ABSTRACT
The first session of the Hampton Court Conference took place on 14 January 1604. This conference included eight bishops, seven deans, and two doctors of divinity appointed by James to respond to the concerns of four representatives of the signatories of the Millenary Petition. This latter had been presented to James as he made his way from Scotland to London. Prime movers of this petition were Stephen Egerton and Arthur Hildersham, both known for their vocal discontent with various aspects of the Church of England, and also for their repeated nonconformity in matters of liturgical ceremonial. The Millenary Petition itself reiterated criticisms of the Book of Common Prayer and its ceremonial which had been articulated previously in the reign of Elizabeth by such protagonists as Thomas Cartwright, and John Field and Thomas Wilcox in their An Admonition to the Parliament.1 Such things as the use of the surplice, the ring in marriage, the sign of the cross in baptism were amongst the several complaints. In Elizabeth’s time, appeal was made to the example of the ‘Best Reformed Churches’. The signatories of the Millenary Petition hoped that since James VI was schooled in one of the ‘Best Reformed Churches’, namely Scotland, he would have some sympathy with those who wished to nudge the Church of England in the same direction. The concept that there should be more similarities between the two churches now under one monarch was one which James did indeed warm to, though unfortunately for the petitioners, as events unfolded, James’s vision was to conform the Church of Scotland to that of England rather than vice versa.
