For "what no one properly to be a called a humanist could adhere to was an Augustinian belief in the total and helpless depravity of fallen man, or to Lutheran
solifidianism, or to a clericalist view by which the priesthood acted as the sole channel of grace, or to a total denial of free enquiry" (G.
And nowe thought necessarye to be sende forth: bycause of these newe fangle persones whiche in dede ben heretykes all though they wyll nat so be called." (17) In response to the heretical texts, with their emphasis on
solifidianism, there was a committed program of publication advocating the traditional devotional life and the role within it of laymen as well as of religious.
When he showed Henry forsaking Catholicism and embracing the
solifidianism central to reformed religion, he markedly strengthened the union of political and spiritual authority with which Hall had credited Henry, which Holinshed had undermined, and which advanced Protestants had denied.