The primary reason for the English Civil War was opposition to Charles I and his attempts to impose religious uniformity on the three kingdoms of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland. His appointment of William Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury signalled that Charles I was aligning himself with Arminianism and rejecting many of the reformist Protestant doctrines that were increasingly popular with some elements of English society.
The re-siting of altars at the east end of churches and the publication of the Book of Sports in 1633 increased Puritan fears that Charles was trying to introduce popish practices back into England. William Laud was also active in repressing nonconformists. The trial and savage punishment of Puritan writers William Prynne, Henry Burton and John Bastwick in 1537 stirred up further opposition to Charles I’s perceived ‘crypto-Catholic’ policies.
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