The Norton Anthology of English Literature

EIGHT H EDITION

Slephen Greenblatt, Gen.eral Ed-itor .l:OGAN UNI VIHvm " PIlOPESSOIt 01' TIt U II UMAN ITII~ S. IIAn VA l1Il UNIVIHls I'I 'Y

tv!. 1-1 . Abrallls , Fuunding Editor Emeritus CI,.t\SS OF I I) 16 I'HO I : I~SSO Ii OF BN(; Ll S H HM l;: lI r r US , CO II N I~ LL UN IVP. ltS I rY

VOLUM E B

TH E SIXTEENTH CENTURY TH E EARLY S EVENTEENTH CENTURY

George M. Logan

Stephe n Greenblatt

Barbara K. Le::walski

I atharinc Eisarnan MaLIs

w . W' NOHTON & 'OM PANY • NIIIII York· LOl/ dOll

The Early Seventeenth Century

1603-1660

1603: Death of Elizabeth I: accession of James l. first Stu,trl lJn~ of England

1605: The Gunpowder Plot. a failed effort by CHtholic (' \Ife lllish to blow up Parliament and the king

160';": Establishment of first permanent Engli!ih colon~ in thl~ '\' C'\\

\\'orld at Jamestown. \ 'irginia 162 5: Death of James I: accession of Charles I 1642 : Outbreak of ci\il war: theaters closed 1649: Execution of Charles I: beginning of COlllmonwcalth atHi Prolc<"'·

torate. known inclusin·ly as the Interregnum l I649-60) 1660: End of the Protectorate: restoration of eh.trles II

Queen Elizabeth died on March 24. 1603. after ruling England for more than four decades. The Virgin Queen had not. of course. produced a c hild to inh,'rit her throne. bu t her kin sman. the thirty-six-yea r old James Stuart. James \ '1 of

cotland. succeeded her as James I without the att empted coups that mal\\ had feared. Many welcomed the accession of a man in the pri me of life. sup­posing that he would prove more decisive than hi s notoriously \'a cilla l in~ pr<> decessor. Worries over the success ion. which had plagued the rei~llS of the Tudor monarchs si nce Henry \'III . could nna llv subside : James alread ~ had m -eral children with his queen. Anne of Denmark. Writ ers and scholars jubi­lantly noted tha t their new rule r had literary inclinati ons . He was the au thor of treatises on go\'e rnment and \\itchcraft. and some youthful efforts at poclty.

1\onetheless. the re were grounds for disquiet. James had come to maillrit~ in Scotland. in the seven teen th century a foreign land with a diffe rent church. different customs, a nd different institut ions of government. T\\ () of his hooks. TIte True Law of Free MOJla rc!.ies ( 1598) and Basi/ikoJl DomJl \ 1 ';99). e.\'j>Ounded au thori tarian theories of kingship: James's views seemed incom ­patible \\; th the English tradition of "mixed" gove rnment. in whit'h 1'0 \\ cr \\-as shared bv the monarch. the House of Lords. and th e House of Commons . As Thomas Howard wrote in 1611. wh ile Eliza be th "did ta lk of he r suhjec ts'low and good affection," Ja mes "ta lketh of his subjects' fea r and su hjection ." James liked to imagi ne himself as a modern ve rsion of the wise. peacc-I", il1~ Hom.HI Augustus Caesa r. \\'ho au tocrati cally gove rned a \'as t empire . The Homans h .• I deified their emperors, and while the C h ris ti an James could not e 'pect th<' same. he ins is ted o n his close ness to divini ty. KinRs. he belie\ cd. dcrhcd tlwir powers from God ra ther tha n from the people . As God's Sl ec inl" chose n ell'!· egate. su re ly he deserved his subjec ts' reverent . uncond itillnnl obeciil' l1 ·l' .

