8. Religion and Politics in Early Stuart England
- Created by: Alasdair
- Created on: 27-05-19 13:30
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- 8. Religion and Politics in Early Stuart England
- 1. Links between religion and politics in Early Modern England
- Royal supremacy
- Powers and responsibilities of monarchs
- increasing emphasis on powers of bishops in C17th century, linked to royal authority
- Protestant national identity
- Particular strains on ideas of Protestant nationhood in 1620s, can seep into foreign and domestic policies
- Identification of enemies
- greater polarization in politics, religion used more broadly to attack opponents
- Royal supremacy
- 2. Forces for division
- Wide basis of Jacobean church, detaching moderates from radicals (puritan or Catholic) can cause political divisions under James I and Charles I
- Foreign Policy:
- a driving force of political tension in early C17th
- 3. Jacobean foreign policy strategy: international peace via marriages
- James promotes politically strategic marriages for his children (one Protestant and one Catholic)
- Palatine marriage
- Princes Elizabeth and Frederick, Elector Palatine, a Calvinist German prince
- Spanish Match
- A proposed match between Prince Charles and Spanish Infanta
- 4. Thirty Years War (1618-1648)
- Triggered by Frederick (husband of Princess Elizabeth) accepting the previously Catholic crown of Bohemia
- Upsets balance of power in Holy Roman Empire
- Frederick ultimately loses Bohemia and own land in Palatinate
- Triggered by Frederick (husband of Princess Elizabeth) accepting the previously Catholic crown of Bohemia
- 5. James I and foreign policy
- James I wants to promote peace in Europe caused by religious division more generally
- Through negotiation and conciliation James hopes to avoid getting caught up in Thirty Years War
- 6. Response to the Palatinate crisis
- Protestant nationalism and opposition to James I
- Lack of armed support for Frederick and Elizabeth seen as verging on pro-Catholic
- Problematises plans for a strategic Spanish match involving Prince Charles
- In pursuing Spanish match, James alienates moderate puritans
- a group James has tried to keep within the church
- Also
- Puritan opposition to Spanish match gives ammunition to anti-puritan faction within church and government (e.g. William Laud - puritans can be seen as simply disloyal)
- Protestant nationalism and opposition to James I
- 7. A marriage for Prince Charles?
- Ultimately, Charles I marries a French Catholic princess to help finance war with Catholic Spain
- Shows difficulty of pursuing a foreign policy that is only pro-Protestant
- Ultimately, Charles I marries a French Catholic princess to help finance war with Catholic Spain
- 8. Politics of Blame: Fears of Catholicism
- Fears of Catholicism
- Jacobean and especially Caroline court considered to be 'infiltrated' by Catholics, with too much influence on policy
- Both James and Charles use financial devices that by-pass parliament (e.g. the Forced Loan)
- Increasingly these policies portrayed as to similar to absolutist policies of Catholic monarchies, such as France and Spain
- Fears of Catholicism
- 9. Rival conspiracy theories of 1620s and 1630s
- OR
- An 'Arminian' conspiracy (popish, anti-parliament)
- A Popular 'puritan' conspiracy
- Competing ideologies help to polarise the nation politically
- Charles I (and Archbishop Laud) believe in a popular puritan conspiracy
- OR
- 10. A word about Arminianism
- Fears of Arminianism
- Doctrinal meaning
- rejects Calvinist emphasis on predestination, and instead stress man's free. Some anti-puritans hold Arminian beliefs
- Political meaning
- Accusation of 'Arminianism' in parliament used to suggest that someone is tending towards Catholicism, and therefore supports royal absolutism
- Doctrinal meaning
- Fears of Arminianism
- 1. Links between religion and politics in Early Modern England
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