When he first came into power, James made some attempts at achieving religious harmony. He pleased the Catholics in 1603 by reducing recusancy fines to less than a quarter of what they had been previously. As James was travelling south from Scotland he was presented with the Millenary petition, which had apparently been signed by 1000 members of the clergy. This petition was in favour of moderate Puritan reforms and prompted James to call a conference at Hampton Court. At this conference it was decided to publish a new version of the Bible (King James Bible appeared in 1611) but the Puritans were unsuccessful in winning any of their demands. This was because if they suggested any major changes they were branded as extremists but when they suggested minor changes they were dismissed as trivial issues.
Increasing Puritan pressure and the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 caused James to come down hard on Catholics. In 1904 he ordered recusancy fines to be collected in full after reducing them in 1603 due to the negative reaction from his Protestant subjects. The Gunpowder Plot was a plan by Catholic conspirators to blow up the Houses of Parliament when they knew James would be there. This led to an increase in recusancy fines and Catholics were not allowed to live in London or hold public office. He also ordered Convocation to draw up a new book of Canons to resolve disputed matters. It enforced all ministers to agree to the 39 Articles and promise to only use authorised services. Many Puritan ministers refused because they disagreed with conforming to practises which they thought were wrong and as a result lost their jobs.
In 1610 a new Archbishop, George Abbott, was appointed and being a Calvinist, he was sympathetic towards the Puritans. Non conformity gradually reappeared and this was tolerated by the authorities. A wide range of religious practises were accepted and religious problems seemed to have been solved and harmony within the Church restored.
Despite the fact that the Howards failed to make an impact in parliament they had a great influence in James court which worried many people because they were Catholic. There was religious problems going on in Europe between Catholics and Protestants and people were worried about the same things happening in England. England was mainly Puritan and people were becoming more and more suspicious of the Howards and all Catholics. Religious divisions reappeared and people were getting very concerned.
People were also extremely worried about James trying to marry off his son Charles to a Catholic and this increased anti-Catholic feelings. James was however trying to create religious harmony because he married his daughter to a Protestant. People didn’t see it this way and thought that Catholic influence was corrupting the Church and thought that something had to be done. The outbreak of the Thirty Years War did much to create even further religious disharmony and increase Puritan paranoia.
James became increasingly sympathetic towards Arminiasm which was similar to Catholicism in some ways. Arminiasm beliefs coincided with James’ such as the divine right of kings. It would also help achieve peace with Catholic countries as James didn’t want to go to war. The King also allowed the publication of the Book of Sports in 1918 which angered the Puritans. It listed activities which were lawful on Sundays after church, many of which were seen as frivolous by them, and this went against their beliefs.
Attempts were made to achieve religious harmony, some of which worked some didn’t. At first these were things such as trying to please the Catholics by reducing recusancy fines which only served to anger the Puritans. However the introduction of George Abbott worked well as he was more laid back than the previous Archbishop. Harmony didn’t last long because there was an increasing fear of Catholicism because of the influence of the Howards, then the attempt of trying to marry Charles to a Catholic and finally the favour of James towards Arminiasm. James wasn’t really very successful because he started to move toward a more Catholic sympathetic policy which was distrusted by a mainly Puritan population.
