How important was religion in the early 1600s?
Religion couldn’t have been more important. The 1600s saw great religious wars in Europe between Protestants and Catholics. The Thirty Years’ War (1618-48) was a war mostly religious in character. This was the age of “Absolute Monarchy”. During the 1600s people were expected to have the same religion as their monarch. If they didn’t they would be considered disloyal. For instance in France King Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes and forced the French Protestants, called the Huguenots, from France. In England the Protestants were divided between the Anglicans who represented the Church of England and the Puritans, who wanted to purify the Church of Catholic practicies that were part of the Anglican Church. This led to the English Civil War in 1642, in which the Parliamentary forces led by the Puritans under Oliver Cromwell won. King Charles I was beheaded and England was made a republic. During the earlier reign of James I (1566-1625) the King faced constant opposition from the Purit
