Megan Verity 12SO
“Asses the religious problems that James faced during his reign and his success in dealing with them.”
James faced many problems with religion during his reign; these arose from the many different ideas between Catholics and Protestants. I will explore these ideas and the way in which James handled them, and asses how successful they were. I think overall James handled the problems efficiently and fairly.
The crowning of James was a huge relief for many of Elizabeth’s subjects. James was a male protestant king with several children; therefore they hoped this would create a stable succession. On the other hand the Catholics hoped that James would respect his dead mother, Mary queen of Scots, and relieve the persecution they had suffered under Elizabeth’s reign.
A major influence in Elizabeth’s religious beliefs was John Calvin. He established the doctrine that some people were predestined to be saved because they accepted the disciplinary of Christianity. It was also believed that for the elect well mannered citizens it was determined before birth that they would go to heaven. This resulted in many protestant exiles returning after Marys’ death, determined to reform the church along the lines of Calvin. This meant getting rid of Catholic ceremonies and rituals and allowing ministers to concentrate on preaching God’s words.
However the queen was more interested in religious peace. To benefit
Both religions; the act of Supremacy and Uniformity (1559) established the Church of England as a compromise between radical Calvinism and conservative Catholicism. To benefit the Calvinists; she made herself supreme governor of the church, and introduced a moderate protestant prayer book. To benefit the Catholics; Elizabeth permitted ornaments in the church, and stated all clergy had to wear vestments. However one thing the Elizabeth did introduce that did not help gain the Catholics favour was recusancy laws. This is were everyone had...