2 Religion: conflict and dissent, 1625-88

Question 1

What were the traditional features of Catholic worship that the Anglican Church retained?

Answer 1

Priests’ vestments and incense.

Question 2

What was Arminianism?

Answer 2

A set of beliefs which promoted church services involving rituals and formal ceremony. Arminians followed the traditional Catholic belief in free will, which meant that individuals could choose whether or not to follow a path to salvation.

Question 3

What were the changes to the Church made under Archbishop William Laud?

Answer 3

The communion table was moved to the east end of the Church and was railed off from the congregation.

Vestments and incense were to be used in services, and hymns and sacred music were encouraged.

Stained-glass windows were to be installed in churches.

Question 4

Why was it that these Arminian measures angered the Puritans?

Answer 4

They stressed outward forms of worship. Puritans believed that Laud was moving the church in the direction of Catholicism.

Question 5

What was done to ensure that Laud’s measures were imposed?

Answer 5

Visitations by the agents of bishops in their dioceses were conducted more thoroughly.

Church courts.

Question 6

What did many of the gentry who opposed Laud’s actions regard his innovations as?

Answer 6

Disrupting the Elizabethan ‘middle way’.

Harsh sentences were out of proportion to their offences.

Question 7

What were some of the measures that parliament used to reform the Church of England from 1643?

Answer 7

Office of bishop was abolished in favour of a Presbyterian form of government.

The Book of Common Prayer was banned and replaced by the Directory of Worship.

Arminian features, such as stained glass and statues, were removed.

End to the celebration of traditional festivals.

1650 Toleration Act.

Question 8

What was one of Cromwell’s key aims?

Answer 8

To bring about a religious and social reformation, which meant establishing godly rule and an improvement in public morality.

Question 9

What was the Instrument of Government of 1653?

Answer 9

England’s first written constitution.

Question 10

What had Charles demonstrated in the Declaration of Breda?

Answer 10

That he favoured religious toleration for non-conformists and Catholics.

Question 11

What did the Corporation Act of 1661 require?

Answer 11

All involved in local government had to be communicant members of the Church of England.

Question 12

When was the Conventicle Act passed?

Answer 12

1664

Question 13

Why did Puritans remain within the church?

Answer 13

They supported Anglican doctrines which reflected the views of John Calvin.

Question 14

Where in England was Puritan opposition particularly strong?

Answer 14

London and provinces such as East Anglia.

Question 15

It could be argued that in some aspects Puritans were not a serious threat to the authority of Charles I - why was this?

Answer 15

Many Puritans were politically conservative, and the gentry knew that they had much to lose from opposing the king.

Question 16

In what ways did Arminianism limit the scope for Puritan opposition?

Answer 16

Puritan books and pamphlets were censored, and texts brought from abroad were seized/destroyed.

Preaching on predestination was banned.

Puritan preachers were no longer financed by town councils or by individuals.

Question 17

What happened to the Puritans of the parish of St Gregory’s in London in 1633?

Answer 17

Tried to use the courts to oppose Charles’ policy of railing off the altar.

Question 18

What was the estimated number of Puritans that emigrated from England during the 1630s?

Answer 18

80,000

Question 19

When was the Laudian Prayer Book read for the first time in Scotland?

Answer 19

23 July 1637

Question 20

In 1638, how many Scots signed the National Covenant in protest against Charles’ actions?

Answer 20

300,000

Question 21

What did the Baptists believe in?

Answer 21

Adult, rather than infant, baptism. They separated from the Church of England and preached that only those ‘born again’ through adult baptism would attain salvation.

Question 22

What did the Millenarians believe?

Answer 22

Jesus would soon return to earth and reign for 1,000 years.

Question 23

Why was Quakerism significant?

Answer 23

By the late 1650s the Quaker movement had grown to about 50,000 members.

Before 1660 the Quaker movement was willing to take direct political action.

Question 24

What happened when the Conventicle Act expired?

Answer 24

Non-conformists met freely.

Question 25

Why was dissent more likely to be stronger in urban areas?

Answer 25

There was more likely to be a ruling elite with shared ideas/some sympathy for non-conformists.

Question 26

What was James II a strong supporter of?

Answer 26

Religious toleration - promoted with the Declaration of Indulgence of 1687.

Question 27

What did James order when a Second Declaration was issued?

Answer 27

It to be read in all churches.

Question 28

Why were politicians concerned at the role of Catholicism within Charles I’s court?

Answer 28

Queen Henrietta Maria was an ardent Catholic, and openly attended mass at court.

Catholicism became popular at court, with many members of the Privy Council identified as Catholics.

The popular impression that the government was adopting a pro-Catholic line led to a widespread rumour that the Pope offered to make Archbishop Laud a cardinal.

Papal envoys visited Charles from 1634.

Increase in Catholic influence at court coincided with Personal Rule.

Question 29

Why was Anti-Catholic feeling a constant theme during the reigns of Charles II and James II?

Answer 29

Charles’ Catholic wife, Catherine of Braganza, came to England with 30 Catholic priests.

Increased power of France/absolutist ruler Louis XIV. Charles formed an alliance with Louis against the Protestant Dutch in 1670, which led to the Third Dutch War of 1672-74.

Popish Plot of 1678.