Time traveller's guide to Stuart England
Godly nation
In 1634, William Prynne, a Puritan,
is clamped in the stocks and has his ears cut off. He's offended Charles
I by publishing Histriomastix, a massive attack on the profanity
of stage plays. Charles I's wife, Henrietta Maria, is particularly annoyed
by Prynne's denunciation of female actors, whom she employs for private
entertainment.
The Prynne case shows how important religion is in 17th-century England.
Everyone is obsessed by God, and every important event – from the
Gunpowder Plot to the Popish
Plot, and from the Civil Wars to
the colonisation of Ireland – has a religious dimension.
God is an Englishman
Most English people believe that they are a 'godly nation', the chosen
people. But religion is a tricky area – disputes about how to honour
and praise God result in heated arguments and violent confrontations.
The fear is that Protestant England – widely seen as a free country
– will be subverted by Roman Catholics who, in league with Continental
powers, will impose a tyranny and force everyone to worship as Catholics.
Everyone, except for a tiny number of secret atheists, sees God's hand
in everyday events, so wars, plagues and fires are all divine retribution
for people's sins.
Monarchs are obeyed because they are God's appointed rulers (the 'divine
right of kings'); the Bible is the most widely read book; and sermons
from the pulpit are the equivalent of the television news.
Protestants and Catholics
The official religion is Protestantism, a reformed version of Christianity,
and travellers from foreign lands who believe in Islam or Judaism are
seen as heathens. Protestantism became the official religion with Henry
VIII's reformation in the 1530s, when he split with the pope in Rome because
he wanted a divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, who appeared
to be unable to produce a son.
Since then, most of England's monarchs have been Protestants, although
a sizeable minority of the population – an estimated 40,000 in 1603,
mainly among the upper classes – remain Catholic. (See also
Ireland).
When a monarch marries a Catholic – as Charles I does when he weds
Henrietta Maria – or becomes one, as James II does, there is trouble.
The religious policies of Charles lead to civil war, and his son James
is forced to abdicate in 1689.
The existence of a Catholic minority also has other effects – people
are paranoid about secret plots and fear civil unrest and invasion.
Puritans
As well as Catholics, there is another minority: the extreme Protestants
known as Puritans, who are religious fundamentalists and want to reform
the Church and society and make them much more pure. They believe that
individuals can have direct communication with God without the need for
bishops and an elaborate Church hierarchy.
Puritanism is a religion of the word (that is, the Bible) and of the
individual. It stresses the role of divine providence in everyday events.
For example, when the Puritan diarist Adam Martindale's second son John
– named after an earlier son who died young – also dies in infancy,
Martindale and his wife think it might be a sign from God. They fear 'lest
we had offended God by striving with his Providence to have a John'.
What do ordinary people think about Puritans? They are less than enthusiastic.
In 1616, the people of Lancashire complain that local Puritans are trying
to stop their usual Sunday amusements, including dancing and archery.
One Wiltshire girl describes her Puritan minister's sermons as 'bibble
babble'. In 1633, James Nicholson of Yorkshire declares that 'I care not
a fart of my tail' for any minister.
Power
When the Puritans get into power after the execution of Charles I in
1649, they close theatres and try to impose a godly pattern of behaviour
on the 'unruly poor'.
They also fight furiously among themselves: the Independents, who believe
that congregations should be self-governing, squabble with Presbyterians,
who reckon they should bow to a central authority. In the last years of
the century, a climate of toleration gradually arises as people become
exhausted by religious bigotry.
In 1656, Oliver Cromwell allows Jewish
people to settle in London for the first time since they were expelled
in 1290. A synagogue opens in Creechurch Lane, Aldgate.
Radical sects
The differences between the smaller religious groups can be baffling.
Anabaptists, plain Baptists, Presbyterians or Independents have been known
to engage strangers in doctrinal disputes. Other radical groups include
Quakers, Shakers, Ranters and Muggletonians, as well as dozens of weird
and wonderful millenarian sects that emerge during the social upheaval
of the Civil War.
Many groups, such as the Fifth Monarchy Men, believe in the immanent
second coming of Christ and will try and persuade you that the end is
nigh. Their proponents are often lower class in origin and may get into
trouble with the authorities. (See DIY
politics)
Some sects, such as the Quakers – founded in the 1640s by George
Fox – believe that true Christians should 'quake' in awe before God.
They think that everyone, including women, has the right to speak out
during meetings.
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