During the first quarter of the seventeenth century, a new religious fundamentalism was creeping into England. Inspired by Calvinists in both Scotland and on the continent, many within the Church of England adopted predestination, the concept that God had already decided who would be saved and who would not. As part of this idea, they argued that the Church should do away with most of its ceremony. The most fanatical of these new Protestants (sometimes termed Puritans) even argued that the church hierarchy should be abolished.
Charles I and William Laud
To those in positions of authority, this new movement seemed dangerous. For many, it seemed a short step from the removal of Bishops to the removal of the King. Partly in reaction to the rising Puritanism, King Charles I appointed William Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury.
Laudianism
William Laud immediately set out to reform the Church of England. In many places priests had neglected their duties. Churches had been allowed to decay, and some churches were even used to house gambling and cock-fighting. Laud adopted a hard-nosed, attention-to-detail policy that sorted out these abuses. At the same time, he brought back much of the ceremony and the splendour to the Church of England. He encouraged artwork and stained-glassed windows in churches and the wearing of ornate priestly vestments. His opponents accused him of ‘Popery,’ and pointed to his close relationship with the King and thus his Catholic wife, Henrietta Maria.
William Laud re-arranges the Church
One of Laud’s most controversial changes, was to remove the wooden communion table from its traditional spot in the nave and move it into the chancel, and then to rail off the chancel. This physical separation of the priest and communion from the congregation was seen by most as a statement about the necessary position of the clergy as intercessors between God and his flock.
The Road to Crisis
As the stand-off between Laudian reformers and Purtains grew more heated, Laud resorted to cruelty and mutilation to suppress his opponents. Those who spoke too loudly against the reforms or in support of predestination were liable to be arrested and have their ears cut off.
Then in 1637, Charles I and William Laud made a serious mistake. In an attempt to bring great parity between the Churches in England and Scotland, Laud wrote a new Scottish prayer book. It was a move that would quickly led to crisis.
Primary Sources
Civil War by Taylor Downing and Maggie Millman, Collins & Brown, 1991
English Civil War by David Clark, Pocket Essentials, 2008
God’s Fury, England’s Fire by Michael Braddick, Allen Lane, 2008