1235

I l '" 1""1 E.\tu\ SFV1.NrfINrll C'l , .... I Llty

\ <'lllnlikc dll' ch "ri~Illal it Eli ",he l h. J a Illes" as pC " 0 .. ", Il y u nprcp""l' lsing. OUt.' COIl(Cll\pnr:lr~, ,\ l\thoIlY \"eld oll . providt.:s n harbed d l'~c riptitJn : " lI i ~ ton~l\l' 1O<lI'-'r~(' fur his mOllth. \\ hieh ever made hi m spcilk ru ll in the l1louth , .md drink \\.'r~ lI11(,Olllcl~ as if cli l ing his drin k . . . hl' never washed hi :-. hand~ . , . his \\;d" ,\ 'H$ {'\ 'cr ('irculnr. his fingers ever in lha l wil lk fid dling ahout hi\

cndpitxt"" L'llsurprisil\gl) . J allH.~ s did nut nlways in spire in his subjects tilt' dcft' I'<'nti,.! :1\\(' 10 "hieh he Ihol1!\hl himse lr enlided.

rh<..' rci<ltionship be t\\ ce n the monarch an d his peop le <-I nti t.he rc l a l iol1 ~ hip lwt\H'l'll EngLmd and Scotbnd wou ld bt.: :-.o urcl'S or fri c ti on th roughout J~ml(,s ' s reign. Jailles hnd hoped 10 unify his dom oin s as a single nation. "thr empire of Britain ," But th e 1\\ 0 realm s' lega l and eccles iasti ca l sys tems prowd dillieult lu rccu nrik. and Ihe En!(lish Parliamenl , Irad ili Ollfdly 1I sporadicalll' conq~ncd (1(h isorv bodv to the Illoni.l rch, o ffe red robustl v ,xe nophobi c opposi· t ion. 1'IH,' r~\ilu n,' ~r II !litle'll ion was on Iy one of several clfI ~ h cs wit h I hr English Parli:HH(, llt , l' spl'cia lly \\ it h the H Oll !;C of Comm ons, wll ic 11 had n Lit horit y over ta \ ation . After James died ill 1625 and hi s son, Charl es I. succeeded him, tensions persisted and int c il sillcd . Charles. ind eed. at tc mpted to ruk withollt Sllllllllolling Parlia lll cni a' all bclwccn 1629 and 1638. By 1642 England lI'as lip in :1rms, ill a civil war bctwl'cn thc kin g's forces and arrnies loya l 10 tlw I lOllse of COllllllons. The co nfli ct ended wilh Charl es 's dcrea l and beheading ill 1649.

Although ill the ea rly 16 ::;Os the 1ll0llCHc hy as an in stit'utio n secmed as d(, ~ld

as the: mall who h:ld In st wo rn the c rown. an adeq utltc repl ace ment proved difflcu lt to devise. E:xecutiv(' powcr devolved upon :J "Lord Protector ." Oliver Cromwcll. form er gene ra l or th e parliamc nt nry forces, who wielded power ne"lrly as aut ocratica ll y as Charles had done. Yet withoLit an in stitut ionally sa nctioned m eth od of trall sferring power upon Cromwe ll's death in 1 658 ~ the

atl emplt o 1~; l s hion :-1 CO llllnonwea lth with oul a hc rcditury monarch eventually foiled. In 1660 Parliamenl inviled Ihe e idesl son or Ihe o ld king home from exi lc . He succeeded to th e throne as Kin g Charl es II.

As j:Hl1l's's accession marks th e beginning of "th e ea rly seve nt crnth cen· tury," his gr:lI1dson's marks the end . Lite rary periods of len Fail to correl:lt t.' nc,,,I\' wi lh the reigns of monarchs. and Ihe period 1603- 60 can seem espe­cia llyarbitra ry. !\I :my or th e mos t importa nt c ultural tre nds in sevent eenth· century Europe neith er bega n nor ended in th ese years but were in the proc('ss of unfoldi ng slowlv. ovcr severa l cenl urics. The Prolestant Heformatioll of Ihe sixteenth century \Vns still ongo ing in th e seventeenth . and still producing lurllloi l. The prinlinp, press. inve nled in Ihe f'il'l eenlh centurv, made bookscl'Ct more widely ava ilab le. cont.ributing to an expansion of lit eracy and to a c1lllnged conceplion of' aU lhorship . Although Ihe Engli sh economy remainc<i primari ly [lgrarian . it s m<l nufact uring and lI'nd e sec tors were expanding rapidly. England \\'as bcp,inning 10 eSlab li sh itsc lf as a colonial power and as a leading maritim e nati o n. From 15 50 0 11 , London grew explosively as a center of pop' ubtion. Irade, ,md literary endeavor. All Ihese important developments ~Ol u nder way beFore James came to the throne, and many of I hem would conl inur aflcr Ih l' 17 1-1 dealh of'.Iames ·s grea t-granddaughter Queen Anne.l he laslof Ihc S,uarts to reign in England .

