How Far Was James Successful in Dealing with the Problems...

Throughout James’ reign, religion, especially Puritanism was kept respectably under control, however incurring minor ‘hiccups’ along the way. James was indifferent to religious prejudice and aimed to please both Catholics and protestants; introducing the Jacobean compromise. Before 1611 when Abbot succeeded Bancroft (previous archbishop), there were many glitches concerning the puritans including the Millenary Petition, Hampton Court Conference and Bancroft’s Cannons which caused mild uproar among puritans, however was short-lived. His main succession begun when pro-puritan Abbot became Archbishop in 1611. It wasn’t until 1618 when things took a turn for the worst. In 1611, George Abbot became the archbishop of Canterbury. This caused†¦show more content†¦For many years, James’ puritan success continued and all were content, until however, the year 1618 when things seemed to be heading for a dip in the practice of worship and policy. During this year, James had reason to believe a new policy needed introduced, therefore issuing a rather dramatic change ‘The Book of Sports’. This idea came to him whilst travelling down the country on return from Scotland. He received the impression that people felt the country had slipped too far puritan and were being deprived of any concept of fun. On his arrival back in London, his first priority was to loosen the strict puritan practices which had been implicated, alternatively imposing the ‘Book of Sports’. This was a bad move on James’ part as it caused puritans to grow in frustration and anger, leading them to believe James was leaning towards Catholicism. His Jacobean compromise was now on the road to breakdown. The ‘Book of Sports’ also uncovered another concern of the Protestants which had been silently heating up over recent years. This was formed from their opposition toward the proposed Spanish match. Although religious control was maintained, it caused James to become somewhat lazy in terms of considering the puritans frustration and deemed rejection. James had become so obsessed in succeeding with the plan of a Spanish match that it had jeopardised his succession among