The Gun Powder Plot

9 Pages 2222 Words

d bring limited tolerance for the Catholic religion. It seemed to some that the only chance to restore Catholicism in England would be Elizabeth’s succession by a more tolerant monarch, and many Catholics believed or hope that James could be that monarch. He was the son of Mary Queen of Scots, a Catholic, so he was assumed to be Catholic, or at least sympathetic towards the religion. The king was the creature of successive combinations of the nobility and clergy in a complicated struggle between the remnants of his mother's Catholic party, which favoured an alliance with France, and the Protestant faction, which wished an alliance with England. Rumors circulated that James had made promises of limited toleration, and intended to put an end to fining recusants. There were high hopes of improvement of Catholic life at the beginning of James’ reign.
Initially James did seem more lenient, but when Catholics James’ actions changed, and Catholics realized that he did not intend to grant absolute toleration to Catholics, their disappointment and feeling of betrayal for James was expressed in a violent fashion. The desperation of Catholics grew as time went on, and James did nothing to help Catholics. He continued to collect fins from recusants and made no steps toward re-establishing the Catholic religion. King James’ betrayal enraged some Catholics, and resulted in the formation of some plots intended to force James to carry out his promises and grant partial toleration to Catholics.
These plot however, were unsuccessful and had negative consequences for the Catholics as a group. These plots caused Parliament to re-establish Elizabethan penal laws. The Penal Laws stated that it was high treason to practice Catholicism. These laws also stated that there would be severe punishments for people who attended mass. As a result of the plots, life once again became dangerous for Jesuit priests, and all Catholics who con...