Religion

Throughout British history religion has been closely connected with kings, queens and politics. England was a
Roman Catholic country until 1534. Why did this change?
When a king and a pope quarrelled
In 1525 King Henry VIII decided to divorce his queen, Catherine of Aragon who, at the age of forty, was five
years older than Henry. Also, she had only given him a daughter, and Henry wanted a son. He fell in love with Anne
Boleyn who has younger, but when Henry asked the Pope for permission to divorce Catherine, he refused. Henry was so
angry with the Pope that he ended all contact between England and Rome, divorced Catherine of Aragon without the
Popes permission and married Anne Boleyn. In 1534 Parliament named Henry head of the Church of England. This was
the beginning of the Anglican Church. This quarrel with Rome was political, not religious. The Anglican Church did not
start as a Protestant Church and Henry certainly did not regard himself as a Protestant. In fact, the Pope had given Henry
the title of Defender of the Faith in 1521 for words he wrote attacking Martin Luther, the German Protestant. (British
kings and queens still have this title, and you can see the leters FID DEF or F.D. on British coins today). However the
Protestant movement in Europe was growing very strong at this time. When Henry quarrelled with Rome and ordered the
Bible to be translated into English, the way was open for Protestantism to spread in England. Over the next years many
people changed to this new religion.
In 1553 Mary, Henrys daughter by Catherine of Aragon, became Queen of England. Because she was a Roman
Catholic, the country re-entered the Roman Church. While Mary was Queen, many Protestants were burned at the stake
for their beliefs. She also put her non-Roman Catholic sister, Elizabeth (the daughter of Henry and Anne Boleyn), into
prison in the Tower of London. Because of Marys cruelty, Roman Catholicism became feared and hated in the country.
Many people were glad when Mary died in 1558 and Elizabeth became Queen. Elizabeth also became head of the
Anglican Church, like her father, and Roman Catholicism was never again the established (official) religion in England.
The Puritans
After Elizabeth became Queen, a group of Protestants wanted to purify the Church of England of all Roman
Catholic influence. These people were called Puritans they were the English Protestants. They dressed very simply and
believed that all pleasures, such as fine clothes and the theatre, were wicked.
When James I was King (1603-1625) the Puritans were often put in prison and sometimes even killed. Some of
them decided to leave England to find freedom in a new country.
They sailed from Plymouth in 1620 in a ship called the Mayflower, and these Pilgrim Fathers - as they were
called started a new life in America. The service which they held to thank God for their arrival, became a traditional
annual festival in America, called Thanksgiving.
Under the rule of James Is son, Charles I, the Puritans were treated even worse. Many people sympathized with
the Puritans, and the Court was unpopular because it was suspected of being a centre of Roman Catholicism. (This was
because Charless wife was a Roman Catholic.) This religious split between the Puritans and the Court was one cause of
the outbreak of civil war in 1628 and the eventual execution of Charles I. Following this, from 1649 to 1660, Britain was a
republic for a short while.
Religion today
The Church of England or the Anglican Church is still the established church in England, and the British king
or queen is still the head of the Church. These are, however, many other churches to which people belong: for example
Roman Catholics (6 million) and the basically protestant Methodists (1,150,000), Congregationalists (372,000), Baptists
(338,000) and other smaller groups. The Methodists and Baptists are particularly strong in Wales.
In Scotland the Presbyterian Church (called the kirk) is the established church and it is completely separate from
the Church of England. The Presbyterian Church is based on a strict form of Protestantism which was taught by the
French reformer, Calvin, and brought to Scotland by John Knox.
Although there is complete religious freedom in Britain today, there is still tension between Catholics and
Protestants in Northern Ireland, where religion is still caught up with politics. Briatins immigrants have also brought with
them their own religions which they continue to practise. There are Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs from the Indian
subcontinent, Rastafarians from the West Indies, and the largest group of Jews living in Europe.
In spite of the great variety of forms of worship, only a minority of people regularly go to church in Britain today.
Most people see Sunday more as a day for relaxing with the family or for doing jobs around the house and the garden.