Respond to the following sets of questions (each with a 8 sentence, minimum, answer) below:
-Who were the authors of these texts (make reasoned speculations)? What kind of people were they (status, identity, etc.)? When were these texts written? What kind of texts are they (e.g. diary? pamphlet? law code? secondary scholarly source?)? What are each of these texts “doing” (What are these texts describing? What are these texts arguing? Why would the author write these texts?)?
-What are the larger social problems that these texts show? How would you describe the problems of the Reformation in England? Specifically about the Quakers, how does this show an inversion of the logic of puritanism?
-For Hobbes specifically: who, according to Hobbes, caused the civil wars? how? why? how is this analysis of religious politics unique in comparison to what we’ve seen before?
Text one, “‘Quaker Women going Naked for Sign’ and the Trial of Jame Nayler,” was written in the 1650s (the second part of the text more specifically in 1656) after the English Civil War, execution of King Charles, and rise of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. The first portion of the text is an account of common Quaker women attempting to observe their faith in a way that despite not harming people of other faiths, offends them to the point of threatening charges. This portion of the texts showed how smaller splitter denominations of Christianity had a tougher time practicing their faith simply because the dominant faith was so abrasive to any sign of disconformity. Despite the fact that other’s “symbolic demonstrations” of faith didn’t affect anyone else they relentlessly attempted to stop them. While the second part of text one is a record of James Nayler’s Parliamentary hearing. In a similar case as the first portion Nayler was accused of blasphemy for pretending to be Jesus. Another example of someone attempting to practice their faith in an unorthodox manner and getting penalized showing how intolerant the majority religion was for outsiders. Text two, “Behemoth,” was written by theologian Thomas Hobbes well after the Civil War and Long Parliament itself. The text is a book discussing the events of the Civil War/Long Parliament between two people (A/B who seem to have a teacher/student relationship). The point of the text sought to explain just how one of the most stable monarchies in Europe wound up executing their king.
The larger problem these texts reveal is the disunity of English society. While a significant portion of the population is Protestant, so many different sub-sects of the faith have been created that they have begun to turn on each other despite holding dear the very same core values. People are turning on each other, condemning neighbors for committing acts that they view as wrong despite the fact that those acts do not affect them in any way. The problems of reformation England is that this disunity leads them vulnerable. Moments like these in history always lead to a strong, charismatic leader taking control. Which is exactly what Oliver Cromwell did. He became the equivalent of the king, despite Hobbes denoting how the roots of the revolution began in the people’s desire for a new government modeled closer after the Greeks and Romans. This shows an inversion of the logic of Puritanism as one of the main goals of Puritans is to reform the church of England. This is exactly what all those many sects are trying to do. They are each attempting to reform the church by adding on their belief of no child baptisms for example. However all of these attempted reforms have the different sorts of Puritans getting mad with each other for not reforming the church in the same ways.
For Hobbes the Civil war was caused by Presbyterians, Papists, Independents, Anabaptists, fifth monarchy men, and other sects like Quakers and Adamits who corrupted the populace, the increase in educated men, the spread of the idea that a change in government would lead to greater prosperity, people could not find a way to honestly provide for themselves, and finally that the people themselves became ignorant of their duty as subjects. The varying denominations caused discord through the Presbyterians pretending to have a divine right from God to govern everyone, Papists who retained and championed the belief that England ought to be governed by the Pope, whilst the other sects of religion simply brought chaos to faith by preaching so many conflicting ideals, confusing and disunifying the country. Independence declared themselves for a liberty in religion, Anabaptists claimed only adults should be baptized, and fifth monarchy men believed Christ’s kingdom was about to begin again. And these are only a few of the splinters. But beyond these agents of disunification the war was caused by an increased number of men educated in the ways of the idealized Roman and Greek empires both of which was without a king. Then the fact that these ideas spread from the main cities to the low countries inclined people to think that a change in government would lead to greater prosperity like back in the ancient days. Especially since people at that current point in history saw no way of honestly moving up in the ranks of society, thus inciting the belief a change must be made. This instance of religious politics is now different from before as people are no longer fighting for catholic versus protestant, sharp, defined differences between each religion. They are fighting amongst denominations of protestantism, where the lines are fuzzier and for the most part everyone holds the same core values so like the Nayler trial it becomes “hard to define what blasphemy is.”
