During the fifty-seven years between the accession of the Stuart king, James I, to the throne of England and that of his grandson Charles II, there were few changes in the external appearance of London and its many churches. Only one church building was put up in the old city. Inside the churches, however, it was another story. Much of the medieval ornateness that had escaped during the Reformation was defaced or destroyed by Puritan reactionaries during the Commonwealth period, including the stained glass in the Chapel of Edward VII. And between the years 1603 and 1660 London and all of England was shaken by religious events of tremendous import.
On the positive side, it was a period when religion was taken seriously by more people in England than even during the Reformation of the previous century. Several of the great Protestant denominations gained public recognition at this time, notably the Baptists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Quakers, and by mid-century there were Nonconformist congregations all over London. The Presbyterians, in fact, nearly succeeded in making Presbyterianism the national religion. But it was also a dark period in England’s history. Established precedents, individual rights, property and human lives all fell victim to the tragedy of irreconcilable religious differences leading eventually to the violence of civil war. And when the Commonwealth experiment finally came to an end in 1660 with the re¬establishment of the monarchy it was only to plunge the nation into a new dark age of intolerance.
As in the century before, the English sovereigns played the primary role in determining what form of worship and church government would be endorsed by the state. But whereas the Tudor monarchs, Mary excepted. managed to gain the approval of the majority of their subjects, the Stuarts met with increasing resistance. The reason for this seems to be that, as has been pointed out, the Reformation with its emphasis upon an open Bible made a widespread impact upon the common man during the Elizabethan age, and by 1603 a vast number of English men and women were Christians in the personal sense. Now not only did the clergy and university professors struggle with such issues as whether all churches should follow one set form of service, but merchants, craftsmen and small landowners did so as well.
On the other hand, much of the blame seems to lie with the kings themselves. Had James I and Charles I been men of insight into human, nature and able to recognize that they, despite their power, needed the consent of their subjects to rule successfully, harmony might have been achieved without tearing the country asunder. As it was, however, both of these rulers were convinced that God had ordained them to hold all the power of government in their own hands, and England had to endure a religious war dividing not only the nation, but villages and households. Fortunately, London was at least spared the physical aspects of war as she was the stronghold of Parliament and proof against Royalist attack.
Briefly summarized, the years between 1603 and 1660 seem to fall into two main periods, which in turn can each be divided into two periods. The first covers the reign of James I from 1603 to 1625, and then that of Charles I from 1625 to the beginning of the civil war in 1642. Generally, this period can be thought of historically as the rise of the Puritans and the revolt of Parliament against the monarchy.
The second period includes the civil war and the captivity of Charles I until his execution in 1649, which led to the Commonwealth experiment from 1649 to 1660. This ended with the death of Cromwell in 1658 and the election of a new Parliament which in turn restored the monarchy