1'1'0111 H literarv poinl of view, 160 3 ca n seem a parlicul arly capriciousdhid­ing line beca use at Ihe access ion of James I so manv wril ers happened 10 Il<' in midcarcc l'. T he profess ional lives of William Shakes pea re. BenJ onson.John Donne. Francis Bacon, Wall er Halegh. and Illany less import ani "rilel~-

I NT I1 00U C !'IO N I 1_3 7

Thomas Dekker, Geo rge C hapma n, Samuel Daniel, Michael Drnylon . nnd Thomas Heywood, for instance- straddle the reigns of Elizabel h a nd Ja mes. The Restoration of C harles II , with which thi s sec lion ends. is like wisc n mo,'C significant politi ca l than literm)' milestone: John Mihon comp leled POIYlr!ise Lost "nd wrote two other major poe ms in the 16605. No nclhe less. rccogni/i ng the years J 603- 60 as a period sharpens our awareness of some imporl nnl political. intell ectual , cultural, and styli tic currents thai bear direct! upon literal), production . It helps focus altention too upon Ihe se ismic shi l'l in nationa l consciousness that, in 1649, could permit the forma l tri a!' convic l io n. and execution of a n a nointed king ,It the hands of his fo rmer subjects .

STATE AND C H UHC H . 1603 - 40

In James's re ign , th e nlost press ing diffic ulti es were apparen tl y fin fl nc inl. but money troubles were mere ly symptoms of deeper quandari es aboullhe proper re lati onship betwee n the king and the people. Compared 10 James's native Scotland , England seemed a prospe rous nation, bUI .l ames was less ",en llhy than he believed. Except in times of war, the Crown was supposed 10 fund I he government not thro ugh regular taxati on but through its own extens ive land revenues and by exchanging Crown preroga tives, suc h as t.h e co llec t ion of taxes on luxury imports , in return for money or services. Ye t t.he C rown's inde­pendent income had dec lined throughout Ihe sixleenth Ce nILII) ' as inflalion eroded the va lu e of la nd rents. Meanwhi le, innovalions in mi litArY l ec hno l ()~l' and shipbuilding dramatically increased the expense of pori sec uriry a nd olher defenses, a traditi ona l C rown responsibility. Eliza beth had responded 10 Sira il ­ened finances with parsimony, tra nsferring much of the expense 0 1' her court, for instance, onto wea lthy subjec ts, whom she visiled for extended pe ri ods on her annual "progresses." She kept a tight lid on honorific titles too. Crea l in~ new knights or peers very ra rely, even though the yea rs of her reign SAW con­siderable upward soc ial mobility. In consequence. by .1 603 Ihere was consid­erable pent-up pressure both fo r "honors" and for more ta ngible rewards for government officia ls. As soon as Janles came to powe r, he wns imm edi Ate ly beS ieged with suppli ca nts.

James responded with what seemed to him approp riate roya l munificence. knighting a nd ennobling many of hi s courli ers a nd endowing Ihem wit h opu­lent gifts. His expenses were unavo idably higher tha n Elizabelh 's. beca use he had to maintain not only hi s own household , but also separate eSla blishmenl s fo r his queen and for the heir appa re nt, Prince Henry. Yet he quic kly became notorious for hi s finan cia l heedlessness. Compared 10 Eliza bel h ·s . hi s court was disorderly a nd was teful, marked by hard drinkin g. glull.onoll s feas l ing. and a craze for hun ting. "It is not possible for a king 01' England ... 10 be d ch or safe, but by frugality, " warned James's lord Ireasurer, Robe rt Cec i!. bill James seemed unable to res train himself. Soon he was deep in deb I and un nhlr 10 convince Parliament to bankro ll him by raising taxes.

The king's financial diffic ulti es set hi s authoritari an asse rti ons abo ut I he monarch's supre macy at odds with Parliamenl 's control over Iflxa lio n . li n\\' were his prerogatives as a ruler to coexist with the rights of his s\.l bjcc l ~? Particularly di sturbing to many was James's te ndency to bes low high nfi ic('$ upon favorites appare ntly chosen for good looks ra the r th fl n for good j lldg­ment. Ja mes's ope nly roma ntic attachme nt firsl to Hobert eMr. Eml of So mc,'­set, and then to George ViJli ers, Duke of Buckingham, gave ri se to wiclesprend

