Protestantism vs. Catholicism in XVII Century England :: Religion Essays

Protestantism vs. Catholicism in XVII Century EnglandThe position nation grew increasingly more Protestant during the XVII century, while the monarchy locomote ever closer to Rome. The keen train spotterspotting trains of panorama alternatively than locomotiveswill certainly spot a good plenitude of redundancy in this unequivocal statement, for it is, beyond doubt, a proclamation frame in by the historian rather than the philosopher. The Stuartscertainly some more than otherswere Catholics non in the manner that Henry VIII took his mid- life history corporate trust, but rather in the manner that Elizabeth was always a Protestant. Similarly, the general population of the land viewed their faith as they viewed their nation with pride. We should perhaps initially note that religion was, to those of the seventeenth century, something cognate to sex to the present day paramour, charity to the philanthropist, money to the crank it was a serious business. In the seventeen th century, Protestantism in England was as harmless as houses secure with a firm chronological and doctrinal and everyday foundation. Within the larger European context, however, the established National religion was assailable to the rigours of Catholic tempest and seemed far from fixed. It is in this respect that we might equipage the monarchical populous split. The English Restoration was no minor re-establishment of monarchy it was rather a restatement of the national character. Regicide was abhorrent to mostwe need only see the emotive power of Macbeth or Hamlet to gain some intellect of the general sentimentand the execution of Charles I was an positive act of an extreme sub-minority. The arrival of Charles II, therefore, was not only a restoration of the natural and reverent order, but, in effect, an appeasement of the national conscience a way to dissemble the crisis of revolution once and for all. With so much at stake, it was no innocent task to recreate the c ircumstances of the revolution, but this is precisely what Charles II and crowd II managed. It is certainly an oversimplification to suggest that this came about solely from phantasmal discord, but similarly it is erroneous to suggest that this was notif we might remedy to religious terminologythe prime mover. Charles II had spent much of his life upon the continent, and was, therefore, more a continental than an Englishman. In terms of religion, particularly, his views were consummately European ecumenical and decidedly Catholic.