Naturally enough, the extreme pretensions of James
encountered much opposition from Parliament. That body felt little sympathy for
a ruler who proclaimed himself the source of all law. When James, always
extravagant and a poor financier, came before it for money, Parliament insisted
on its right to withhold supplies until grievances were redressed. James would
not yield, and got along as best he could by levying customs duties, selling
titles of nobility, and imposing excessive fines, in spite of the protests of
Parliament. This situation continued to the end of the king's reign.
JAMES I AND PURITANISM
A religious controversy helped to embitter the dispute
between James and Parliament. The king, who was Puritanism a devout Anglican,
made himself very unpopular with the Puritans, as the reformers within the
Church of England were called. The Puritans had no intention of separating from
the national or established Church, but they wished to "purify" it of
certain customs which they described as "Romish" or
"papist." Among these were the use of the surplice, of the ring in
the marriage service, and of the sign of the cross in baptism. Some Puritans
wanted to get rid of the Book of Common Prayer altogether. The Puritans
were distinguished by their austere lives. They looked with disfavor on May Day
and Christmas festivities, observed the Jewish Sabbath in all its rigor, and
condemned the Anglicans who played games and danced upon the village green on
Sundays. As the Puritans had a large majority in the House of Commons, it was
inevitable that the parliamentary struggle against Stuart absolutism would
assume in part a religious character.
