1. The Importance of Religion in Europe

2. The Protestant/Catholic Split
When Martin Luther attacks the Catholic Church there is a split in European Christendom
Ardent Catholic King Philip II goes to war to root out challenges to the Church
Goes to war with Calvinists, leading to the Dutch Republic (Holland)
Henry VIII initially opposes Protestantism, but the pope refused to annul his marriage to the Spanish Princess
He splits from Rome and places himself as head of the Church of England
Queen Elizabeth continues the Protestant ways, with Catholic influence leaving the Church in the hands of Anglican bishops
Goes to war with the Catholic Irish

3. The Puritans Calvinism
John Calvin preached human weakness and God’s omnipotence
Predestination - God chooses certain people for eternal salvation and condemns the rest to eternal damnation
His authoritarian doctrine appeals to Puritans in Scotland and England
Unlike the Pilgrims, Puritans did not separate from the Church of England
Hoped to purify the religion of ceremony and hierarchy
English Puritans were powerful in Parliament so when they accused Charles I of ‘popery’ and he dissolved Parliament, they fled to America.
With the failure of the English Revolution, the Puritan Colonies stood as outposts of Calvinism and the Atlantic republican tradition.

4. The Pilgrims
They were religious separatists who broke from the Church of England
Committed Protestants who left the Church of England
King James threatened to drive them out
The Mayflower