The first text, “Quaker Women going Naked for Sign’ and the Trial of Jame Nayler” was written in 1655/56. The first part of the text describes Quaker women, peacefully, practicing their religion and the backlash they received. The second part of the text discusses James Naylor, a man who claimed to be the second coming of Jesus, and more specifically his trial in Parliament. Naylor went against the common religious guidelines in England and was branded by Parliament result. It is another example of intolerance from the religious majority. The second text, “Behemoth,” was written by Thomas Hobbes in 1681. Written after the Civil War and Long Parliament, Hobbes is discussing these events in a conversational (A/B) format. Hobbes in this part of his book is attempting to explain the litany of factors that lead a once stable nation to execute King Charles.
While a large portion of England’s society was Protestant, at the time, many smaller sects of Christiantiy existed. Despite many similarities there was little acceptance across religious lines. The religious persecution of these women is indicative of a larger intolerance in England at the time of smaller sects of Christianity. Naylor, like the Quaker women, was accused of blasphemy for pretending to be Jesus. This is just another example of religious intolerance in England, and the legal ramifications of those who chose to practice other faiths. It seems like Hobbes is blaming a multitude of factors for causing the Civil War, but mainly he seems to be the multitude of religious sects all fighting to push their own reform. Outside of religious reasons, Hobbes blames a rise in educated men who believed an overhaul of the government would create prosperity. What sperates this Civil War from the Reformation is the blurred lines. Instead of Catholics vs Protestants, the Civil War had a lot of smaller factions, with very similar ideas fighting.
The first source, ““Quaker Women Going ‘Naked’ for a Sign” and Trial of James Naylor” is a secondary source written in the middle of the 16th Century, with the time being specified to 1656 in the second source. The initial portion of this source focuses on the drive of Quaker women in England in the 1600s to achieve a proper observation of their religion. The second portion of this source is the hearing for James Naylor on accounts of heresy as he claimed as he was the second coming of Jesus Christ. The second source comes as an excerpt from Thomas Hobbes book Behemoth. This source looks upon the state of England in the era of the Long Parliament and the English Civil War in a seemingly teacher and student way, with one ‘character’ from the excerpt looking to the other to teach him what happened with all of these things.
Both of these texts are basically just to show how much disarray that England was in at the time, with very little political prominence, Parliament willing to hear out a man on possibly being the second coming. Furthermore, while all of this was happening, people like Thomas Hobbes were realizing this and literally and figuratively teaching the English public on what was truly happening. The Larger social problems shown by these were mainly the ignorance of the public, no one, outside of Hobbes, could quite realize just how preposterous a situation that they as Englishmen were currently in. These are simply the problems that England faced as a result of the reformation however. Every single religious group held animosity towards each other and were willing to go to such extreme lengths as full blown wars to defend their personal views of what the Anglican Church should have been. There is one exception to this trend, specifically concerning the Quakers, their ideals are a significant departure from typical Puritans. Whereas Puritans were very adamant upon reform in the Anglican Church, Quakers took a much more Conservative approach to their religion and basically subscribed to the Philosophy of don’t bother me and I will not bother you.
For Hobbes, the answer to who started the English Civil Wars is everyone. The religious climate in England was incredibly toxic and only getting worse, with more and more religious groups and new denominations appearing on a daily basis, it reached a natural bubbling point and war erupted. However, Hobbes did look at the Religious turmoil of England in a different, Logical light. Hobbes looked at the base values of each religion and dissected how these values differ from each other at a base level and was always going to lead to violence. For example, Hobbes explored how Presbyterians believed to be of divine right, as God’s chosen religion they obviously began to come into contact and then following conflict with any other sects of Christianity. Hobbes basically pays tribute to what none would say at the time, and pointed out how petty and never ending their conflicts would be, and with no way to solve it, the people should have resolved their issues and put aside their differences.
