The next most important reason for the collapse was religion and Charles’ push toward Arminianism and absolutism. The fear of Charles becoming absolutist shaped how his policies were viewed and the MP’s political attitudes. Appello Ceasarum produced by Montagu and commissioned by the King angered many MPs as it argued the similarities between Protestantism and Catholicism. This brought MPs to call for the impeachment of Montagu as they felt it promoted anti-Calvinism. Charles’ reaction to this, as he imposed his prerogative as the Divine Right Monarch, promoted Montagu to Royal Chaplain.
The King was a keen theologian, and was prepared to incorporate evangelical ideas into his new Church where he saw fit. But he wasn't comfortable with the alterations, and from 1539 onwards he reversed most of his previous policies. In 1539 the Act of Six Articles returned the Church to unambiguous Catholic orthodoxy apart from papal supremacy. Amongst other things, transubstantiation and auricular confession were reaffirmed. Clerical marriage, which had crept in, was condemned, and vows of chastity were now held to be unbreakable.
Henry VIII vs. John Calvin in the Protestant Reformation In the sixteenth century, stood the reformation of the Catholic Church in Western Europe. While the main focus was an internal renovation of the church, the outcome was much different than expected; the reformation led to a revolt against and an abandonment of principal Christian belief. The difference in the view and act of oneself was different from individual to individual during the reformation. While Calvin left for Geneva in 1536 from France because of the fear of persecution for the publically spread beliefs of his about the Church to the people, Henry VIII had manipulated the church for a way to receive a new wife in hopes for his first son. Different motivation stands for each of these people in what they did for the reformation.
This essay intends to prove that although the rebellion did not stop the reformation, it did pose a substantial threat to Henry’s religious plans in the short term. It will achieve this aim by studying the deposition of Robert Aske, the York and Pontefract Articles, as well as the Oath of Honourable Men; all in the attempt to evaluate the motivations of the rebels and the consequences of their actions. Contemporaries suggested that the Pilgrimage of Grace posed a significant threat to Henry’s plans for religious reformation; Edward Hall, an English chronicler writing in 1536, said “after the king’s highness was informed of this newly arisen insurrection he, making no delay in so weighty a matter, caused with all speed the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk accompanied by his mighty and royal army which was of great power and strength, immediately to set upon the rebels”. Hall was a great admirer of Henry VIII and his policies, so this must be taken into account when reading his work as there is a danger of bias, for example the royal army was not “mighty” in fact it was badly outnumbered. However, it is still a good indication that it was a significant threat- “making no delay in so weighty a matter”.
The death of Wolsey in 1530 indicated that significant change would subsequently happen as a long-standing follower of Henry had died, resulting in the King being in need of a new principal secretary. In 1530, Thomas Cromwell became a member of the King’s council, shortly after in 1534 he was then given the role of Henry’s principal secretary. During the Reformation Parliament, Cromwell was very influential and legislation was enacted which was of very considerable short and long-term significance. Cromwell changed a lot of things in the government as he had great impact on the king’s thoughts and ideas for England. The Reformation Parliament was successful in bring down Wolsey and increase pressure on the pope.
The origins of rebellion arose when people in England opposed Mary’s catholic standing and were worrying over the possible return of papal authority over England, since mary’s coronation was in 1553 she quickly placed people of catholic standing in positions within the kingdom, including many positions in the privy council the most influential body within the government. This quick changeover within England is arguably what caused the Wyatt rebellion as it made the people feel anxious of the possible threat of going back to a papal authority, this can be reinforced by the following source ‘and yet thhe it be said in counsel as to my friend, we mind only the restitution of God’s word, but no words!’qhich was written by wyatts son showing us that Wyatt was rebelling to the threat Mary posed to religion, but it can also be inferred that although this was his motive he felt that this reason wasn’t acceptable to cause a greater enough rebellion to remove Mary from the throne so he says that they should use a different reason, as generally it can be argued that Mary’s catholic influence across England were relatively popular, possibly why the rebellion was shown little support. There
What could be known as his main concern for going to Britain was that he was trying to protect his homeland, nowadays known as the Netherlands. The Netherlands was under constant threat of attack from France, which was ruled by Louis XIV at the time. To defend the Netherlands, William was willing to create alliances with both Protestant and Catholic monarchs. William needed control of the English army and navy to use against France, this is why he invaded England in 1688. William also had to be sure that Scotland did not become a problem during his war with France, and so agreed to a Presbyterian settlement of the Scottish Church in 1690, in return, the Scottish parliament agreed to fund 28 months of William's war against the French.
It must be remembered that James came from Scotland which was a Presbyterian nation and therefore came with his own set of beliefs and ideas. Elizabeth I had established the Church of England, and though it was principally run along Protestant lines there were still many Catholic elements around. The Catholic churches had lots of gold decorations and ornamentations, this angered the Puritans because they believed the main function of the Church was to preach and teach the Bible. They also believed that people would be distracted by the decorations and finery. This shows that as well as there being the
Religion was the real reason that colonization began, with out it, the colonies all over the world would not have ever came to be. The fourteenth century was when factors that would eventually lead to the start of colonization began. The followers of John Wycliffe, also known as Lollards, had pushed their ideas of religious power on the religious community: both the bible and religion had ultimate power over everything (Reformation 4). Martin Luther was one of the first men to openly go against the Lollards ideas. He believed that the Catholic church was corrupt for selling indulgences as penance for sins in that the sale was a way for the Church to exploit the unfortunate and poor (Reformation 5).
Williams challenged social and religious norms within the colony which greatly angered Puritan leaders. In their book The Godless Constitution Isaac Kramnick and R. Laurence Moore write “Williams got into trouble principally because he was determined to secularize the institution of government and politics in ways that baffled and disturbed his Puritan contemporaries” (Kramnick & Moore 47-48). Kramnick and Moore also described Roger Williams as a man ahead of his time. This becomes more evident upon further reading when we learn that Williams was a strong believer in what we today recognize as the separation of church and state. For his beliefs, Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts Bay.