1238 I T II Il E III V SIlVhNTEloN 111 C b N 'I IJ IJ\

rumors of homose,ualit y II I court. The period hlld ~nrnp l l" 11 11111111", lilwllrrl same-sex relal ionships; on I he nnt' hand, "sodon IV" \Ill S II "" I,ilil l 1" il1l" ( I h"lI~h it was vc ry rure ly prosec t lI ed ) ; on the o th L' r hand, pilbs inllill ~~ I \ inlf'lI h1. 1 11 11 1111

fri cnds hip, sometimes slilTlI sed wilh crolkbm , 1" "1 ~ lillli<'d lin iml'" ""'II, III · lurul idea l. In .IAmes·s cnse. III lells t, cnnl c l11l'ol'lIl'i es (: IIn . ldol'"d hi . "", '·PI I· bilily 10 love ly. cxpcnsilll' yo ulh , nwrc II 1'"lili<:II llh ll" II 111 (I ,'n I ,·,, 1,, "," \ I'm his crili cs. it e rys llllliw d whlll WIIS wro ng wi lh II"l imli"d "IIYII II'" WIII ; II,, ' ~''' I' \.vith which n king could confl.l!'il..: his o\VIl wl·linl ",J lh iI divill11 llIull/ lilli ',

Despile James's lIngainly demeanlir. his rrk l illl1> wil h PII"li lllll, 'nl , II "d hi. chronic problems of sc lf-mll nllgc l11cnl , he wns I'o lil icli ll y II . IIIl e. 1)111'11 . liI\~ Eli7.abe\'h , he su cceded nOllh ro ll i\h Iccislv"",,ss hili Ih rlHl gh L'IIIIII,' III llI' li llll , Cautious by tcrnpernmcnl. he charActe rized himself Ui'\ II pf ' ilL'Fmil l ~ lt l !lllt l . tor many years! s li ccess full y kepI England (Ju t of thl.' rl'ligioll s wurb I'uging 01llh,1 Continent. His 1604 pcace trca ly wilh England's Il ld e" t'my. Spain , 1\111 .1, · "Ii' Atl anli c snfc for Engli sh ships. a pl'e l'e,!IIisil C I'llI' Ihe ,," I<)I1i/ll l l,, " ,,1 iI ... NII\\ World and For regular long-di stance I rn d i n ~ ('xp"dil ion" inl ll Ih,: 1\II, ·dilll l'rll nea n and down the Africa n coasl inl O the Indi an Oe(,lIn . D"l'ill ll J'lIno" " ' I~n the first permanen\' Engli sh se illemeni s were (,S111 hll sl",d III N' "'lh i\ /l",ril'lI ,

first at .l ames lawn. then in Bermuda. fII !'Iymoul h. '"111 in I h" Cal'llI l","" . In J 6 11 the East Ind in Company estab lished England's li" 51 I'pnillfl ld in Ind lll , Even when expedilions ended disas lrously. l IS did Il en,'y II"d "", ', IIJlI attempt to [';nd Ihe Northwcs i Passage and Walin Hnlllgh's I h 17 "'1', ·.1 1111111 to Guiana, they oFlen nsscrted lerl'ilol'i,, 1 claims 111111 lengliind "'"11 Iii "'1'1"11 111 later decades.

Although the C rown's deli beratc all empt s 10 Il1 l1nllge Ihe ('(! iIlHlIlI )! Wllft'

often misguided. its frequenl inall enlion 01' l'('fu sll l lO inll"-I'" ,·(, hlld ,h, ' " li lli' tentiona l efFec t or stin'lldat.ing growth . I'::nrly st'vcnlecnlh .. (:onltll'Y i!ll l rt !prr.

neu rs undertook a w ide va ri ety of schemes fo r indu :-o l riH I 01' Itgl'it'ldl lJ rld improvement. Some ventures we rl' aln10s1 li S loony liS Sir Poli til' "Vnldd·h ...

l"

ridiculous moneymaking no tions in Ben Jonson's Vo/poJU' ( I ()O() ). hili ntl Wl'h

