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Characters of the Reformation
by  Hilaire Belloc

Review by Raeto West   15 March 2024

CHARACTERS OF THE REFORMATION

Published by Sheed & Ward, established as publishers of Roman Catholic works, in Paternoster Row, London EC4. My copy is a 3rd edition, dated 1937; the first edition was 1936. As usual there's no information on print runs. Traditionally printed—hardback, 342 pages, text only, thick paper, unindexed.

'Nature of the Reformation' is a 25 page introduction, on the 'disastrous implications' of the Religious Revolution and the possibility that Europe may be destroyed. Belloc simply has no idea that the Jewish takeover might have itself been a disaster. Belloc seems to prefer victory of one side or the other, to a draw or stalemate. He gives an example of stalemate as the continued co-existence of Christianity with Islam.
      He states that the German Empire, ruled from Vienna, enjoyed peace compared with other places, from which he selects Scotland, Ireland, and France. It's a puzzle to me that he barely mentions the Thirty Years War, except as preceding the Treaty of Westphalia. He prefers complete wipe-outs, such as 'the success of our civilization against the Albigenses'.

Belloc has 23 character sketches. Belloc gives no special place to Luther, Zwingli, Calvin; or to 'Shakespeare' or Cervantes. Only his selection of central characters, and with no examination of movements or groups. These seem more-or-less identical across official 'historians': a 2007-2008 BBC series of the Tudors has the same content.

CONTENTS:
NATURE OF THE REFORMATION
KING HENRY VIII
CATHERINE OF ARAGON
ANNE BOLEYN
THOMAS CROMWELL [Principal source on the dissolution of the monasteries, and endowments, and how it was done. For no reason I can identify, Wolsey is not one of the 'characters'. Fascinating reading; the process sounds like compulsory purchase with low valuations. Belloc avoids figures; cromwell may have been 'one of the richest men in England'—but there may have been thousands.]
SAINT THOMAS MORE
POPE CLEMENT THE SEVENTH [Medici Pope during Henry's divorce and Acts separating England from the Church. It's impossible that Belloc could judge any pope accurately.]
THOMAS CRANMER
STEPHEN GARDINER
MARY TUDOR
QUEEN ELIZABETH [Here's Belloc at his most acerbic and most Jew-cowardly:]
     

The Elizabethan myth may be stated thus: "In the second half of the sixteenth century England had the good fortune to be governed by a woman of strong will, powerful intelligence and excellent judgment, whose power was supreme. Her people adored her, and produced in her time and largely under her influence the greatest figures in every sphere: Literature, Architecture, Foreign Politics and the rest. She chose her ministers with admirable skill and they served her with corresponding faithfulness. In consequence of all this the Great Queen led the nation through paths of increasing prosperity; it grew wealthier and wealthier as her reign proceeded, more and more powerful abroad, founding colonies and establishing that command of the sea which England has never since lost. In religion she wisely represented the strong Protestantism of her people in hatred of which a few venomous rebels — shamefully allied with foreigners — attacked her reign and even her life. However, she easily triumphed over them all and died full of glory, leaving her name as that of the greatest of the English sovereigns."

There in brief is the "Elizabethan Myth," and a more monstrous scaffolding of poisonous nonsense has never been foisted on posterity. I use the word "poisonous" not at random, not as a mere epithet of abuse, but with a full sense of its accuracy; for this huge falsehood which might be merely absurd in another connection has had, applied to English history, all the effect that a poison has upon a living body. It has interfered with the proper scale of history, it has twisted, altered and denied the most obvious historical truths and has given Englishmen and even the world at large a false view of our past.

[NB "our past" is a Jew construction; I've spoken to Jews talking about "our history" pretending it included Jews in Poland]

[Belloc predicted a new version of history, as he did in his 1920s book The Jews. He was wrong:]
      Some day I suppose a true life of Elizabeth will be written in the English language, but, as I have said, we have not had it yet. There is here a great opportunity for the younger historians, and one of them I think will take it.

Here's Belloc on seamen of England:

It is true that a race of bold seamen arose contemporaneously with that reign, but they were no more remarkable than the captains of other nations in Europe at the same time and they nearly all bore the taint of theft and murder. They were slave-dealers and pirates, secretly supported by the powerful men of the State; Elizabeth could not but feel the shame which their piracies brought upon her in the eyes of her fellow sovereigns, and yet could not avoid taking part in the proceeds of the disgraceful business. For Cecil's principle was to let such men as Hawkins, Drake and the rest rob indiscriminately, to disavow them in public, to apologize for their acts, sometimes even to compensate the victims in part, but to keep the gains of their misdeeds—much the greater part of which went into the pockets of the men who held political power, while the criminal agents themselves were left with no more than a small commission. The only military effort of the reign, that in Holland, was a ridiculous failure; the only effort at colonization was the equally ridiculous failure of Virginia.

