Religion under James I Flashcards
Puritans
Protestants who wanted to reform the church along Calvinist lines - removing all Catholic rituals etc - wanted the Purification of the Church
Edward VI
Protestant who made the church Protestant
Elizabeth I
Protestant but not a Calvinist - created a ‘middle-way’
James I
- Favoured hierarchy (bishops)
- Calvinist
- Supported the Arminians after the 1620s
Arminians
- believed your salvation had not already been decided (rejected pre-destination)
- Believed the Catholic church was the true church but that it had been misguided by the pope
- Believed in power of the crown
Henry VIII
had broken away from Rome however he did allow for the bible to be translated into English
Mary I
Catholic who persecuted Protestants - sparked an anti-Catholic feeling in England
The Scottish Kirk
they had a Presbyterian system which was Calvinist and also removed the hierarchy using bishops
Protestants following Calvin
- Extended Luther’s beliefs regarding salvation - believed you had to live a godly life
- Stressed the importance of preaching
Luther’s argument
- German monk
- wanted the Bibles to be written in English
- Priests should NOT have special powers
- his followers became protestants
The Catholic church
- Led by Pope
- Jesus died for humans
- believed Christ would get you to heaven
- Sacraments and scared acts gave the church power to organise people as they were the only ones who could provide the sacraments e.g. baptism
What did James I hope to achieve with religion
- Saw it as essential to maintain his authority in the church and state
- ‘cuius regio, eius religo’ means the state religion was that of it’s leader - religious conformity was therefore as important as loyalty to the head of state
- Wanted religious stability
- ‘it were a pity to lose so good a kingdom for not tolerating a mass in a corner’
James I view on Papist and Puritans
1604 speech to the house of commons defined these two groups as extremists and they were a danger to religious, political and social order
How well did James deal with the Catholic threat
- initially = little threat as James had reduced recusancy fines and stated Catholics would not be persecuted
- 1604 - the protestant parliament pressured James into collecting the recusancy fines in full and all priests and Jesuits were ordered out of the country
- Led to hatred for the king = 1605 gunpowder plot
How well did James deal with the Puritan threat
- Initially little threat
- After milinary petition was signed, many puritans wanted the church to be reformed
- Threat level rose during the 30yrs war as negotiations with Catholic Spain began
The Hampton Court Conference
- new version of the bible was decided upon - appeared in 1611
- Puritans were unable to win any of their demands - any major changes suggested e.g. the removal of the bishops was branded as extremist
- James stated ‘no bishop, no king’
Outcome of the Hampton Court Conference
- Puritans not granted any changes in the church
- James was now suspicious of the puritans - however in 1610 he appointed Puritan George Abbot as archbishop of Canterbury
- Puritans would cause no further trouble
