Why is religion a source of conflict during charles I of Englands reign?
Loryntoo is only half right. The main source of conflict was money; the secondary source was power. Religion and ideology were rationalisations used by both sides. The fact was that the rich (i.e. then as now the financiers, merchants and industrialists of the City of London and other, lesser, capitalist centres) wanted to pay less tax and exercise more control. Then as now, there was resentment at paying necessary taxes (in Charles I’s reign a major grievance was over ‘ship money’ – i.e. a tax for the defence of the realm). The power of the Parliament to vote revenue for the government (i.e. the King) was used as leverage to influence policy. The King tried to govern without Parliament, but eventually it came to open war. As for the rationalisations – It happened that for historical reasons (trading connexions with Holland and the Germanic areas of the Continent) the mercantile class, as well as being rich, was influenced by Calvinist ideas from across the water. The traditionalists s
