi and Tremellius—would join him in Strasbourg.[58] In 1544 he was electedcanon ofSt. Thomas Church, Strasbourg.[59] In 1545 Vermigli married his first wife,Catherine Dammartin, a former nun fromMetz.[3] Catherine knew no Italian, and Peter very little German, so it is assumed that they conversed in Latin.[60]
Edward VI acceded to the English throne in 1547, and the Protestant reformers there hoped to take the opportunity to more thoroughly reform theChurch of England. ArchbishopThomas Cranmer invited Vermigli and Ochino to assist in the effort.[61] In addition, the victory of the Catholic EmperorCharles V in theSchmalkaldic War and the resultingAugsburg Interim led to a hostile environment for Protestants in Germany.[62] Vermigli accepted the invitation in November and sailed with Ochino to England.[61] In 1548, he replacedRichard Smyth, becoming the secondRegius Professor of Divinity atOxford.[62] This was a very influential post at a university which had been slow to accept reform.[63]
On arriving in Oxford, Vermigli began lecturing on1 Corinthians,[63] denouncing Catholic doctrines of purgatory,clerical celibacy, andlenten fasting. He then spoke against theCatholic doctrine of the Eucharist, the most sensitive area of disagreement between Protestants and Catholics in England at the time.[64] Conservative faculty, led by Smyth, challenged Vermigli to defend his views in a formaldisputation. Smyth fled toSt Andrews and finally toLeuven before the disputation could be held,[3] so three Catholic divines,William Tresham,William Chedsey andMorgan Phillips, stepped forward to take his place.[65] The disputation was held in 1549 beforeRichard Cox, theUniversity Chancellor and a firm Protestant.[66] It focused on the doctrine oftransubstantiation, with Vermigli's opponents arguing for it and him against.[67] Chancellor Cox made it obvious that he considered Vermigli to have the better argument, but did not formally declare a winner.[67] The disputation put Vermigli at the forefront of debates over the nature of the Eucharist.[65]
In 1549, a series of uprisings known as thePrayer Book Rebellion forced Vermigli to leave Oxford and take up residence atLambeth Palace with Cranmer. The rebellion involved conservative opposition to avernacular liturgy, which was imposed with theBook of Common Prayer atPentecost in 1549.[68] Rioters in the streets of Oxford threatened Vermigli with death.[69] At Lambeth, Vermigli assisted Cranmer by helping write sermons against the rebellion.[70] After some time he returned to Oxford, where he was made first canon ofChrist Church in January 1551.[71] Vermigli, the firstmarried priest at Oxford, caused controversy by bringing his wife into his rooms overlookingFish Street at theGreat Quadrangle.[72] His windows were smashed several times until he moved to a location in the cloisters, where he built a fortified stone study.[73]
Vermigli became deeply involved in English church politics. In 1550, he and Martin Bucer provided recommendations to Cranmer for additional changes to theBook of Common Prayer's Eucharistic liturgy.[3] Vermigli supported the church's position in thevestarian controversy, over whether bishopJohn Hooper should be forced to wear asurplice. Vermigli agreed with Hooper's desire to rid the church of elaborate garments, but he did not believe they were strictly prohibited. He advised Hooper to respect the authority of his superiors.[74] Vermigli was probably instrumental in convincing Hooper to drop his opposition in February 1551. In October 1551 he participated in a commission to rewrite thecanon law of England. In the Winter he assisted in the writing of a draft set of such laws, which was published byJohn Foxe asReformatio legum ecclesiasticarum in 1552.[3]
King Edward died in 1553, followed by the accession ofMary I of England, who opposed the Protestant reformers. Vermigli was placed under house arrest for six months,[3] and hisCatholic opponents at Oxford would likely have had him executed, as Cranmer eventually was in 1556. Despite this risk, he agreed to a public disputation with Cranmer against the new Catholic establishment, but this never came to fruition because Cranmer was imprisoned.[75] Vermigli was able to receive permission from thePrivy Council to leave England, and was advised by Cranmer to do so.[3]
Vermigli's wife, Catherine, had become well known in Oxford for her piety and ministry to expectant mothers. She also enjoyed carving faces into plum stones.[76] She had died childless in the February before Vermigli left. Soon after Vermigli's departure,Cardinal Pole had her body disinterred and thrown on a dungheap. Following the accession of the Protestant QueenElizabeth in 1558, she was re-interred with the relics ofSaint Frithuswith (Frideswide) inChrist Church Cathedral, Oxford.[69]
