ABSTRACT
The magistrates and theologians of Tudor and Stuart England were profoundly conscious of standing within a tradition which extended for many centuries into Europe's past. The theorists of persecution were deeply uncomfortable with the idea of an anti-heathen crusade. The historical lesson of Europe's recent religious wars was not that persecution caused strife, but that it was highly dangerous to allow two religions in one territory. Luther did write against persecution in the early 1520s, but after 1525 his position hardened, and he returned to the conviction that the temporal authorities should root out false religion by force from Protestant lands. The Protestant ruler could compel Christians to follow the Scriptures since they had already pledged themselves to obey God's Word, but compelling Jews or Muslims to embrace Christianity was something different. The fact that almost all Protestants before the Laudians believed that the Pope was the Antichrist reinforced their commitment to harsh anti-papal policies.
