Katherine Arcaya - Eduardo Mora

Mara Jos Pea - Paulina Valdivia

LCL 410-1
Puritans and Catholics in England in the XVI Century
Some context
The XVI century in England started with Henry VII as the King. In 1509, he died,
and his son, Henry VIII acceded to the English throne. That same year, he married
Catherine of Aragon, his brothers widow, thanks to a special dispensation provided by the
Pope.
In 1511, Henry and Catherine had a son that would die within a few weeks. After
many miscarriages, in 1516 Mary was born. Since Catherine did not seem to be able to give
Henry the son he desired, he thought that God was punishing him because he married his
brothers widow. Henry started claiming that his marriage to Catherine had to be called off
and asked the Pope to do it, but he would not approve the divorce. After years of attempt,
Henry finally decided to turn down the Popes authority over England and finally divorced
Catherine in 1533. He would then marry Anne Boleyn, and give birth to Elizabeth.
Who were the Catholics?
The Roman Catholic Church has existed for almost 2000 years, and congregates
diverse groups of people from all over the world in the faith in Jesus Christ as the son of
God and Savior of the world. The Pope, based in the Vatican in Rome, is the first head of
the church.
In Britain, Catholics were persecuted after Henry VIIIs break with the papacy in
the 1530s, and even considered catholics as supporters of a foreign power claiming that the
Pope had not relation with England and that his government was in Rome.
After Henry VIII broke ties with Rome, he ordered that every church in England
had to have an English translation of the Bible, and that all images related to Catholicism
had to be eliminated. Also, all monasteries were dissolved, and many of them were
destroyed, in order to use the remainings for new constructions. In 1539, Henry established
the Act of Six Articles, which contained all the beliefs and principles of the Church of
England. In 1545, English language replaced Latin in church services.
In 1553, Mary I (daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon) ascended the
throne. She was a Catholic. She restored the Catholic mass and started to pursue and
execute Protestants in 1555. Instead of promoting Catholicism, she just set common people
aside. She died in 1558, being succeeded by her sister Elizabeth, who would restore
Protestantism in England.

Who were the Puritans?

The Puritans were a group of extreme Protestants within the Church of England that
during the 16th century thought that the English Reformation had not done enough in
reforming the structure and doctrines of the church. They wanted to purify their national
church by getting rid of every shred of Catholic influence, such as hierarchical leadership,
clerical vestments, and various rituals of the church. Puritans believed that each individual
and each congregation was directly responsible to God, rather than answering through a
mediator such as a priest, bishop, etc. Many Puritans were graduate students of Cambridge
University who became priests in order to bring cleansing and change to the church from
within.
Puritanism gained popular support early in the 17th century, although the church
hierarchy and government became increasingly repressive, causing many Puritans to
emigrate to the New World. Those who remained became a powerful element that helped in
defeating Charles I in the English Civil War. Puritans remained dominant after the war, but
they proved themselves to be even more intolerant than the hierarchy, which led to the
expulsion of the Puritan clergy from the Church of England after the restoration of the
monarchy (1660) under the terms of the Act of Uniformity (1662).
What are the similarities between them?
Puritans and Catholics played important roles in the development in the history of
England. Both groups had considerable influence on the countrys politics at the time,
which was the source of many conflicts that would arise and shape the future of the English
society.
Although there is a division between them in terms of beliefs, they share some
similarities because both stepped outside of the eras strict moral boundaries by becoming
involved in politics. First, the Catholics tried to prevent England from becoming a
protestant country by attempting to influence the politicians and the elite. They also tried,
by several means, to remove the protestant Queen Elizabeth from the throne of England.
Similarly, the Puritans also became strongly involved in politics when participating in the
English Civil War shortly after the Catholics did. The English Monarchy was almost extinct
after this war. Both groups, possibly without intention, helped to shape the Church of
England and helped to form the protestant tradition in England.
References
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/english_reformation_01.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/catholic/catholic_1.shtml
http://www.localhistories.org/henryvii.html
http://www.localhistories.org/reformation.html