The two articles highlighted in this blog post are: “Quaker women going ‘naked for a sign” and trial of James Naylor” and “Behemoth”. The first text was written in 1655/56 after the death of King Charles I and the appointment of Oliver Cromwell as lord protector. The beginning explains how Quaker women had trouble worshipping their faith because other Christians did not want them to. This shows how even though they were not going against Christianity, they did not want any other ideas present. During this time, Christians would stop demonstrations even if they brought harm to no one. These actions prove how important it was during this time to not allow people to have different ideas. The second part of the text is a parliamentary hearing of James Naylor. Naylor was tried because he pretended to be the reborn Jesus. This connects to the first part because even though his demonstration did not harm anyone, he was still on trial for blasphemy. Text two was written by Thomas Hobbes well after these events. The document explains the events of the civil war and the long parliament.
The major social problem I see in England from these texts is the lack of trust the people show each other. This distrust stems from the fact that there are now many break offs of the faith. This trust issue leads to an unstable England that needed a new ruler. Oliver Cromwell takes this challenge and with it takes all the responsibilities of being a king, while not calling himself a king. This shows the logic of Puritanism because puritans try to reform the church. Each one of these break offs has their own way of reforming the church.
Hobbes believes that the civil war was caused by everyone who believed that change was necessary for England. This is because when the change was introduced, everyone started coming up with their own ideas which caused chaos. He believes the people that decided to make their own version of christianity is who started the war. These people were the over educated men. This was a problem in Hobbes mind because having too many people educated led to different ideas spreading fast. This is different from the other because many other people did not think it was conflict between different variations of one religion.
The author of the first text is unknown, but it was published in 1655. It is a descriptive text, maybe a diary entry or a public notice, but this is also unclear. The text describes a Quaker woman named Sarah Goldsmith and her two accomplices walking through a town naked in a public display of her Quaker views. At one point during her walk, she stops at the High-Cross (a main fixture in the town that overlooks the town and the market) for thirty minutes until a riot breaks out. When asked why she descended upon the town without clothing, she answers “in obedience to the light in my conscience.” After her interaction with the mayor of the town, she is sent to prison, along with her accomplices. The second text is a book by Thomas Hobbes called Behemoth, that details the events leading up to the English Civil War. It was written in 1668 but was censured by Charles II, and eventually published in 1681. Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher, most known for his book Leviathan, which delineated the role of the citizen in relation to the government during the English Civil War. The text is a book, and the first dialogue consists of a set of questions and answers between person “A” and “B”. Hobbes wrote the book to help the reader understand the causes of the war, including religious factionalism and papist loyalty, amongst other causes.
The problems displayed in the first text are that England was greatly divided on the matter of religion, and even in this state of division, people felt that they had to go to drastic lengths to display their faith. In the haste to bring reform to the Church, different factions of Protestants violently turned against one another, proving to be more of a divisive force in England than anything else. I’m not sure how for Quakers, the problems of the Reformation showed an inversion of puritanism, other than the fact that Quakers and Puritans both wanted church reform, just in different ways. The problems of the Reformation are clearly highlighted in Hobbes’ third reason for conflict, being that religious differences were so great that Englishmen were willing to pick up a sword over them.
According to Hobbes, religious factions, including Independents, Baptists, Fifth Monarchists, and Presbyterians caused the civil wars. Secondly, he blames a general admiration (amongst countryside dwellers) of the city of London as another reason for the civil wars. He cites the Spanish revolution as a reason why Englishmen believed such great prosperity would be possible in England with a change in government. Thirdly, he blames commoners who had lost all their money, and falsely viewed the war as a means to “honestly get their bread.” Finally, he blames general ignorance for the beginning of the wars, saying that this ignorance caused men to forget the importance of a monarch, citing that people believed the title of “king” was just a fancy title, and nothing else.
The first text, “Quaker woman going naked for a sign and Trial of James Naylor” is an excerpt from the textbook for the class Early Modern England in which commentary is provided around the primary accounts of Quaker women and the Trial of James Naylor that are recalled and written in 1655 and 1656. The texts include a description of the Quakers from the author’s perspective as well as include the proceedings from the trial of James Naylor. The purpose of this text is to illustrate where the government lies in its relation to religion and the authority that it has to govern people. The text calls into question what women are allowed to wear and in respect to James Naylor’s trial, directly state “It is hard to define what is blasphemy”. This recognition of the difficulty in determining legal matters is ultimately the theme that is seen across the articles this selection of readings serves the point of portraying these problems from the time period. The Second text which includes excerpts from the book Behemoth written by Thomas Hobbes originally in 1668 but published in 1681. Thomas Hobbes was a philosopher and author of the book Leviathan. He is credited for founding the social contract theory which states that individuals sacrifice some of their freedoms for the protection of their remaining rights and maintenance of social order. The purpose of this text is to try and explain why the English civil war came and passed. Hobbes references two speakers, A and B, where A is considered an eyewitness and insider to the events and B is considered a student attempting to understand the English government. Hobbes wrote this text to succeed Leviathan and portray what would happen if the very worst governmental rulings came to pass.
