The English Civil War Upon Wales

The beginning of the Protestant Reformation is often marked by one man’s appeal for change. Therefore, the life of Martin Luther is a thought-provoking subject not only for the scholar, but also for those curious about the history behind Lutheranism. Consequently, Roland H. Bainton has written Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. Selling over a million copies, it was first published by Abingdon-Cokesbury in 1950, which awarded it a prize of $7,500.00. Bainton, an ordained minister, was a member of the faculty at the Yale Divinity School for 42 years. He is recognized as an authority on the

During the early 1600s the religious climate in England played a main role on Puritans moving out. During this time the church and government weren’t separate, meaning citizens had no choice but to follow the Church of England. The Church of England at this time began to break away from the Catholic Church and introduce changes to the protestant religion (Bruno 2). Despite the new reforms, Puritans still felt that the church still had too many ties held on the Catholic Church. Consequently Puritans, as well as other religious groups, began to form their own protestant faith.

The English Civil War was a complicated, intellectual war between the two most powerful forces in England: Parliament and the King. Conflicts between the two powers began when King Charles I dissolved Parliament in 1625 because they would not give him the money he demanded to fund his war against Spain. Parliament, who was lead by John Pym, felt that the King was showing favouritism towards the Roman Catholics, especially since Charles had recently married the Roman Catholic French Princess. Although Charles recalled Parliament in 1626, he proceeded to dissolve the second Parliament mainly because it attempted to impeach him. John Pym, who had been prevented from being elected to the second Parliament, was

Because of all this, it would make sense for protestants to want to leave. They couldn’t practice their religion, their kids were growing up to be filthy and corrupted, the examples set by those officials in England were horrible, and there was no place for them in England. The Puritans believed that the Lord even persuaded them to go. He wanted them to leave and go on their own. They believed that he not only approved of the enterprise, but allows people to get interested in it. At this point, it may seem that the Puritans are going to be good people, but that is wrong.

During the 1500’s a movement away from traditional Catholicism started to take hold. The most notable figure during this time was Martin Luther. He had ideals that, at the time, were extremely radical. As Gerald Strauss put it, “His doctrine of the two realms- the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the world, derived directly from Augustine – entailed the strictest segregation of things spiritual and things material” (22). He did not believe that the people of the church had any right to control the population at large. He believed that they were meant to be spiritual guides, not rulers, and that they wielded way too much control over the common people. One of the most radical things that he did, which was also the most influential

The short yet significant reign of Edward bought with it a series of severe changes to England and all those within it, many of them taking a religious nature. As the once unquestionable authority of the church became challenged by both critics and affiliates alike, England witnessed an almost inevitable reformation. However, the impact on the majority was not necessarily beneficial- as Duffy wrote, the Reformation bought with it an ‘assault on traditional religion’, leaving many men that ‘breathed easier for the accession of a Catholic queen’.

This paper will address the churches political and religious practices that Luther disagreed with, the theses he posted on the church board, what he did to show his disagreement and gather support from the community and how he was able to challenge the church at the

Meanwhile in England, the Anglican tradition had begun under the banner of the Church of England after having separated itself from the Roman Catholic tradition during the 1530’s; a response by Henry VIII to Pope Clement VII’s refusal to annul the kings marriage with Catherine of Aragon. It is from the last of these, during the Elizabethan period, that the rise of English Puritanism can be seen culminating in disillusionment with the reign of James I and finally revolution under Charles I.

The Puritans were a distinct group of individuals who performed religious actions. They emerged within the England church in the mid-16th century. These people shared a conjoint Calvinist theology as well as the common Anglican Church criticisms and the English government and society. The Puritans’ population grew steadily, hence culminating in the 1640s English Civil War and the Oliver Cromwell rule of the 1640s.

In To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, the Church has surrounded themselves with three distinct rules. As a result, Luther believes the rules within the Church are merely defending the corruption from reform. Giving a brief summary of his purpose for writing the text, Luther depicts the beliefs of the Church as foolish and unwise. The Roman Catholic Church has put complete power into the leaders of the Church (9). In the final paragraph of his introduction, Luther directly quotes Joshua 6:20, asking for aid in helping individuals reform themselves and attain God’s good grace.

The religious changes that occurred in England during the early 1500s were less concerned with doctrinal matters. King Henry VIII, initially a Roman Catholic, left the church over dynastic concerns: He wanted to perpetuate the line of Tudor monarchs. Despite the emergence of an independent English church, religious loyalties remained deeply divided for decades. Actually, the English church differed a little from the Catholic Church, except for the central issue of allegiance to the pope. The remaining similarity was a matter of deep concern to many who felt that the English Reformation had not gone far enough. The name “Puritan” came to be used to describe members of the English Church who wished to purify it of all its pretenses to the Roman

Bainton’s Here I Stand is a chronologically arranged biography of Martin Luther’s life which seeks to show his philosophy and ideas for the reform of the Catholic Church without seeking to perform psychoanalysis of the Reformer.

This is because of Bainton’s passionate account of Luther’s life, character, and theology, which makes the book a delight to read for any audience. It can be enjoyed by both scholars and non-scholars due to its strong historical base and ease with which it can be read. The purpose of the book is both to provide another historical perspective on Martin Luther and increase interest in Luther and the basis of the Reformation, which transformed the Church, Europe, and the

In 1559 Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was crowned Queen. Elizabeth sought to find a middle ground during her rein (1558-1603) in England, by allowing both Catholics and Protestants to worship without fear of any repercussions. However, Gilbert (1976) that ‘Elizabeth I and her successors had legislated to make Anglican worship compulsory’ (p. 4). By introducing the Act of Uniformity of 1559 it laid out the rules of worship that both religions were to follow and reissued the Book of Common Prayer for use in worship. The Thirty-Nine Articles of 1563 also set to define the doctrine of the Church of England which set out a middle path between the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church and the Protestants (Wolffe, 2008). By the end of Elizabeth’s I forty five year reign, the majority of people in English society were Protestant. As the older, mainly Catholic members of society had died through old age (Christianity in Britain, 2011). Knight and Mason (2006) describe a dissenter during

The attendant effects of Martin Luther’s reformation in the early period of the sixteenth century occasioned by his posting of the 95 theses that raised objections to some of the then prevalent practices of the Roman Catholic Church eventually led to a significant breakaway from the church of a relatively more liberal Christian sect known as the “Protestant”. It is worthy of note however that the Roman Catholic Church tried albeit unsuccessfully to placate the breakaway by instituting a “counter-Reformation” but this only achieved a cleansing of the church internally without achieving much in its most important mandate to prevent the protestant breakaway. Consequently, Europe was enmeshed in bloody religious war largely between forces loyal to the papacy in Rome and those who sympathized with the runaway protestant movement. As a result, the Roman Catholic Church invariably began to lose its pole position in the scheme of things in an already divided Europe.