Vermigli arrived in Strasbourg in October 1553, where he was restored to his position at the Senior School and began lecturing onJudges as well as Aristotle'sNicomachean Ethics.[77] Vermigli often gathered with otherMarian exiles for study and prayer in his home.[78] His lectures on Judges often addressed the political issues relevant for the exiles, such as theright to resist a tyrant.[3] Since Vermigli's departure and the death of Bucer in 1551, Lutheranism had gained influence in Strasbourg under the leadership ofJohann Marbach. Vermigli had been asked to sign both theAugsburg Confession and theWittenberg Concord as a condition of being reinstalled as professor.[79] He was willing to sign the Augsburg Confession, but not the Concordat, which affirmed a bodily presence of Christ in the Eucharist.[3] He was retained and reappointed anyway, but controversy over the Eucharist, as well as Vermigli's strong doctrine of double predestination, continued with the Lutherans. Another professor in Strasbourg, Girolamo Zanchi, who had converted to Protestantism while under Vermigli in Lucca, shared Vermigli's convictions regarding the Eucharist and predestination. Zanchi and Vermigli became friends and allies.[80] Vermigli's increasing alienation from the Lutheran establishment led him in 1556 to accept an offer from Heinrich Bullinger to teach at theCarolinum school in Zürich.John Jewel, a fellow Marian exile, came along with him.[80]
In Zürich, Vermigli succeeded Konrad Pellikan as the chair of Hebrew, a position he would hold until his death.[81] He married his second wife, Catarina Merenda of Brescia, Italy, in 1559.[82] Vermigli was able to share his teaching duties with fellow HebraistTheodor Bibliander, allowing him time to study and prepare the notes from his previous lectures for publication. He began lecturing on the books ofSamuel andKings.[83] While in Zürich, Vermigli declined invitations to desirable positions in Geneva,Heidelberg, and England.[82]
Vermigli's Eucharistic views were accepted in Zürich, but he ran into controversy over his doctrine of double predestination. Similarly toJohn Calvin, Vermigli believed that in some way God wills the damnation of those not chosen for salvation. Vermigli attempted to avoid confrontation over the issue, but Bibliander began to openly attack him in 1557, at one point allegedly challenging him to a duel with a double-edged axe.[84][i] Bibliander held theErasmian view that God only predestines that those who believe in him will be saved, not the salvation of any individual.[86] Reformed theologians during this time held a variety of beliefs about predestination, and Bullinger's position is ambiguous, but they agreed that God sovereignly andunconditionally chooses whom to save. They believed salvation is not based on any characteristic of a person, includingtheir faith.[87] Bullinger and the Zürich church did not necessarily agree with Vermigli's double predestinarian view, but Bibliander's view was deemed unallowable. He was dismissed in 1560, in part to assure other Reformed churches of the Zürich church's orthodoxy.[88] Vermigli was involved in predestinarian controversy again when Zanchi, who had remained in Strasbourg when Vermigli left for Zürich, was accused of heretical teachings on the Eucharist and predestination by the Lutheran Johann Marbach. Vermigli was selected to write the official judgement of the Zürich church on the matter in a statement signed by Bullinger and other leaders in December 1561. His affirmation of a strong doctrine of predestination represented the opinion of the Zürich church as a whole.[89]
Vermigli attended the abortiveColloquy at Poissy in the summer of 1561 withTheodore Beza, a conference held in France with the intention of reconciling Catholics and Protestants. He was able to converse withqueen mother of FranceCatherine de'Medici in her native Italian.[82] He contributed a speech on the Eucharist, arguing thatJesus' words "this is my body" at theLast Supper were figurative rather than literal.[90] Vermigli's health was already declining when he succumbed to an epidemicfever in 1562. He died on 12 November 1562 in his Zürich home, attended by the physicianConrad Gesner. He was buried in theGrossmünster cathedral, where his successorJosias Simler gave a funeral oration, which was published and is an important source for Vermigli's later biographies. Vermigli had two children by his second wife, Caterina, while he was alive, but they did not survive infancy. Four months after his death she had their third child, Maria.[91][j]
Vermigli is best known for theLoci Communes (Latin for "commonplaces"), a collection of topical discussions scattered throughout his biblical commentaries.[92] TheLoci Communes was compiled byHuguenot ministerRobert Masson and first published in 1576, fourteen years after Vermigli's death.[93] Vermigli had apparently expressed a desire to have such a book published,[94] and it was urged along by the suggestion of Theodore Beza.[95] Masson followed the pattern of John Calvin'sInstitutes of the Christian Religion to organise it.[94] Fifteen editions of theLoci Communes between 1576 and 1656 spread Vermigli's influence among Reformed Protestants.[96]Anthony Marten translated theLoci Communes into English in 1583, adding to it considerably.[97]
Vermigli published commentaries on I Corinthians (1551), Romans (1558), and Judges (1561) during his lifetime.[98] He was criticised by his colleagues in Strasbourg for withholding his lectures on books of the Bible for years rather than sending them to be published. Calling his lecture notes on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and the Minor Prophets "brief and hasty annotations", he found it difficult to find time to prepare them for publication. His colleagues edited and published some of his remaining works on the Bible after his death: prayers on the Psalms (1564) and commentaries on Kings (1566), Genesis (1569), and Lamentations (1629).[99] Vermigli followed the humanist emphasis on seeking the original meaning of scripture, as opposed to the often fanciful and arbitrary allegorical readings of the medieval exegetical tradition.[100] He occasionally adopted an allegorical reading to interpret the Old Testament as having to do with Christtypologically,[101] but he did not utilise thequadriga method of medieval biblical interpretation, where each passage has four levels of meaning. Vermigli's command of Hebrew, as well as his knowledge ofrabbinic literature, surpassed that of most of his contemporaries, including Calvin, Luther, and Zwingli.[102]