\·"ere serious, prof·itnble en terpri ses . In Ihr south , domes tll ' I n d ll s t l'it , ~ IH'WIIl

manufacturing goods like pin s and light \V()o l ('n ~ th ltl hll d pl't'VIOll tt ly IWI 'n import ed. In the nonh . newly devc loped cOH I mines I'rllvltlt'd 1'1.1,,1 1'0" "11~"" \{ I ' ,

gro\oving cities. In th c eas t, landowners dl'llin t:d we il lt nd s. Pl'fl(, hl ld n ~ mOj't.' lIm­

ble land to Feed EnAl und's I'npid ly growi ng pOl'"ll1l.illn . 'l'h""L' "nd" IIv,"" M"Vf rise to a new respec t 1'01' the prac ti ca l arts, u fuil h in (( 'chnnlphr')' Ilk 1\ IlH 'II I1 N 01 improving hUnl fl n life, and H convit.: lion thut th e 1'11111 1'(' migh l h(' IW III 'I' IItun

th e past: all importa nt influences upon t he sc ient Wi t I ht'()!';l' 1'\ 0 1' I "l'I l1wb HIH'fln and hi s sevenl cnth -ce ntul'Y foll owCl's. El'ollomic ~I'II\ I h ill I his 1'",'10.1 "'1'1'11 morc to the initiative or individuals ltnd smull groups thun I n gOVt'!'IHlIl 'll!

poli cy. a faclOr thai encoliraAcd 11 recvll iu niion of illI' ro le III' sl' lf, lnl "·'·N I. IIii' profilmolive. and the role of business conll'Hc ls in Ih .. hClli'l'menl "i' iI", ('UII1'

munity. Thi s reeva luation was a pl'el'cql.li sil r 1'01' th l' st'c lIl lIl', t'OIl Il'IH'11t d I'nlil '

iea l Ihco ri es proposed by Thomas Ilobhes Hnd .I"hll I .IIL' k" 1111"" ill Ihe seventeenth century.

On Ihe vexa lions ra ced by IIw C hur" h of En ~ l lInd • .1 11 111 <" "'liS 11\" '11'1,, · ,,1'1 011 mosL success ful w hen he was Icas t ac tivist. Sincl' 1'l' l iginn c(' nH'l1ll ·d \ 1H'lnpn litica l order. il. seemed neeessll ry 10 Enf,\li sh 1'1I1el's Ih ll l 11 11 "I' Ih" 11' ",hl" I' I, belong to a single chlll'eh, Vel holl' could II Il' Y do so wl1<'11 II II' 11" 1,,,,",",1011 had discredit ed muny familiar n· li ~ious prll<: li ccs lind h ,eI h,·,·d dbllW ... ·lIlC' lIl over many theolo!),ica l is sues? Sixlccnlh · II l1d SC\lClll ec nlh ·" ' ·III11" 1 ;. II~liih

" """'" .~'l<',1'\\ 'I ,,>;0, \ ,,-.I,':""J> "'I ' -,:, 11,)\\ ~h\\lIld rull".: \\ , chip 1>..' ~'t)n' ~" Jilt i" ~1 .... ,'\1'1::- .. :~' ~\Mht~ '.~rt~'n ~ sht)'" t \nin'~t(' ptl:" , $.. ... ;- 11\\\\ shoulJ

,-,,,,,,,,,,,,, . ' ,n . ',, \,,< l' lI.m ,1.\\,11, "'1'1"1',1\' \\ kit dId th, s,l,ramt'nt

.'-' ", ," "'\ n .',m' \ \ IM\ h", ,'.'11 "lIn 1""'1'1 ,', ,,'ub ,dIn Ih~, d1<'<F Elit, ~ .... ~" "" '1 t 1 . i n it. t h) ,ft._', 1:-'" .~ t. ..... 'HHnnn rdl~hHl ~ pr~u.: t".·t' \\ h~n ."t~WI:' " ~'1 , ,,,"t ::-a ::- \\ .~ H ""'\::-:- lhh.,, :'<"1 ~ il h . it ... nu~tll., middl' ).!f\\Utl I b(~t \\ :'t:"n

"..:".J , .. 1 'I~"~n I "<'''~ , rW"\\'W \\ ,,, k!!,.Il, I '<luino I 10 ,mend t,,~ 1 \ ~l-Uhi :-; :'t\l l,."<.'~ ... u",l the.' t~lfm tlf til, H 'n {(x' so III 'tllseh ~~ \\,I !'

