The Religious Power Of Guy Fawkes And King James I

Since fighting as a result of religious discrimination was evident during this time, (Catholics wanted to abolish the Protestant religion forever and Protestants wanting to overthrow a Catholic ruler), religious unrest and a challenging of religious views are clear during this time period, despite the fact that it was such an important factor in the Age of Enlightenment. For example, “[the people of England] waded through seas of blood to drown the idol of arbitrary power,” (Document 6) implies that the English have fought and have undemocratic rulers put into place, leading to even more conflicts.

To make an effective religious policy, there must be no opposition, it needs to be enforced, the monarch’s beliefs should be equal to the country’s beliefs, it should be stable with no ambiguity and people should conform. During the period of 1547-1549, Edward’s regent, Somerset, created a rather ineffective religious policy, with there being no clear statement of doctrine and with him repealing the treason acts and heresy laws, unrest was created, with people being able to voice their opinions without punishment. The First Book of Common Prayer was the main source of rebellion, because it was said to be too radical by some in the move towards Protestantism, but not radical enough by others, by being designed to keep the Catholics happy through the continuation of some practices, showing that it satisfied no-one. As well, the Prayer Book was not enforced during services, showing that it was an ineffective act. Also, it was rather irresponsible to implement religious changes when at war, because the soldiers were

The New Reformation was an era with new ideas and feud between religions. In the 1500s, England believed in brand new things. Autocrats enforced the eulogized religion. Academies taught religions authorized by autocrats. Failing to comply with the eulogized religions is punishable by confinement, laceration, and death penalty. Complying with the wrong religion has its own risks for privy treasure, laxity, and vitality. Queen Mary accepted the Catholic religion and charred the Protestants alive and victimized them. Queen Elizabeth accepted and allowed Protestantism to be a religion. Queen Elizabeth allowed people to accept the Catholic religion without being persecuted. The Catholics desired to substitute Mary and replace Queen Elizabeth. (Linda Alchins, Religion in Elizabethan England, paragraph # 3). Catholics thinks that

In the early 1500s, religious tension grew under the reign of King Henry VIII. England, Scotland, and Ireland intensified in their differences. Scotland was staunchly Calvinist, while Ireland was radically Catholic. England was strongly Catholic, however, it contained a large protestant minority. Henry VIII invoked political, religious, and economic strife when he separated from the Roman Catholic Church, commenced the dissolution of the monasteries, and appointed Thomas Cromwell to maintain order. Although the administrative and oppressive ruler, Henry VIII, and his aristocratic supporters may deny the harmful and corrupt impacts of these aforementioned decisions, the government was clearly guilty of being inept at providing security, abandoning

This threat is more likely in 1553, therefore the absolute loyalty the “Suffolk men” held to ‘Catholicism’ has greater meaning, because during the temporary ‘reign’ of Lady Jane in 1553, the tyrannous and “violent” Duke of Northumberland was practically in control of English court and could easily locate and punish those who opposed against his power, being the followers of Mary. This absolute belief that the protestant reformation was extremely damaging and needed to be stopped, which would have strong positive consequences in changing the fate of the country to a more stable nation, is very important reason in determining why people decided to support Lady Mary above lady Jane, because once Mary had secured a large and loyal band of followers in the “Norfolk and Suffolk (men)”, her popularity would automatically increase, as in the snowball effect- and this accumulation of people was ultimately caused by the conviction to prevent any more damaging reforms to

It is possible to perceive that England was torn apart by religious revolution as a consequence of the public risings in the response to the changes. After their introduction, the country suffered

With England torn apart by religious unrest brought about by Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I, Elizabeth I employed a pragmatic plan during the 1500s in order to bring about peace. In introducing a religious policy, she devised a compromise between the theological beliefs of Protestantism and Catholicism. Firstly, she adjusted her predecessors’ title of “ ‘the only supreme head of the church’ ” to “ ‘only supreme governor of this realm’ ” (Spielvogel 407). Though the alteration did

Queen Elizabeth had to be harsh and strict with Catholics, more than she would have preferred in order to maintain peace in England (Elizabeth R). Although Queen Elizabeth was nice, she could also be very strict. When Catholics rebelled she reacted quickly, she had them killed, took away their properties, or imprisoned them. After years of rebellion and fighting, England became a Protestant Country in the early 1600’s (Pitchard 103). “The significance of the Elizabethan religious settlement is that it was able to hold the vast majority of the people together, despite being a compromise few would have chosen” (Elizabeth I).

King Henry VIII was an important figure in helping to kick start the Reformation in England, even though it was not his intent. His break with the Papacy and his constantly changing ideas on how the new Church of England should be run gave the Protestants the foothold they needed to gain popularity in Europe. Although his intentions were purely politically motivated, he started a change in the way the layman viewed the church and how it should be run.

There is irrefutable evidence that over the period of the Middle Ages, both Christianity and Islam have been anchors in both shaping and influencing governance of kingdoms and empires comprising Western Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and territories ruled by Islam. Religion during this period was widely used to set laws, influence culture, justify armed conflicts, and pronounce punishment on citizens domiciled within the geographies depicted within this essay. I will attempt to illuminate the geopolitical climate, territorial demarcation, and religious influences that depicted life circa 500 – 1517 CE. From the background material submitted, I will directly answer the following questions:

This essay will discuss the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 when a group of catholic noblemen plotted to blow up the English House of Parliament; the target of the plot was King James VI of Scotland and I of England. This essay will focus on how the event impacted Catholics and their treatment in society and law after the event. Primary sources including letters, Parliamentary documents and their insight into how the event impacted Catholics in the years after the event will be used to provide evidence and Secondary sources to provide different historians views on the treatment of Catholics.

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 century brought reform and new ideas to the church of England. Though attitudes of aggression toward Catholicism subsided, the church was still a Christian force, and the members did not hesitate to push Christian ideals on everyone in English society. Anyone familiar with Christianity knows that the religion does not support homosexuality. Though many were gay during the time, they usually hid the fact about themselves to avoid persecution. People often concealed other details about their lives as well, such as information about an affair or an illegitimate child, to avoid the judgement that one faced when in the public eye. Essentially, religion (Christianity) was considered tradition, and the ideology of the time called for the punishment of anyone who dared to break tradition. Therefore, anyone defying religion in any way was either treated poorly or legitimately punished. Those who did not observe religion were not permitted to openly share anything that could seem like derision toward religious

Internally, disagreements over religion fluctuated according to the religion of the monarch in power. In 1642 in England, civil war broke out because Charles I was soft on Catholics, the Parliament was divided in religious conformity, and the Presbyterians and Anglicans could not get along. Also, the battle between Catholicism and Protestantism raged for years, coming to a climax with the Glorious Revolution in 1688. The Glorious Revolution came about with the end of Catholic James II's rule and the argument of who who would inherit his throne. His son, James, was Catholic and had a son who was Catholic as well. At the time, society was fearful of another Catholic leader. Mary, James II's daughter, was married to William the Orange, who was Dutch. Together, they forced James III out of contention and took the throne. They drafted the "...Toleration Act of 1689 (which) legalized all forms of Protestantism -- save those that denied the Trinity-- and outlawed Roman Catholicism."2

In England, clashes between Catholics and Protestants, brought upon by the establishment of the Church of England in 1531 by King Henry VIII, placed many in complete