View of a Seditious Bull

John Jewel's "A View of a Seditious Bull" responds directly to Pope Pius V's papal bull "Regnans in Excelsis" (1570), which excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I and declared her subjects released from their allegiance to the English crown. Writing as Bishop of Salisbury and one of the Church of England's foremost apologists, Jewel crafted this treatise to defend both the legitimacy of Elizabeth's reign and the theological foundations of Anglican independence from papal authority.

Jewel systematically dismantles the pope's claims to temporal power over English sovereignty, arguing that the papal bull represents an illegitimate intrusion into civil governance that contradicts both Scripture and early church practice. He demonstrates through patristic sources and biblical exegesis that the bishop of Rome possesses no divinely granted authority to depose monarchs or release subjects from political obedience. The work meticulously examines the historical development of papal claims to supremacy, showing how they departed from primitive Christian governance. Jewel particularly emphasizes that true Christian obedience requires submission to lawfully constituted civil authority, and that the pope's attempt to override this represents not spiritual leadership but political sedition disguised as religious duty.

The treatise became a cornerstone text in Anglican apologetics, providing theological and historical ammunition for subsequent generations defending the Church of England's independence. Its careful scholarship and measured tone helped establish the intellectual credibility of Anglican positions against Roman Catholic critics during the crucial decades following the Elizabethan Settlement.

This work serves readers interested in the theological foundations of Anglican ecclesiology and the historical development of church-state relations in Reformation England. Those seeking to understand how early Anglicans defended their break from Rome through patristic scholarship rather than mere political expedience will find Jewel's arguments particularly illuminating, though readers unfamiliar with sixteenth-century controversies may need additional historical context to appreciate the work's specific polemical targets.