"""1'kj~,<'l III lh' I 1.;,,1 ',h, ... Ilo.,\" 0' 'n",,,,on ' 1':1\ 'I, " 't tlw Boul. of Olll-

) '~" "'i" .. "h 'r.H~' .~, ~ i .. f{ I ,h .. i h,-' s~il\~ ,\hS11"\lse I h\.'·olo~kal 'nnt n n (" - i t.' !!' .

l.m~~ M~ ' ,'f II ' rn~h,h ,hHl 'h ><' I'\ i<'c " as c.1I'Cfu lh d\O" II to be opt'n ~, ,, ~i n h'l1: 't.l;t~nH :' ,U ,1: .\("(. 1 t~,hl l' tn btlth Prn(t'"~tant ~ :'-l nd Ca l holic~

~ln ~ ~H Y ,',

l .. 1 h:~ 'lh..H' "'('lnpf\)n,i ~(' (,n;,,(,tlvd~ (,l.Hl t.'d man~ of tht' Ht~forrn~t ion 's .. h, ~ l'\ ' <.'t "'~k~ .. ~nd p'ft)\ l .h'<.."t.'pt.l.bh' to tht> m.l.lori t\ ufElil ,lht.,th 's :,ubj c."Cts . It' !-l .. iU ~ ~ ~Hh\)ht..'s ,'" nne si {(' .llld :H h.'nt PI'Ott>:'t a nts on tht' o ther. ho w'­('\ ..... , I ,'l- h;"h.'Ih.m "'",reh ~"'''' t"I I O h.t\ 'C s,Krillc,t'd truth to po litical ~'pe­, 'l':k'\ , C.;nh<\h(":, \\ ,'lntt..J to f\.' l llnl En~b lld to tilt.' H\lm~H' fold: \\ h il e sonlt:~ of

• ,,, ..... It,\ :,1 snh.ll'·i't :\ of tht.' t.1Ut' c.' n . nthcn: : ld\"(ll~:.H('d hn -;ts io n b\ a fo reign

,"-' .. '\t""'1'.: 1 ,\\ '1'. \ h, .... H" d , il, t ilt.' PUri t ~H 1S . . \ :0' tht'~ \\l' re dbp:lraglng l~ called. ~~(d t\l1' nhW\ .' th()r\llI ~h~oin~ I"c fo rm.n ion In do(.·trlllc. ritual. and church

~"''n UH.'I I. ut')!in~ tht' t"Ii m tn:Himl of "po pish" dements fru m \\ o rship sen-­k < .n ) -id(,Lunlu :," r~::~li ~il)H ;:' im~l~l_' ~ from churches. Some. tilt' Presbyterians . w:.mh.-J ttl S't.'IMf.a(' I.t ~ _tnd (' It_~rkal ))(l\\(:'r in tht:' n :Hion:11 church. so that :il n-h k'h..it' : wn u lc.llw .tppoin (t.~d by other l11illbter~. nut b~ secular author­itit"$.. nlhl' : . ti lt' St'p.\r..H' :-;t~ . . Hh-\lC. l1t.~ abandonin~ a national church in fa ' -or of ~.n.ln t.. ... \ln~n'~.uion :': {)f tilt' "dt.'c t. "

11w rt' :,: i:,LHll'(' of n~li~ ill llS 1l11noritics to Eli l:lb(:'th ·s t.'stablished church opt~nt-d. d H:'Hl hl :,( :H(' PCfSf?t.'uli n ll , In the 1 S80s and 1590s. C.Hholic priests .m till' t n T ~opk \\ lU') hnrhorl'd tllt.'1ll \\'cre t.' \ c.:'clitt'd for treason. and radical Prt)(t~ t~~ fl(S ftlr I wn..' ~' . Btl t It groups ~r~t.'h.'d J U Illt'S ':-; ':I('ce~sion ell thus iast ically: hi' mod",r k.d lwe ll ti l<' C Hh"l;.: \1;\1'\ , QUt'<'1l "I' Srots, "hH" h is upbringing h.KI Ill't-'n in lhl' :,t rkt Hefo rml'd tr;tdition of th e Sc()tti~h Presbyterian Kirk.

J.unes ht:'~;n\ hi:, T\.' i ~1\ \\ ith ;\ con ft.' l't.'th': t.' a l Hampton Court. o ne of his p..tbct's .. \1 \\ hieh :l(h t)cah:' ~ of :l nlricty of religious \'it' \\ S could openly debate lhl'l1l. Yt.'t the Pllritan~ failed to pc.:'r~lI : l(le him ttl Ill akt.:' a ny sllbstantin~ reforms. Pr.\ ' t.ic ~l.l l ~ speaking.. tht.' Purit :ul Iwlief that congn.!g~l:tion~ shoul(l c hoose the ir le .. ldt-'rs d i l\l i ni~hcd the III )narch-s po\\er by stripping hilll of a uthority o' -e r e('CI('~ i:.lst i c.11 appoin tmt.'nt s . ;\Iore g('tll.:: rall~· . a llo \\ in}.! people to choose their lead~rs in a", sphene' of lift' lhrt'" .. encd 10 sub,'cr! the "ntil'<' ,,-stel11 of defer­('nee and hit:' r;,lt'ch~ ' upon which lht' institution of monarc hy itself seetned to rest. ":'\0 bishop, no king," .I a 111<" fumously rt'nHlrked ,

