Was King Charles I a Protestant or a Catholic???

Question

im doing a history essay on the causes of the British Civil War, and I don't know whether England was a Protestant country at the time or not. King James (Charles' father) was a Protestant, but i can't tell whether Charles himslef was.

Please help!!!!!!!

Answer 1

I don't think he even really knew.

Religious conflicts permeated Charles's reign. He married a Catholic princess, Henrietta Maria of France, over the objections of Parliament and public opinion. He further allied himself with controversial religious figures, including the ecclesiastic Richard Montagu and William Laud, whom Charles appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. Many of Charles's subjects felt this brought the Church of England too close to Roman Catholicism. Charles's later attempts to force religious reforms upon Scotland led to the Bishops' Wars that weakened England's government and helped precipitate his downfall.

Answer 2

a Protestant

Answer 3

James I was Catholic.  He was part of that whole pendulum swinging back and forth between the two religions..,

Everyone was Catholic, then Henry founded the Protestant (Anglican) church.

He was succeeded by Edward, who was protestant, born after the break from the pope.  His reign was so short as to be unimportant, anyway.

He was succeeded by Mary, daughter of Henry and Catherine of Aragon, who were both Catholic.

She was succeeded by Elizabeth, who was protestant.  In fact, it was Henry's desire for her mother, Anne Boleyn, which caused the Anglican church to be formed in the first place.

She was succeeded by James, who was not part of all this Protestantism, and was isolated from the whole thing, having been raised in Scotland, far enough away from the whole tumult.  

During all these changes in religion, the people had to change their beliefs, too.  And the problem that arose, was that some people just couldn't go changing their convictions on a dime, like that, just because their king (or queen) had died.  

I believe that Charles was the first king to make religion a choice of the people, not of the king.  There was no longer a requirement to follow the king's choice of religion, as of his reign, (actually, I thought that was Charles II, but reading other answers, I see I was probably wrong on that one).

All this constant flip flopping of religion is the reason the "Pilgrims" came to the New World...to escape the persecution for not following the new royal religion, and, since they left England, and arrived in the New World, during James' reign, and they were Protestants, they were escaping James' Catholic rule.

Answer 4

England was officially Protestant, but evidently not Protestant enough to satisfy the Puritans.  In addition, Charles I's Queen, Henrietta Maria, was Catholic. Charles himself  was a Protestant, although a rather High Church one.  He objected to his wife's taking their oldest son (who became Charles II) to Mass with her.  Young Charles, incidentally, who also married a Catholic, asked for and received Catholic Last Rights on his deathbed, and there are rumors that he had actually converted some time earlier.  James II, the younger brother of Charles II, was an open Catholic from his youth, a fact that contributed strongly to his being deposed after a relatively short reign.

Answer 5

Charles 1 st was protestant, or more correctly Church of England, of which the monarch is the head. All the kings and queens of England after Mary Tudor(bloody Mary)and up to the present day, have been church of England

Answer 6

England was a Protestant nation at the time of Charles I coronation. Charles was raised as a Protestant, who was also deeply religious. He favored the high Anglican form of worship, with much ritual, while many of his subjects, particularly in Scotland, wanted plainer forms. Charles preferred church services to be grand and full of ritual and colour. This was to lead to a clash with many in England who preferred  plain and simple services.

However, later on Charles found himself ever more in disagreement on religious and financial matters with many leading citizens. Having broken an engagement to the Spanish infanta, he had married a Roman Catholic, Henrietta Maria of France, and this only made matters worse. This is when people started to question his faith, and whether his French wife had any influences on his behavior, which eventually led to the English Civil War.

Note: Charles started off a true Protestant, but may have secretly started to follow Catholicism in his later years. His wife was a Catholic, and his two sons were raised as Catholics. There is no doubt, Charles was greatly influenced in his private chambers by his wife and children.

Answer 7

He favoured the high Anglican form of worship.