Some of the larger problems that these texts show regard the implications between the construct of a government and its relationship to a church in governing the people of England. This particular problem arises from the development of the reformation and the different factions that have been created within English society. Prior to the reformation and the existence of many different religious groups, there was a single definition of what was considered right or wrong orchestrated by the catholic church and executed by the monarch. With the institution of a more reformed church to the point where it is no longer in direct relation with the state, there is now a gap that is created for the proper governance of the people in which religion has left. This gap has essentially allowed for the development of conflict and uncertainty that follows in trying to determine how should a government or parliament more specifically go about in trying disputes and differences in regard to religion. This conflict that developed was additionally supported by the great extent that people fought for religion. For most of these conflicts, it meant putting religion before the state.
According to Hobbes, civil wars were caused primarily by a variety of factions that such as Papists, Presbyterians, Independents, those corrupt by reading Latin or greek, centers of trade, and those who saw war as a way to make money. Hobbes breaks down each of these factions specifically and references how they contributed to the cause of conflict during this time period. Hobbes additionally emphasizes the significance of the absolute monarchy and how this contributed greatly to the cause of the Civil War. He references the dispute between the king and the desire of parliament for the house to approve of the king’s actions. Additionally, Hobbes mentions the ignorance of many of the people that was supported by their education and disposition to the crown. This concept of educated men sharing ideas that were supported by the technology that existed at this time period supports this concept of factions such as those who wanted to make money and how centers of trade and the spread of religion allowed for the rebellion to grow the size that it was within the civil war. The analysis of religious politics is unique in comparison to what we’ve seen before because now there is fighting and conflict that exists between all of the different factions and not just between Catholics and Protestants.
In the article “Quaker women going naked for a sign and the trail of James Naylor” which was written in 1655/56, the author discusses the early quaker person and how they differ from how we view them today. Today quakers are viewed as pacifist, and harmless, but earlier quakers were radical and performed many outrages acts. One consisted of a woman who dressed in nothing but a sack cloth and roamed around the city in it to display her purity of spirit. The next part of the article talks about the trial of James Naylor, one of the most prominent quaker pastors in this era. The trial going on is about how Naylor claims to be the second coming of Jesus, and has ridden into town on the back of a donkey just as Jesus does the last time that he enters Jerusalem. During the trial Naylor answers questions as Jesus does in the new testament like how he came to lay down his life for the world. Different people have different opinions on how to handle him, one man thinks he should be stoned in the Old testament fashion, but one man believes that you cannot execute these men because you would have to execute so many people.
The second article is written by Thomas Hobbes and it is called “Behemoth”. It talks about how various religious groups are to blame for the civil war, Hobbes believes that groups such as the Baptist, anabaptist, protestant and multiple other religious groups that caused the struggle. Hobbes believed that they needed to stop arguing over their individual beliefs and put them aside and have a uniform agreement that was what the monarch said that way it would create less division in the country. If everyone agreed on religion at least on the outside it would reduce the amount of conflicts greatly. He also blames the common man who got rid of the king, thinking that they did not need one to rule them for the civil war and the tough times that they were experiencing. Hobbes firmly believed that the common man needed an absolute power to rule of them for the betterment of society and that by getting rid of the king the people had make a grave mistake.
The first text, “Quaker Women Going ‘Naked’ for a Sign and Trial of James Naylor,” is a primary source. It was written in 1655 and 1656. The first part of the text describes a small group of Quaker women who were practicing their religion in a way they thought was right, but ended up being put into prison for their actions. The second part of the text describes the trial of James Naylor who claimed that he was the “King of Israel”. The second text, “Behemoth”, is a primary source written in 1668, but published in the 1680s. Thomas Hobbes wrote this text with the purpose of explaining the causes of the English civil wars.
