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.
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). The final push for the need to change was the English reformation. During King Henry VIII’s rule in the sixteenth century, the Church of England was formed. He established the church because the Pope of the Catholic Church would not grant him a divorce from his wife, Catherine of Aragon. The Anglican church had many similarities to the Catholic church: similar rituals and a bible titled the Book of Common Prayere (Reformation 9).
The third underlying causes of the reformation is the straying from the Bible and or altering the scriptures. Document 5 states,"..the word of God, has been so dimmed and confused and paled with human ambitions and teachings that the majority who by word of mouth call themselves Christians.." Document 7
Henry VIII began his reign as a loyal Catholic, accepting the Pope as head of the Church. The Pope even gave Henry the title, ‘Defender of the Faith’. This was a reward for writing a book that defended the Pope against criticism from a German reformer called Martin Luther. However, things did not stay the same - Henry VIII and the Pope had a quarrel. It was over Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
If he didn’t change the religion for the best interest of England, we would have a higher crime rate and England would be destroyed. The Catholic Church went from being a place where you can find God, to a place where people are executed and go against the laws of God and humanity. Henry VIII said “The people look to you for light and you bring them darkness. Amend these crimes and set forth Gods word truly or else I, whom God has appointed his high minister, will see these divisions extinct and the enormities corrected”. The Catholic Church decided to start controlling everyone in England.
Martin Luther’s responses to political and social questions during this time were often either revolutionary or conservative. Luther’s criticism towards the church’s practice of indulgences, and promoting sola fide can be considered to be revolutionary. However, Luther’s siding with the princes of the Holy Roman Empire during the Peasants Revolt can be seen as conservative. Indeed, when you look at the responses of Luther towards much disputed questions during his lifetime you will see that he was both a conservative and revolutionary. One of the major religious disputes during The Protestant
First of all we need to consider the debate about religious practice and the importance of religion for Christina: 'Religion played a major role in the formation of Rossetti as an individual, and it is oftentimes reflected in her poetry. I would venture to say that religion is a very strongly felt presence in “Goblin Market,” which some critics believe is a Christian allegory'[3]. Her poetry, her fairy tales characters, her use of grotesque can be related to a movement called “Gothic Revival”: 'it's an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England [...] In England, the centre of this revival, it was intertwined with deeply philosophical movements associated with a re-awakening of High Church or Anglo-Catholic self-belief concerned by the growth of
Winthrop formed the Massachusetts Bay joint stock company and governed the colony. For those seeking change from corrupt England, this charter became a chance to establish a “true Christian commonwealth” (Breen 35). They sought to create a society where “the will of God would be observed in every detail” (Morgan 69) because they felt as though England failed them by deviating from Gods’ word. Ultimately the Puritans wanted to emphasize that the Bible was the supreme law of the land as well as the only source of instructions to live by as a Christian. They wanted to establish the New World as a region free of sin.
This act of treason meant that anyone who disagreed with the break with Rome would be executed due to heresy. Therefore, it seems as though Henry did not fully accept the protestant beliefs, because he killed Tyndale for spreading them. And if the King could not fully accept the new Protestant religion, then how was the rest of England expected to? Therefore, this leads to the conclusion that Protestantism made only limited gains in England, due to the fact that it was not as accepted as Catholicism was. The idea shown in source 7 of Henry not being able to fully separate himself from his catholic beliefs is further back up by the evidence found in source 8.
Other Europeans, especially the French, really liked the new empiricism and the idea of English liberties embodied in the Bill of Rights. One French intellectual, Voltaire, tried to spread empiricism and religious toleration further. He introduced the idea that most inhumane crimes are committed in the name of religion, and he ridiculed superstition and the French witch trials. He spent time in England and fell in love with its political system, especially the idea of freedom of speech. (If anyone who has taken the “Age of Enlightenment” with Dr. Smith, or who is just interested in this subject, wants to tell us more about Voltaire on the “Informal Discussion” board, please feel free.)