\ or did Calholics f"l'e well in th e nt'W re ign , Initially inclined to liFt Eliza­b~th 's snn'lions agnins .. Ihcm, James hesitated when he realized how ~1lIl't'nd1t'd '"'' lhe Opposilion 10 lokr"tion, Then, in 1605 , a small group of dis. ITectt'd Cal ho lies packed :I cdlar adjacent to the Houses of Pa rliament with gu npowder. inlt'nding 10 delona tc it o n lhe d",' lhat the king formally oppned P"r\inmt'Ilt, wilh Prince Henry, lhe Houses of Lords and Commons , and the kadingjustices in :1l1endance , The conspirators we re arrested befole the,-cou ld "tl'l'c l their pl"n, If the "Gunpowder Plot" had succeeded, it would ha,'<' eliminated muc h of England's ruling class in a single tremendolls exVlo-

1240 / THE EA B L \' S EV E NTE E NTH CE NTU R Y

sion, leaving the land vulne rab le to invasion by a foreign, Ca tholi c power. Not su rpri singlv, the Gu npowder Plot dramalica lly heightened anti -Ca tholic par· anoia in England . and its apparentl y miraculous revelation was widely seen as a sign of God's care for England's PrOlestant governors.

By and large , then, James's ecc les iastica l po licies continued along the lines laid down by Elizabeth. By appointing bishops of varying doctrin al views, he restrained any si ngle fac tion from con trolling churc h poli cy. The most impor· tant religious eve nt of James's reign was a newly commiss ioned translation of the Bible. First publis hed in 161 I , it was a typically mode rati ng document. A mu ch more gracefu l rend ering than its predecessor, the Geneva version pro· du ced by Puritan expatriates in the 1550s, the KingJames Bible im mediately became the standard English Sc riptu re. Its impressive rh ythms and memora· ble phrasing wou ld influence writers for centuries . On the one hand , the new translation co ntributed to th e Protesta nt ai m of making the Bible widely avail · able to every reader in the ve rnacul ar. On the other hand , unlike the Geneva Bible, th e Kin g James Version trans lated controvers ia l and ambiguous pas· sages in ways that bolstered co nse rvati ve prefe rences for a ce remonial church and for a hi erarchi cally orga nized church gove rnment.

James's modera ti on was not universa lly popular. Some Protestants yearned for a more confrontation al policy toward Catholic powers , particularlv toward Spain , England 's old enemy. In the first decade of James's reign , this party clustered around James's eldes t so n and heir apparent, Prince Henry. who cultivated a militantly Protestant perso na . When Henry died of typ hoid fever in 1612, those who favored his polic ies were forced to seek ave nu es of power outside the roya l court. By the 1620s, th e House of Commons was developing a vigorous sense 01' its own independence, debating policy agendas often quite at odds \-\lit h the C rown's and openly atte mpting to use its power to approve taxa tion as a mea ns of exacting concessions from the king.

James 's second so n, Prince C harl es , came to th e throne upon James's death in 1625. Unlike hi s father, Cha rles was not a theori st of royal absolutism, but he ac ted on that princ iple with an inflexib ility th at hi s father had never been able to muste r. By 1629 he had disso lved Parli ament three times in frust ration with it s recalc itrance, and he then began more than a decade of "personal rule" without Parliament. C harl es \-vas mo re prud enl in some respects than hi s fat her had bee n- he not on ly restrained the costs of his own cou rt , but paid off his fa th er's stagge ring debts by the early 1630s. Throughout his reign, he co nscientiously applied himself to the business of govern ment. Yet his refusal to invo lve powerful individuals and fact ions in the workings of the state inevitably a li enated them, eve n whil e it cut him off dangerous ly from impor· tant channels of information about the reactions of his people . Money was a constant problem, too. Even a relatively fru ga l king required some funds for ambitious gove rnment initi atives; but without pa rliamentary approval. any taxes C harles imposed were wide ly perce ived as ill ega l. As a res ult , even wise policies , such as C ha rl es's effort to build up the Engli sh navy, spawned mis· givings amo ng many o f his subjec ts.

