Religion and divisions (S1.4)

Question 1

What was the Reformation​, in terms of its importance on Britain?

Answer 1

The British Isles divided along confessional lines following the Henrician Reformation in the 1530s.​
> England and Wales established the Church of England (became predominantly Protestant).​
> Scotland also became Protestant.​
> Ireland remained Catholic.​

The Church of England was governed by the monarchy.​
> The great powers of the continent, Spain and France, remained Catholic and increasingly sought to combat the growth of Protestantism.​

Question 2

How was religion deeply intertwined with political authority?

Answer 2

• The Church of England upheld the monarchy’s supremacy, as the King was the Supreme Governer
• Church was hierarchachal, mirroring societal structures

Question 3

What was the basis of James’ religious policy, and what was his religion?

Answer 3

James was a moderate Protestant
> Willing to adopt the 1559 Religious Settlement
> Appreciated a hierarchical structure (with bishops) for the Church
> Wanted unity, harmony and a common home for Catholics and Puritans

Question 4

What were the five main religious groups in England and Scotland?

Answer 4

Presbyterianism
Puritanism
Calvinism
Arminianism
Catholicism

Question 4

What was Calvinism, and what were the main beliefs?

Answer 4

Protestant
> Monarchacial, hierarchical (with bishops)
> Vestments, communion, English bible, decorated buildings
> Salvation through faith

Question 5

What was Presbyterianism, and what were the main beliefs?

Answer 5

Protestant
> Majority in Scotland
> Not monarchacial or hierarchical
> Plain dress, sermons, English bible, plain building
> Salvation through predestination

Question 6

What was Puritanism, and what were the main beliefs?

Answer 6

Protestant
> Important minority within England
> Monarchacial and hierarchical
> Plain dress, sermons, English bible, plain building
> Salvation through predestination

Question 7

What was Arminianism, and what were the main beliefs?

Answer 7

Protestant
> Monarchacial, hierarchical (with bishops)
> Vestments, communion, English bible, decorated buildings
> Salvation through works and God’s help

Question 7

What was Catholicism, and what were the main beliefs?

Answer 7

Catholic
> Minority in England; majority in Ireland
> Pope as head, with cardinals and bishops (hierarchical)
> Vestments; latin mass with latin bible; decorated church
> Salvation through faith and works

Question 8

What legislation did the Crown pass against Catholicism between 1603 and 1606?

Answer 8

1603: Collection of recusancy fines
1604: Encouraged legislation against Jesuits
1606: Two severe laws against Catholics passed by Parliament, but James did not fully enforce them.

Question 9

What happened in 1605, in relation to Catholicism?

Answer 9

Gunpowder Plot of November 1605
> Attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament for a Catholic uprising

Question 10

What did James pass as a result of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot?

Answer 10

1606 Oath of Allegiance

Question 11

What was the 1606 Oath of Allegiance?

Answer 11

The 1606 Oath of Allegiance forced Catholic recusants to declare their allegiance to James, and not the Pope.

Question 12

What did Puritans challenge James with very early on in his reign?

Answer 12

1603 Millenary Petition

Question 13

What was the 1603 Millenary Petition?

Answer 13

Puritans presented James with a petition signed by 1,000 ministers.
> They respected James’ position as ‘Supreme Governor’, but wished for ‘further Reformation’, and to cleanse it from the remnants of Catholic features

Question 13

What was demanded in the 1603 Millenary Petition?

Answer 13

• Powerful bishops.
• Ceremonies that ministers were obliged to perform.
• The use of a ‘set’ Prayer Book (ministers were not allowed to write their own).
• They also asked for a new, better translation of the Bible into English, and a simplification of Church services.

Question 14

What conference met in 1604 to discuss on religion?

Answer 14

1604 Hampton Court Conference

Question 15

What happened in the 1604 Hampton Court Conference, and what was this a response to?

Answer 15

James invited representatives from across the religious spectrum to a theological debate at Hampton Court in response to the Millenary petition.
> James thrived in intellectual debate, and enjoyed the Hampton Court Conference.

Question 15

What were the consequences of the 1603 Millenary Petition and 1604 Hampton Court Conference?

Answer 15

James did not want to make any changes to the Church which would give ministers independence, which he felt would undermine his ability to control the Church.

Question 16

What did James not accept, and what did he accept from the 1603 Millenary Petition and 1604 Hampton Court Conference?

Answer 16

James did not accept:
- Reform along Presbyterian lines which would have reduced the power of bishops (he thought the bishops would help him control the Church and thus increase his own authority).
- The abandonment of ceremonies and the Prayer Book (he thought ceremonies enforced hierarchy and the common Prayer Book enforced his idea of obedience to the King).
- ‘No bishop, no king!’ James declared.

• He did, however, agree to a new translation of the Bible.

Question 17

Who was Richard Bancroft?

Answer 17

The new Archbishop of Canterbury (1604-1610)
> Led a drive for conformity.

Question 18

What were Bancroft’s Canons?

