Religion in the 17th Century

In the 17th century, religion was a vital part of everyday life. By law everybody
was supposed to belong to the Church of England although in this century was
the beginning of many independent churches. This is why it is safe to say that
religion in the 17th century was far more important than it is today.
The 17th century for religion was a century of many fights between Anglicanism,
the main religion in England, and independent churches. Since the beginning of
the century, King Charles I was strongly opposed to Puritans and other
independent churches and was determined to suppress them through several
laws forbidding their meetings. This fight kept going until 1642 when civil war
came to England until 1646 and later in 1649 Charles I was executed.
England did not have a king for eleven years (1649-1660), time where
Parliament was determined to crack down on the many independent churches
that had sprung up. They passed a series of laws to persecute nonconformists but they were not enough to stop their meetings and preaching.
Charles I was followed by Charles II until 1685 when he died and was followed
by James II who was openly Catholic. He quickly got Catholics to powerful and
important positions and in 1687 he passed a Declaration of Indulgence that
suspended all laws against Catholics and non-conformists.
The people of England tolerated James II as long as he had no heir but in 1688,
James had a son who would certainly be brought up a Catholic and would, of
course, succeed his father. The Parliament deposed James II in 1688 and
passed the Bill of Rights that forbid all Catholics to be king or queen of
England. However, they also passed the Toleration Act where Catholics and
non-conformists were allowed to have their own places of worship and
preachers, bringing an end to Englands all time Anglicanism as the only
religion.
In conclusion, due to the effort of the Parliament and King Charles I to censor
independent churches it is clear that religion in the 17 th century was far more
important than it is today.