ABSTRACT
Christianity came to Britain in Roman times, although its influence declined after the withdrawal of the legions early in the fifth century. In 596 Pope Gregory sent a party of monks led by Augustine to convert the English and it was these men and their successors who established the Roman Catholic Church in this country Throughout the Middle Ages, the English kings acknowledged at least nominal allegiance to Rome, but by the sixteenth century it was clear that relations were becoming somewhat strained. In 1534 Henry VIII broke with Rome, the immediate cause of the breach being the Pope’s refusal to recognise his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Although his eldest daughter, Mary Tudor, tried to re-establish the Roman Catholic Church in England during her reign (1553-8), she was unsuccessful. Her sister Elizabeth had been brought up a Protestant, and the Settlement made soon after she came to the throne confirmed the position of the Protestant Church of England. The Elizabethan Church Settlement, however, did not end religious controversy in Britain, as even the most cursory glance at the history books will show. Matters of faith were rarely far from the minds of those involved in the conflicts of the seventeenth century, although once again the Church of England triumphed when the Protestant William III replaced the Catholic James II on the throne in 1688. Throughout the eighteenth century Noncomformists and Roman Catholics were barred from holding public office, but the 1828 Test Act and the 1829 Catholic Emancipation Act lifted many of the restrictions laid upon those who were not members of the Anglican Church.
