Did Henry VII hate the Easter Bunny with a passion?

Easter Bunnies or Hares are a German affair. They’re first mentioned in a 1572 book as such:

“Do not worry if the Hare escapes you; should you miss his eggs, then we shall cook the nest."

It was in a cemetery in Worms, Germany, that the oldest known decorated eggs were found. Two colored eggs with decorated scratches were found in a 4th century grave of a young girl.

Many credit German Lutherans with that advent of "Easter Hare" - and indeed the idea of an egg-giving hare was brought to the U.S. in the 18th century by Protestant German immigrants who settled the Pennsylvania.

Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism and identifies with the teachings of Martin Luther (1483 to 1546).

Luther’s translation of the Bible into the German vernacular (instead of Latin) infuriated some.

In 1520 Luther published three works in quick succession which attacked abuses and excesses within the Catholic Church.

In 1521, Henry VIII formally responded to Luther's criticisms with the Assertio, which was written with Thomas More's assistance.

A war of words between the Martin Luther & King Henry VIII then erupted into public. Martin Luther responded in print, calling HenryVIII a "pig, dolt, and liar."

More composed a rebuttal for the King: the Responsio ad Lutherum which was published at the end of 1523.

In the Responsio, More defended papal supremacy, the sacraments, and other Church traditions shunned by Luther and described Luther as an "ape", a "drunkard", and a "lousy little friar".

Protestants and catholic’s, while both Christians, have different interpretations of the bible , especially when it comes to purgatory.

Every Christian knows the story of Jesus? He was crucified on Good Friday &rose from dead on Easter Sunday. But what did he do on Saturday?

There are generally two views concerning the state of the dead among Christians. The first view asserts that when a person dies, his soul survives death and continues to exist in some place. For those who are saved, they go straight into paradise.

For those who are not so righteous, they go into some halfway house called purgatory, which is a Catholic view, where they are purified and made ready for paradise. For those who are rebellious sinners they go straight to hell to suffer in the eternal flames.

The Catholic Church holds that "all who die in God's grace and friendship but still imperfectly purified" undergo the process of purification which the Church calls purgatory.

In Confession Concerning Christ's Supper (1528) Luther, explicitly stated for the first time that purgatory was a false teaching. However, he did say there was no real harm in praying for the dead since scripture didn't speak against it.

There are also suggestions that Martin Luther was by this time organising egg hunts for his congregation, primarily to teach the lesson of Christ’s resurrection in emulation of the disciples discovering the risen Christ in the tomb on Easter morning.

This surely would have upset Henry VIII who was at that point his enemy and an avowed Catholic at this time?

St. Thomas More wrote his 1529 “The Supplication of Souls” to defend the doctrine of Purgatory & devotion of prayer for the dead against attacks in Reformation for Henry

And it’s here that he mentions Luther and his teachings a number of times. More importantly, it’s one of the few things people remember of Thomas More, he uses the term:

“Mad as a March Hare”

Which has found its way into normal every day language and is now an English idiom.

Was this a sly blow at Martin Luther and how they perceived his bizarre rituals of hunting for decorated Easter eggs and the mad hares associated with it?

Thomas More was eventually executed by Henry VIII who then went on to form The Church of England.

It wasn’t until the reign of Queen Victoria that Easter eggs hunts became popular in England. The Queen was seen to hold Easter egg hunts for her children around her many palaces, and the population followed suit.

Her mother was of course German...

Happy Easter to you all.