The first text shows the confusion Christian people felt. Several smaller sects of the Christian Church were developed during this time, such as the Quakers. A country in confusion cannot act as a unified front. The Quakers, specifically, had different ideas about how to reform the Church of England, leading to a further divide between the two.
According to Hobbes, the papists and presbyterians are causing the civil wars. He claims that there is an increased number of men becoming educated. His analysis of religious politics is an anomaly in comparison to what we’ve seen before because most people assume that subtle differences in religious belief within one religion could not cause this much disaster.
The texts are “Quaker women going ‘naked for a sign” and “Behemoth and the trial of James Naylor”. The former was written following Lord Cromwell’s appointment as Protector, and describes a Quaker custom which was frowned upon by the reformed Christians. In this custom, a woman would wear a sack and essentially be naked in part of their worship. Though they were praying to Christ and were a sect of Christianity, these practices were disliked by other Christians of the time. Due to these perceptions, people took it upon themselves to stop the spread of Quakers even if they caused no harm to anyone, a strong indication of how people disliked other views on religion at the time. The second text is the transcript of the parliamentary hearing of James Naylor following his proclamation that he was the second coming of Christ. Naylor’s claim was very disliked by the English people, and was tried for blasphemy. This is also indicative of English people’s dislike for change in the one type of reformed religion. The second part of the text is a part of “Behemoth” by Thomas Hobbes, which is about how governments are formed.
These texts show how English people looked at differences in Christianity. For instance, Quakers were shunned despite generally not causing any societal issues. Sure, they may have had some odd and out of the ordinary practices, but it was not necessarily a direct threat to English sovereignty. Despite that, the Quakers were treated as such. In regards to Naylor, his claiming he was Christ bothered English people as they thought we has simply an insult to Christianity. The texts suggests, despite English peoples want for a reformed church, a desire for a unified religious body to ensure everyone was having similar ideas and not doing crazy Quaker or Naylor-esque things. Specifically with puritans, despite preaching a constantly reforming church, they did not approve of Quakers, which seems very hypocritical.
Hobbes believes the civil war was caused by people who desired change. He theorizes that England was perfectly fine, but attempts to reform the state caused the chaos. Had England simply not done anything, the monarchy would still be in power and no harm would’ve been done to the people. More specifically, he suggests religious reformers are at fault. He believes these men, being educated, were spreading ideas to far and gave people a difference of opinion. He believes this to be dangerous and what has caused the chaos.
The first document contains two primary source articles: “Quaker women going ‘naked’ for a sign” written in 1655 and “Parliament on James Nayler” written in 1656. Only a year separates the two accounts, but the punishments inflicted upon Nayler by Parliament were much harsher than those inflicted on the Quaker women by Bristol city officers. Both articles are descriptive accounts of the events that happened and this make no serious claim about any of them. The parliamentary report on James Nayler appears as a Q&A giving fair representation to the arguments of both sides. It is unclear who wrote both articles. The first may have appeared as a news source. The second appears to be recorded by a logger of Parliamentary hearings. Regardless, both texts were written because they capture important historical events within a time of religious factionalism in England. The third text, Behemoth, is a primary source discourse written by Thomas Hobbes in 1668 as an explanation of the causes and history of the civil wars of England. Hobbes focuses much of his attention of the break down of government at the time.
Both texts exhibit the lack of a social center within English society that would keep everyone grounded to a uniform paradigm of behavior. Radicals began to express themselves openly. Religious fanatics and free thinkers found support for their causes. Meanwhile, sovereign authority struggled to reign in its diverse and tumultuous population.
We are told in a brief preface to “Quaker women going ‘naked’ for a sign” that Quakers often engaged in symbolic demonstrations “to testify to their faith and the world’s hypocrisy.” However, women streaking to demonstrate their faith is too radical to be encompassed by a puritan agenda of simplifying and regulating forms of worship. In other words, the stunt was too far removed from normalcy to be in line with Puritan thinking.