Answer 18

New Church laws
> Upheld many orthodox practices and liturgies of the Church, as well as practices that had been condemned by Puritans in the Millenary Petition
> James was forced to accept the Puritan’s loyalty following a Puritan petition from Northamptonshire. He allowed for moderate reform after 1606.

Question 19

Who were the Archbishop of Canterbury’s in the early Stuart period?

Answer 19

Bancroft (1604-1610)
Abbott (1611-1633)
Laud (1633-1645)

Question 20

What percentage of England was Catholic?

Answer 20

Only 2-5% of the population were Catholic in England, mostly in remote northern or far west of England, i.e. far from London.
But it was the fear of secret Catholics that made some English Protestants hysterical.
It might be the case that there were millions of Catholics pretending to be Protestant, but secretly waiting for an opportunity to overthrow the Anglican Church and violently restore Catholicism.
These people might destroy England from within.
(Plus they might be supported by Spain and or France).

Question 21

What did James bring back in 1605, which set forward the Gunpowder Plot later in the year?

Answer 21

In Feb 1605, James brought back recusancy (fines for not attending Church of England services), prosecuting 5,560 Catholics.

Question 22

What did James publish in 1611?

Answer 22

James accepted demands for a new translation of the Bible at the Hampton Court Conference.
> The new translation of the Bible into English, satisfied Puritans. Completed in 1611.

Question 22

What was the 1610 Petition of Religion?

Answer 22

Dissatisfaction had continued after the Hampton Court Conference, in in 1610 the Commons presented James with a Petition of Religion.
> It criticised James’s attacks on non-conformists and the removal of Puritan ministers following the Bancroft Canon’s in 1604.

Question 23

What was the problem with showing tolerance to Puritans?

Answer 23

Showing tolerance towards Puritans allowed division in the Church

Question 24

What were the limitations of James’ religious policy?

Answer 24

• James did not solve the wider rabid anti-Catholicism in England.
• James alienated Puritan opinion.
• Did not go far enough with reform of the Church and was beginning to allow Arminianism to become influential. ​

Question 25

What was the Counter-Reformation?

Answer 25

Began in the 16th century
> Attempts to bring Protestant territories (i.e. England and Holland) back into Catholicism

Question 25

What happened in 1604, in terms of relations with Spain?

Answer 25

1604 Treaty of London
> Concluded 19-year Anglo-Spanish War
> Treaty was unpopular as they felt England had deserted Netherlands (old ally)
> England and Spain remained at peace until 1625

Question 26

Who were the two key figures who sparked the Thirty Years’ War?

Answer 26

Frederick V of the Palatinate​
Ferdinand II

Question 26

When was the Thirty Years’ War?

Answer 26

1618-1648

Question 27

Who was Frederick V of the Palatinate​, and what did he do?

Answer 27

• Husband of James’ daughter Elizabeth, > Frederick ignored his father-in law’s advice and accepted the crown offered to him in 1619 by Protestant rebels in Bohemia – this traditionally should have gone to the new Emperor, Ferdinand II

Question 28

Who was Ferdinand II, and why did Frederick V’s actions infuriate him?

Answer 28

Devout Catholic and absolutist monarch
> Ferdinand set the scene for the war by seeking from 1617 to suppress Protestantism and restore Catholicism across the Holy Roman Empire. Frederick’s acceptance of the Bohemian Crown infuriated him. ​

Question 29

What are some factors influencing James’ actions?

Answer 29

• James desperately wanted to maintain peace and harmony with Spain.
  > He was still pursing the Spanish Match
  > Knew England did not have the money and that Spain had an access to an influx of gold/silver (far superior)

Question 30

In the 1621 Parliament, how much did James ask for, and how much did he recieve?

Answer 30

James asked Parliament for £900,000.
> Parliament only granted him £70,000.​
> Members of the House of Commons openly attacked the Spanish match and called for a ruthless application of the recusancy laws against Catholics.​

Question 31

What was James’ response to Parliament only giving him £70,000 and attacking the Spanish Match?

Answer 31

• James attempted to shut down Parliament’s debates with an angry letter on the 14 December, on the grounds that his royal prerogative was being usurped.​
  > Parliament responded by expressing its dismay at James’ attitude in a Protestation recorded in the Journal of the House.​
  > Profoundly dissatisfied by this state of affairs, James dissolved Parliament in January 1622.​

Question 32

What was the ‘Spanish Match’?

Answer 32

The ‘Spanish Match’ was a proposed marriage alliance between Charles and the Spanish Infanta Maria Anna that dominated English foreign policy in the early 1620s.

Question 33

What happened in the Madrid Trip?

Answer 33

The trip transformed both Charles and Buckingham from supporters of the Spanish alliance to its strongest opponents, marking a major shift in English foreign policy, after the Infanta rejected them.

Question 34

How was the religious problem settled by the time James died in 1625?

Answer 34

James passed to Charles I a church that was becoming more polarized, with unresolved tensions that would contribute to the conflicts of Charles’s reign.
> Rise of Arminianism
> Controversial promotion of ‘beauty of holiness’
> Religious divisions were deepening rather than healing