King James and Catholocism

English Catholicism had significantly changed by the time of James’s accession to the throne. Under Henry VIII, England broke away from the Catholic Church in Rome. The King was now the head of the Church of England. By the time Elizabeth came into power a substantial number of the population were still Catholic. Principled dissent to the Elizabethan Settlement came from two directions: Catholic and radical Protestant. Of the two the Roman Catholic menace seemed the more important and the government and the Church spent more time combating it. In this essay I will examine whether efforts to destroy English Catholicism during the Elizabethan era were successful. Traditionally, historians argued that Catholicism was hopelessly fractured but heroic efforts by Catholic missionaries had saved the Catholic English community. The Act of Uniformity in 1558 meant that everybody had to go to Church once a week or be fined. This included the Catholic community. Many conformed to avoid punishment but still believed in the Catholic doctrines. Ordinary clergy helped maintain the Catholic doctrines in English society. By the time of James’s accession to the throne it was clear that the Catholic community were an important issue because a part of English society was still Catholic. Furthermore, it was soon clear that King James would be more tolerant to the Catholic community in comparison to Elizabeth.

Traditionally, historians have felt that Catholicism was hopelessly fractured at the time of James’s accession to the English throne. Whig historians felt the Elizabethan settlement had set the fate of English Catholicism and Catholicism would soon dwindle away . However, this preliminary evaluation is flawed because the role of English Catholi...

... middle of paper ...

... Macmillan Publishers Ltd: 1984), pp. 195-219.

Diarmaid MacCulloach, The Later Reformation in England, 1547-1603, (New York, Palgrave Macmillan: 2001)

Michael Questier, ‘Conformity, Catholicism and the Law’, in Peter Lake and Micahel Questier, Conformity and Orthodoxy in the English Church, c. 1560-1660, (New York, The Boydell Press: 2000), pp. 237-261.

Peter Holmes, Resistance and Compromise: The Political Thought of the Elizabethan Catholics, (London, Cambridge University Press: 1982)

Pauline Croft, King James, (New York, Palgrave Macmillan: 2003)

Christopher Haigh, ‘Revisionism and the Reformation and the History of English Catholicism’, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Volume. 36, No. 3 (July, 1985), pp. 394-406

Christopher Haigh, ‘The Continuity of Catholicism in the English Reformation’, Past and Present, No. 93 (November, 1981), pp. 37-69.