For Hobbes the civil wars were caused by the various religious groups that existed within England. He lists the Independents, the Anabaptists, the Fifth Monarch men, the Quakers, and the Adamits all by name. In addition, society was divided along lines of education which caused a conservative class of elites and an entitled lower class to emerge. Hobbes
The first text “Quaker Women Going ‘Naked’ for a Sign” and Trial of James Naylor” features two primary sources from 1655 and 1656 respectively. The first source describes Quaker women, the prominent one being Sarah Goldsmith, dressing in just a sackcloth and traveling around Bristol. This source was most likely written by a Quaker, as the months are written numerically instead of by their traditional name, a common habit of Quakers. This account was probably written to appeal to other Quakers and show the dedication of their fellow members. The second source in this text describes the trial of James Naylor, another Quaker, who had rode into Bristol on a donkey, claiming to be Jesus Christ. Most likely written by a court official, this source was perhaps written for legal reasons, and not necessarily to convince anyone. The second text is a selection from Thomas Hobbes’ work “Behemoth” and outlines the various reasons as to why the Civil Wars started, and who in particular was to blame for the chaos. Also a primary source, “Behemoth” was written presumably to convince others of his beliefs in the importance of a monarchy in England.
In the first two sources, probably the most important social problem being discussed is that of toleration. Due to the general loosening of many laws around censorship during the Revolution, many religious sects began to appear, presenting many different ideas many would find disturbing. Part of the problem was how to deal with these factions, in particular whether to tolerate them or to force them to conform. In this case of the Quaker women, the city dealt with the problem by having them jailed, which heavily contrasts the severe punishment of whipping, pillorying, maiming, and branding that Naylor received. The difference between the actions of these two events is that with the Quaker women, the act can be seen as a mere civil disturbance, while Naylor’s actions can be seen as blasphemous. However, the MPs who issued Naylor’s punishment were still concerned with the morality of having Naylor executed, something shown by the words of Major-General Boteler. This shows that when approaching punishing these sects, many were hesitant, and unsure of what to do. This issue also somewhat reveals a contradiction in Puritan ideals at the time. The dissolution of the national church, and the embrace of Congregationalism with some oversight shows that Puritans were starting to accept the idea that churches could hold their own independent values, however obviously the case of Naylor takes it too far in the eyes of the eyes of these MPs.
In “Behemoth”, Hobbes points his finger at many different groups as being the cause of the Civil Wars. Among these are the Army, Papists, Presbyterians, humanists, trade cities like London, and many fringe religious sects. In Hobbes’ view, the fragmentation of the Church was caused by too many people having access to the Bible, and them having the ability to form their own ideas and groups. Additionally, Presbyterians, Independents, and even humanists all suggested greater power in the people to control their religious and civil lives. Hobbes claims that in giving these powers to the people, the monarch is weakened, something that eventually resulted in civil war. Hobbes uses all of these reasons to bolster his claim that the King should have the ultimate power, something he would explore in “Leviathan”. Hobbes’ claim is unique as many at the time had become accustomed to the King sharing at least some power. He also challenges already embraced institutions like humanism by suggesting that the admiration for Greek and Roman government also played a part in the Revolution.
The first text was written regarding an event that took place in 1655, two years into the rule of Oliver Cromwell. The text describes Quaker women walking through town and standing at the high cross naked. The women argue that they are obeying their conscience, and that this justifies their actions. Despite the fact that their form of worship does not harm anyone else, they are prosecuted and imprisoned. The text shows the lengths that people will go to worship in the way they feel is appropriate, and the negative reactions and circumstances they face for defying social norms. The second text was written in 1656, and describes the trial of James Nayler in Parliament. Nayler was on trial for impersonating Christ. It seems that Nayler actually felt Christ was in everyone, and Nayler acting as Christ was the way Nayler could appreciate this. Nayler, like the women, went against social norms because he felt it was right, and because he wanted to follow the Quaker faith in the way his conscience told him to. Also like the women, Nayler was punished for his actions. The third text was written by Thomas Hobbes during the Long Parliament and Civil War. Hobbes wrote this to show how a seemingly stable nation became so divided that it fought a civil war, and he used a dialogue between a witness and a student to communicate his ideas.
The larger social problems all involve division in the country. The Reformation brought about new ideas and a desire for change, but also a strong resistance to that change. The Quakers are opposite the Puritans in that they reject worship. While the Puritans sought to further reform the methods of worship in the protestant movement, the Quakers feel worship is unnecessary to become close to God. In the first text, the Quakers are shown to be quite bold in defying social norms, while the Puritans were more conservative.
