Laud's policies and religious uniformity

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  • Created on: 14-04-20 20:38
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  • Laud's policies and Religious Uniformity
    • Before Charles' reign
      • Anglican church had been established by Elizabeth I as a 'middle way' between Catholicism and Protestantism
        • Many traditional features of Catholic worship had been retained, such as priests' vestments and incense, but Anglican beliefs reflected the teachings of the Swiss reformer John Calvin.
          • The 'middle way' was an uneasy compromise, but it ensured religious peace for many years.
    • Divisons within Anglicanism 1625
      • Within the Church, there were growing divisions about their beliefs and practices.
        • Arminianism was a set of beliefs which promoted church services involving rituals and formal ceremony.
          • Followed the traditional Catholic belief in free will.
        • Puritains were Anglicans who opposed rituals and priestly vestmets.
          • Wanted to 'purify' services by promoting simplicity, rather than ceremony.
          • They were also concerned about people's moral improvement.
            • Thus, supported action against immoral acts, eg. adultery and drunkenness.
          • Believed in the Calvinist doctrine of predestination(God has already chosen those who would be saved, regardless of their behaviour).
    • William Laud
      • Laud was a prominent Arminian.
        • Appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633.
          • He worked to impose greater religious uniformity on church services.
            • Included:
              • The communion table was moved to the east end of the church, and was railed off from the congregation.
              • Vestments and incense were to be used in services, and hymns and sacred music were encouraged.
              • Stained-glass windows were to be installed in churches.
            • Angered Puritains because they stressed the outward forms of worship.
              • They belived Laud was moving the church in the direction of Catholicism.
              • He further offended Puritains by issuing the Book of Sports in 1633, which allowed people to participate in traditional sports and pastimes on Sundays.
            • Many people welcomed Laud's reforms because they imposed fewer demands on those who attened Sunday services.
              • People also approved of the reduction in the number of sermons, which was unpopular with the Puritains.
      • The imposition of Laudianism
        • To ensure his measures were imposed, visitations by the agents of bishops in their dioceses were done more thoroughly.
          • There is evidence on records that the records of these vists were reviewed by Laud and Charles themseleves.
        • He also used the church courts, notably the Court of High Commission, to punish those who refused to implement Laudianism.
          • Punishments were fines or imprisonment.
        • Opposition
          • Many Puritain clergy couldn't accept the changes to church services.
            • After 1633, thousands of clergy, with many of their followers, emigarted to the American colonies to worship freely without fears of persecution.
          • Many of the gentry also opposed Laud's actions.
            • They were often strongly Calvinist.
            • Felt it disrupted Elizabeth's middleway.
            • Their opposition grew after the trial of Prynne, Bastwick and Burton in 1637.
              • They wrere middle-class professionals charged with smuggling anti-Arminian leaflets from abroad and publishing attacks on the bishops.
              • They were sentenced to have their ears mutilated and were imprisoned for life.
                • Laud's opponents felt that the harsh sentences were out of proportion to their offences.
                  • Led to attacks on Laud to be prominent in the Long Parliament in 1640.

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