Religious conflicts intensified. C ha rles's queen , the French princess Hen· ri etta Mari a, suppo rted an entourage of Roman Catho lic priests , protected Engli sh Catholic s, and encouraged severa l noblewomen in her court to convert to the Catho lic fa ith. While C harles remained a staunch member of the C hurch of England , he loved vis ua l sp lendor and majes tic ce remony in all aspects of life, spiritual and otherwise-proclivities that led his Puritan sub·

I NTRODUCTIO ' I 1241

jects to suspect him of popi sh sympathies. C ha rles's profound attachment Lo his \\,fe, so different frolll James's neglect of Anne, only deepened their qualms. Like many fe ll ow Puritans, Lucy Hutchin son blamed th e entire deba­cle of Charles's reign o n hi s wife's influ ence .

Charles's a ppointme nt of William Laud as arc hbishop of Canterbury. the ecclesiast ical head of the English Church, further alienated Puritans . Laud subscribed to a theo logy that most Puritans rejected. As fo llowers of Lhe sixteenth -ce ntury reforme r Jo hn Ca lvin , Puritans held that sa lvation depended upon faith in Christ, no t "works." Works were meaningless because th e deeds of sinful human beings co uld not be sanctifi ed in the abse nce of faith; more­over, the Fa ll had so tho roughl y co rrupted huma n beings that they cou ld not muster this faith without the he lp of God's grace. God c hose (or refused) to extend grace to parti c ul ar in di viduals on grou nd s lhat human beings were incapa ble of comprehending, an d his dec ision had been made from eterni ty, before the individuals co ncerned were eve n born . In other words. Puritans believed , God predestined people to be saved or dam ned. and C hrist 's redemp­tive sacrifice was des igned only for the saved group, the "elecl. " Laud. by contrast, advocated the Arminia n doctrine that th rough C hri st. Cod made redemption freel y ava il able to all human beings . Ind ividua ls cou ld choose whether or not to respond to Cod's grace, and th ey could wo rk ac tively toward their sa lvation by acts o f c harity, ritual devotion, and gene rosity to the church.

Although Laud's theology "ppears more gene rously inclusive than the Cal­vinist alternative, his ccclcsi<:lst i<.:al polic ies were unco mpromi si ng. Stripping many Puritan ministerli of their posts, Laud aligned the doctrine and cere~ monics of the Engli sh churc h with Roma n Ca tholi c ism, which like Armin i­anism held work~ in high regard. In an a mbitiou s projec t of church renova tion , Laud install ed reli giou s pa intin gs a nd images in churc hes; he thought they promotcd reverence in worshippers, but the Puritan s bclieve(1 they encouraged idolatry. He re built a nd res itua ted altars, making the m more ornate a nd prom­inent : another change that di smayed Puritans, si nce it implied tha t the Eucha­rist nnhcr than the se rmon was the central clemen t of a worship service. In the 1630s thou sa nd s of Purita ns departed for the ew Engla nd colonies, but many more remained at home, deeply discontented.

A, the 1630s drew to a ciose, Arc hbishop La ud and C ha rles attempted to impose a version of' the English liturgy a nd episcopal organization upon Pres­l>yLerian Scotland. Un li ke his father, C ha rl es had little acquaintance wi th his I\IJrthcrn realm , and he dra stica ll y und eresti mated th e di ffi c ult ies involved . The ~cot' ubjected both on nationa li st a nd on religiou s grou nds. and they were not ,hy a bollt express ing the ir obj ecti ons: the bi shop of Brechin. obliged to cnnduct divine service in the presc ribed En glis h style, mount ed the pulpit arm ·d with two pistols against his unrul y congrega ti on, while his wife, sta ~ linn don th ' floor be low, bac ked him up with a blund e rbu ss. In the conflict lhal followed, the Bishups' Wars of 1639 a nd 1640 , C harl es's forces me t with abject dcf"al. loxncerbating th e s ituation , Laud was Simultaneo usly in sisting upon Ilfcatcr conformity withi n the Engli sh churc h . RiolS in the London ~rect. and the ')cot,, ' occupa ti on o f seve ra l north e rn Engli sh ci ti (,s forced Charle. Lo call the so-ca lled Long Pa rlia me nt , whic h wou ld soon he managi ng .a (t'\"olution.

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