Protestantism in The United Kingdom - Protestant Influence in Political History

Protestant Influence in Political History

Protestantism probably had the most profound influence on politics in the United Kingdom. Within the 16th and 17th centuries, nearly all the monarchs of Scotland, Ireland, and especially England were defined by the religion, either Catholic or Protestant, which they advocated.

Henry VIII was the first monarch to introduce a new established state religion to the English. In 1534, he got into a major disagreement with the ordained Catholic Pope, Clement VII, over a divorce he wanted to legalize between him and his wife, Catharine of Aragon. When Pope Clement VII refused his consent to this divorce, Henry VIII decided, in his anger, to simply separate the entire country of England from the Roman Catholic Church. Suddenly, the Pope had no more authority over the people of England who were far removed from his headquarters in the Holy City to begin with. Also, England had been progressing and modernizing at a faster rate before the split. This parting of ways between the Pope and the King of England not only freed the nation to continue its modernization without restraint, but it also opened the door for a brand new religion, Protestantism, to enter the country.

King Henry established the Church of England after the schism between him and the Pope, and he set himself up as the new head of the church. In many ways, England stayed the same even when a new state religion had begun. Its doctrines and practices were, at first, very similar to those of the Roman Church. It is obvious that the king did not establish the Church of England for religious purposes; his motives were purely political. This is evidenced by the fact that Henry VIII persecuted the radical Protestants who "threatened" his church during his reign. However, the damage had already been done concerning the influence of Rome over England. The Church of England was Protestant by nature, considering the fact it was "protesting" the Catholic Church. For this reason, the Protestant Reformation is said to have started in England with this particular act.

From this point on, the Protestant Church in England was continually back and forth between good and bad positions depending on whether or not the current monarch was a devout Protestant or Catholic. King Henry VIII's successor, Edward VI, supported the Protestant Reformation, but he differed from his father in the fact that Protestantism, for him, was not only political. He was more devout in his faith than the king before him, and he removed some of the fear from the hearts of his Protestant subjects.

Under the next monarch, however, Protestants probably received their most violent persecution. Queen Mary of Tudor was raised as a Catholic, and she saw it as her duty to purge the "evil" of Protestantism from her country. At this time, bold reformers of the church such as Thomas Hawkes, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, Thomas Cranmer, and George Wishart were murdered for their faith. But the torture and executions they faced never seemed to hinder the growth of the Protestant church. On the contrary, many more joined the church when they saw how committed these brave martyrs were to their religion.

Things changed dramatically, though, for Protestants after Elizabeth I became the queen of England. She was raised a Protestant, and under her rule, the Protestant Church and way of life flourished. The fear of severe persecution practically vanished when the state turned back toward Protestantism. Reformers were soon preaching throughout the country and converting many over to the Protestant church, and Protestants filled many leadership positions in government. Soon a new way of life and worship emerged in the country. Similarities between the Catholic and Protestant churches steadily decreased. One negative result that came with this new freedom for Protestants, however, was the persecution of Catholics.

The reign of King James I established a definite victory for Protestantism in England. The King James Bible introduced a new Protestant form of the Scriptures to church members throughout the country. This translation of the Bible was a language and dialect specific to the English people and to their Protestant religion. Everyone was able to read the Bible for himself and no longer relied on church leaders for studies of Scripture. James I successfully fulfilled the efforts of Protestant reformers who had been supporting the spreading of Bibles in common language for decades. Years later, the English Civil War (1642–1651) was largely influenced by the Protestant Reformation and its effects on different countries. While the English were back and forth with Protestantism in their country for a time, Scotland was experiencing a more far-reaching impact from the religion. A strong Presbyterian following had developed, but the Church of Scotland did not agree with King Charles I's expectations of the Protestant religion. Threatening the king of Scotland, Charles I said that he would turn to the Ireland, which was a strong Catholic state, to help change the practice of Protestantism in Scotland by force.

Oliver Cromwell, an Englishman born in Huntingdon, emerged victorious at the end of the Civil War. Once he gained control of the government in England, Cromwell established a radical religious government in the country. He organized the Assembly of Saints, a firm and strict sect of Protestantism which was very similar to the Puritan way of life. The Assembly remained strong in England until the reign of Charles II who ended many of the strict practices of Puritanism. National festivities resumed, and, although some practices of the people became more secularized, most cold, formal religion came to an end.

When Parliament passed the Act of Toleration of 1689, Dissenters received freedom of worship within England. Catholics were not included in this act of Parliament, but members of other religions, most notably Protestantism, were officially protected from persecution because of their faith. At this point, the English government gave up on imposing a single religion on the nation because political leaders realized that peoples of many religions lived within the country. Of course, for some, this freedom has resulted in more people rejecting religion altogether. This has become the case in much of the United Kingdom today where religion has declined dramatically and the nations have become largely secularized.