MARY STUART
WILLIAM CECIL   [Both Cecils, William and Robert, were the Jews behind the thrones. But Belloc doesn't identify them.]
HENRY IV OF FRANCE
JAMES I OF ENGLAND
FERDINAND II
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS
RICHELIEU
LAUD
OLIVER CROMWELL
RENÉ DESCARTES
BLAISE PASCAL
WILLIAM OF ORANGE [Some fascinating detail, such as the rivers Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt as a 'maritime emporium'; the King of Spain wishing to suppress the disorders of Reformers, as he of course legitimately was entitled to: The money which had been sent for the paying of the troops was held up [from pirates] in the English ports on its way from Spain by ... William Cecil. When Elizabeth was Queen, her commands were overruled by Cecil's, says Belloc.
      There was no battle against William's force ‘because ... James was betrayed. The leader wasJohn Churchill, later Duke of Marlborough ... The Prince of Orange marched on London. ... James was thrown out, and the rich men who had helped William of Orange made him their king. ... the reign of the usurper is now officially known as that of "William and Mary."]
LOUIS XIV

There's some fascination Belloc's mentality. He seems to have no doubts about the existence of and immortality of the soul, while skipping difficult facts such as the effects of age at death. He seems to have no doubt about Papal infallibility, despite obvious difficulties. He sees no problems with a God created in man's image, despite obvious difficulties. He is entirely happy with the division of people into low, medium, and high birth. He is entirely happy with God ordering that thou shalt not kill, and yet 'just war' being accepted by most men.
      One obviously missing facet of human life is the prolonged infancy, about which Belloc says nothing. 'Revealed truth' would appear to be what was told with emphasis just after infants learn language.

But the major omission here is the almost complete failure to mention Jews, despite their overwhelming importance in shaping the narratives, from Messiahs and Angels, to Apostles and Jesus Christ, to Saints and Popes, to the more recent events of Hitler and Stalin to paper money and 'democracy'. The entirety of the Jewish projects of Christianity and Islam is missing. The connections with Jews, such as Calvin's elect (obviously akin to Jews being 'chosen'), are missed. So are events such as the Jewish imposition of breeding with Jews in Portugal. A subsidiary omission is of family connections in Europe, notably the Hapsburgs: Belloc's emphasis on nations submerges the oddity of the networks of families.
      Omission of the huge disaster of the Thirty Years War has been mentioned. War with Spain is also evaded; here's Capt Ward on Shakespeare and the impoverishment of the Anglo-Spanish War. That's if that War in fact happened. In view of the systematic and prolonged lies of Jews, it's easy to imagine much taxation for the War was diverted to other purposes.

Belloc starts from about 1500. This time was roughly the start of the discovery of the New World by whites, an important event clearly shaping the shift from the Med to ocean sea power, the rise of Britain, population shift, and world trade of varying levels of violence. But Belloc only considers Europe and its old bosses.
      Belloc has enough interest in science to feebly mock it, but has no opinion on its importance. In modern times, when science is squarely faced with Jew liars—consider World War II evidence, 'moon landings', medical frauds such as 'AIDS' and COVID, 'carbon neutrality'—it's clear the Jewish ideas of 'truth' still operate fully.
      Belloc is keen on wealthy men. This is before fully-developed stocks & shares & exchanges, and before detailed published accounts. In effect, though he is never clear, 'wealth' means landowning and a cut in its produce, and was liable to dramatic rises and falls. The resulting accounts have an open-mouthed gasping effect plus the impression of endless riches, which conveyed emotion but cannot have been accurate.
      Belloc's social history has learned to talk of 'culture': Roman Catholic and Protestant 'cultures' vie in his writing in a mostly undefined way, though he thinks 'capitalism' is Protestant—a convenient way to sidestep Jewish Kahal and banking money-grabbing.
      It's saddening to find Belloc had no awareness of such things as Jesuits as a Jewish foundation or Roman Catholic-Jewish secret co-operation. Belloc 'never tired of repeating, if England had not gone Christendom would still be united and and all Europe would be Catholic today.' The fact is that Europe was riddled with Jew influence, which Belloc ignores here. There is some trace of evidence-based scepticism; he wonders if Cranmer was burnt, for example, since Foxe is 'quite unreliable'. But shows little awareness of possible poisoning of Henry VIII's children, and other such topics.
      His book The Jews was published about 15 years before ... The Reformation and yet Jews are almost unmentioned (I noticed one reference to 'rich men of the City of London' or something similar). And in the world of the time, Jews had carried out massacres of vast bloodiness, and money manipulations of vast fraudulence. My guess is that Sheed & Ward hampered Belloc, or were hampered themselves, resulting in extreme censorship. This book is what Belloc might have written in 1895 for his history degree. Maybe it was; perhaps it was a hack work written for money.

I had thought of quoting parts of Belloc's book, but since it can be read online I've decided not to take the trouble. Belloc does his best to present a unified view of the Reformation, but doesn't very well conceal his many reticences. But the impact of half-digested ideas on an impressionable mind is saddening.

It's well worth making another point: all this dancing around depends on a weakness of the western mind, which is exploited by Jews, in this case largely based on a Jewish concept, "God". Both sides in this 'Christian' imitation battles were funded and encouraged by Jews. So were marginal new types, including Jesuits, Quakers, Puritans, Lutherans, and the rest. Unlike more extensive massacres, the in-house killings of aristocrats and 'men of God' are rather few in number. Probably the emphasis—in stories, books, and more recently multiple films—is just a distraction. In those days, there were huge massacres (including in south America), but all the focus is on a few aristocratic types, all apparently unable to debate with Jews.
      By contrast, the myth of 'Jesus' only involves Jews, and any tragic deaths are of Jews. And yet gullible people think this is an establishing myth of Europe!
      Arguably, the Reformation was much ado about nothing much. These stories are kept alive by media promotion; look at the number of actors who played Henry VIII, for example. As always, deaths caused by Jews are censored and suppressed; their methods are unmentioned; and all the drama is concentrated on goyim.

Raeto West   15, 20 March 2024