Vermigli published an account of his disputation with Oxford Catholics over the Eucharist in 1549, along with a treatise further explaining his position.[103] The disputation largely dealt with the doctrine of transubstantiation, which Vermigli strongly opposed, but the treatise was able to put forward Vermigli's own Eucharistic theology.[104] Vermigli's Eucharistic views, as expressed in the disputation and treatise, were influential in the changes to theBook of Common Prayer of 1552.[105] Vermigli weighed in again on the Eucharistic controversy in England in 1559. HisDefense Against Gardiner was in reply toStephen Gardiner's 1552 and 1554Confutatio Cavillationum, itself a reply to the late Thomas Cranmer's work. At 821folio pages, it was the longest work on the subject published during the Reformation period.[106]
Vermigli's Eucharistic polemical writing was initially directed against Catholics, but beginning in 1557 he began to involve himself in debates with Lutherans. Many Lutherans during this time argued that Christ's body and blood were physically present in the Eucharist because they areubiquitous, or everywhere. In 1561,Johannes Brenz published a work defending such a view, and Vermigli's friends convinced him to write a response.[107] The result, theDialogue on the Two Natures in Christ, was written in the form of adialogue between Orothetes ("Boundary Setter"), a defender of the Reformed doctrine that Christ's body is physically located in Heaven, and Pantachus ("Everywhere"), whose speeches are largely taken directly from Brenz's work.[108] Brenz published a response in 1562, to which Vermigli began to prepare a rebuttal, but he died before he was able to complete it.[109]
Vermigli was primarily a teacher of scripture rather than a systematic theologian, but his lasting influence is mostly associated with his doctrine of the Eucharist. This can be explained by the close relationship he saw between the exegesis of scripture and theological reflection.[110] Vermigli's method of biblical commentary, similar to that of Martin Bucer, was to include extended discussions of doctrinal topics treated by the biblical texts.[111] Like other Protestants, he believedscripture alone held supreme authority in establishing truth.[112] Nevertheless, he was familiar with the church fathers to a higher degree than many of his contemporaries, and he constantly referred to them.[113] He saw value in the fathers because they had discovered insights into the scriptures that he might not have found,[114] and because many of his Catholic opponents placed great weight on arguments from patristic authority.[115] Often, though, he used the fathers as support for interpretations he had already reached on his own and was not concerned when his interpretation had no patristic precedent.[116]
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Vermigli is best known for his polemics against the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation and for the Reformed doctrine of "sacramental presence".[117] He argued that transubstantiation, the belief that the substance of bread and wine are changed into Christ's body and blood, was not based on any argument from scripture. He also argued on the basis ofChalcedonian Christology, that because Christ retained his divine nature when hebecame man (the divine nature was added to the human nature rather than his human nature being made divine), the substance of the bread and wine remain the same rather than being changed into the substance of Christ's body and blood.[118] Finally, he used the analogy of the believer'sunion with Christ against the idea of transubstantiation. Because believers retain their human nature even though God has joined them with Christ, it follows that the Eucharistic elements do not need to be transformed to be Christ's body.[119] Instead of the substance of the elements changing into Christ's flesh, Vermigli emphasised the action of the sacrament as an instrument through which Christ is offered to the partaker.[120] He also disagreed with theAnabaptist belief that the Eucharist is simply symbolic or figurative, a view calledmemorialism or tropism.[121]
Vermigli did not see predestination as central to his theological system, but it became associated with him because of controversies in which he became entangled.[122] Vermigli developed his doctrine independently of John Calvin, and before Calvin published it in his 1559Institutes of the Christian Religion.[123] Vermigli saw God as sovereign over every event, and believed that all things, including evil, were used by him to accomplish his will.[124] Nevertheless, Vermigli did not hold that humans are compelled to good or evil actions.[125] Vermigli held that God had chosen some people for salvation on the basis ofgrace or unmerited favour alone, with no consideration for any good or evil characteristics, a view referred to as "unconditional election".[126] Vermigli also believed that God passed over thereprobate, those who were not elected to salvation. He saw this as included in the will of God, but different in character from the decision to choose the elect for salvation. Because all people have fallen into sin, the reprobating will of God treats them as by nature fallen and deserving of damnation.[127] Vermigli's formulation of reprobation as within God's decree while distinct from his saving election was slightly different from Calvin's. Calvin saw predestination to salvation and reprobation as two sides of a single decree. Vermigli's doctrine was to prove more influential in the Reformed confessions.[128] In his early formulation of predestination (ca. 1543–1544), Vermigli drew heavily on Aquinas'sSumma theologiae.[129]
