Britain’s Religious Tug-of-War

In 1534, Henry VIII broke with the Pope over his wish to remarry, and the British nation entered into a religious tug-of-war. The three major contenders were:

• traditional Catholics, who felt allegiance to the Pope in Rome
• episcopal Protestants who supported the Church of England and its bishops
• Puritan Protestants who wished to reform that church along Calvinist lines

These three groups vied for control until the mid-1700s. The country’s official church changed as new rulers came to power. Britain saw a Civil War and many insurrections. Religious dissenters, royal claimants, and even rulers were executed.

In the table below, the names in capital letters are the rulers of Britain—kings, queens, or Lord Protectors. The other names are rival claimants to the throne, or candidates whom plotters wished to install; many of them came to unhappy ends.

reigns	Catholic	Episcopal	Puritan
1509-1547		HENRY VIII
1547-1553		EDWARD VI
1553-1558	MARY I	Lady Jane Gray (executed)
1558-1603	Mary, Queen of Scots (executed)	ELIZABETH I
1603-1625	Arbella Stuart and Princess Elizabeth Stuart	JAMES I
1625-1649		CHARLES I (executed)
1649-1658		Prince Charles Stuart	OLIVER CROMWELL
1658-1659		Prince Charles Stuart	RICHARD CROMWELL
1660-1685		CHARLES II
1685-1688	JAMES II	James Scott, Duke of Monmouth (executed)
1689-1702	James II	WILLIAM III and MARY II
1702-1714	Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, called “the Old Pretender”	ANNE
1714-1727	“Old Pretender”	GEORGE I
1727-1760	“Old Pretender”	GEORGE II
1760-1820	“Old Pretender” and his sons Charles and Henry	GEORGE III

In these same centuries, the modern British Empire began. England and Scotland united and conquered Ireland. British colonists settled along North America’s eastern coast, in the Caribbean, and in parts of India. The new empire had recurring wars with the Catholic kingdoms of France, Spain, and Austria.