Vermigli's biblical writings frequently address political matters.[130] He followed the Aristotelian view that political authority is instituted to promotevirtue, and that this includes religion as the chief virtue.[131] Vermigli defended the standard English Protestant doctrine ofRoyal Supremacy, that kings, so long as they obey God, have the right to rule the church in their land, while Christ is the only head of theuniversal church.[132] He denied the idea that the pope or any other ecclesiastical authority could exercise authority over a civil ruler such as the king, an important issue at the time given the conflicts betweenPope Clement VII andHenry VIII at the beginning of the English Reformation.[133] While Vermigli charged the civil magistrate with enforcing religious duties, he followed Augustine's distinction in theCity of God between the spiritual sphere (in Vermigli's words the "inward motions of the mind") and the "outward discipline" of society. The civil magistrate's authority is only on external matters rather than inward and spiritual religious devotion.[134] Vermigli's theological justification for Royal Supremacy was used by the framers of the 1559Elizabethan Settlement, the imposition of Protestant worship based on theBook of Common Prayer as the state religion.[135]
Vermigli's leadership in Lucca left it arguably the most thoroughly Protestant city in Italy. The Inquisition led many of these Protestants to flee, creating a significant population of Protestant refugees in Geneva. Several important leaders in the Reformation can also be tied to Vermigli's work in Lucca, including Girolamo Zanchi and Bernardino Ochino.[136]
Scholars have increasingly recognised the importance of figures other than John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli in the early formation of the Reformed tradition.Richard Muller, a chief authority on the development of this movement, has argued that Vermigli,Wolfgang Musculus, and Heinrich Bullinger were as influential if not more influential than Calvin on the development of Reformed theology in the sixteenth century.[137] Vermigli was a transitional figure between the Reformation period and the period known asReformed orthodoxy. In the Reformed orthodox period, the theology first articulated by Reformation figures was codified and systematised. Theologians increasingly resorted to the methods ofscholastic theology and the tradition of Aristotelianism.[138] Vermigli was the first of the Reformed scholastic theologians, and he influenced later scholastics Theodore Beza and Girolamo Zanchi.[139]
Vermigli had a profound influence on the English Reformation through his relationship with Thomas Cranmer. Before his contact with Vermigli, Cranmer held Lutheran Eucharistic views. Vermigli seems to have convinced Cranmer to adopt a Reformed view, which changed the course of the English Reformation since Cranmer was primarily responsible for revisions to the Book of Common Prayer and writing theForty-two Articles.[140] Vermigli had a direct role in the modifications of theBook of Common Prayer of 1552.[141] He is also believed to have contributed to, if not written, the article on predestination found in the Forty-two Articles of Religion of 1553.[142] In Elizabethan Oxford and Cambridge, Vermigli's theology was arguably more influential than that of Calvin.[143] His political theology in particular shaped the Elizabethan religious settlement and his authority was constantly invoked in the controversies of this period.[143]
Various of Vermigli's writings were printed about 110 times between 1550 and 1650.[144] The 1562Loci Communes became a standard textbook in Reformed theological education.[145] He was popular especially with English readers of theology in the seventeenth century.John Milton probably consulted his commentary on Genesis when writingParadise Lost.[146] The English edition of theLoci Communes was brought to theMassachusetts Bay Colony where it was an important textbook atHarvard College.[147] More of Vermigli's works were found in the libraries of seventeenth-centuryHarvard divinity students than those of Calvin. Vermigli's works were highly regarded byNew England Puritan theologians such asJohn Cotton andCotton Mather.[146]
Florence brought him forth, Now he wanders as a foreigner and pilgrim
That he might forever be a citizen among those above.
This is his likeness; the writings conceal his mind;
Integrity and piety cannot be represented by art.
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| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford 1548–1554 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of Hebrew at theCarolinum, Zürich 1556–1562 | Succeeded by |
| Religious titles | ||
| Preceded by Tommaso da Piacenza | Prior ofSan Frediano, Lucca 1541–1542 | Succeeded by Francesco da Pavia |
| Preceded by | Canon ofChrist Church Cathedral, FirstPrebend 1550–1553 | Succeeded by |