In Hobbes’ view, the Civil War is the fault of everyone who wanted to change England. He believes that without the reformation and the changes it brought, England would have carried on as it always had, and that would have been completely fine. Hobbes felt that the people need a monarch in order to keep the peace, and that removing the king from power was a mistake. This analysis of religious politics is unique because it does not point towards a specific group, but rather states that everyone is at fault. Previous analysis tended to take one side or another, while Hobbes states that change overall is the problem.
The first text, “Quaker Woman Going Naked For a Sign,” was written between 1955 and 1956 after Oliver Cromwell was named “Lord Protector,” and King Charles I died. This document, which is a primary source, gives instances where woman were wrongfully persecuted. In the first situation of the text, the Quaker woman of the text were practicing religion and ended up being thrown into jail. Other Christians did not want these Quaker woman practicing their faith, and they would do anything to stop them. The Christians quickly shut down the idea of the Quaker religion being practiced at all, and they would stop peaceful demonstrations to silence their competition. The second situation of the text talks about parliamentary hearing of James Naylor. Naylor was being put on trial because he had claimed that he was “king of Israel” and Jesus reborn. The second text, which was written by Thomas Hobbes and is a primary source. This was written during the Long Parliament and the civil war. Hobbes used a dialogue between a student and a teacher to show such a stable, well founded country could fall so easily from within and collapse into civil war.
These texts show large social problems within the country, and these are all about division and how the people are not unified. When the Quakers come about and offer a new ideology or a new way of thinking, this will cause some tension from the Puritans who want to keep everything and everyone pure. The Puritans follow the rules and believe in worshipping God, while the Quakers have a much different set of rules that does not include worshipping God as one of them, causing many disagreements.
In the eyes of Hobbes, the fault of the civil war is the fault of everyone that wanted change for England. Hobbes personally believed that without the Reformation or any changes to what England once was, then they would have continued to prosper without any issues whatsoever. But, since change did come about and civil war was brought to England, he now believes that England has severely damaged itself and the differing views around the country will lead to more destruction. Hobbes knows that the people need a monarch to lead them, and that removing the monarch from their government was a severe mistake. This is a unique way to look at religious politics because rather than one specific group being blamed, everyone as a whole was blamed for the civil war.
The text is broken up into two documents, the first being “Quaker Women Going ‘Naked’ for a Sign,” and the second is the trial of Quaker priest James Nayler. The first document details the protest of a Quaker woman, Sarah Goldsmith, and some of her friends, in walking around almost naked in protest against Bristol, a city in Northern England. The document is an official report of the incident and was written in 1655 to show the strange practices the Quakers had. The document shows the issues between the primary Christianity of England and other smaller subsets of religious groups. The second document, “Parliament on James Nayler,” is an official report of James Nayler’s trial after Nayler entered Bristol pretending to be the second coming of Jesus Christ. This blasphemous action was punished by Parliament and further shows the issues between groups of Christians in England. The second text is from “Behemoth,” by Thomas Hobbes and is a section of dialogue explaining the fall of Charles, the English Civil War, and the Long Parliament. Hobbes hopes that in teaching about the events of the English Civil War something similar will not occur again.
The three documents from after the English Civil War all show societal problems in England in and around the time. The first two documents detail the religious issues in England, that led to many other societal and political problems. With the Reformation came many sects of Christianity, all vying for influence, tolerance and control, especially in England. The imprisonment of Sarah Goldsmith, Anne Gunnicliffe and Margaret Wood for their protest shows these struggles. The three women were not harming anyone and were imprisoned for holding different religious beliefs and acting in a non-conforming way. Nayler was punished similarly for expressing his beliefs and ideas, although his action was seen as far more blasphemous. These imprisonments all show the issues between different groups of Christians, especially the Quakers, and show that the English were not as interested in reform as they previously were under the logic of Puritanism. The Quakers were just attempting to practice their religion and reform the current English Christianity but instead were punished.
Thomas Hobbes believed the English Civil War to be caused by many groups of people, including Papists, Presbyterians, Independents, Anabaptists, and Quakers. Hobbes blames these groups for spreading harmful political ideology around England and blames them for corrupting the population against the King. He also blames a section of the House of Commons that he claims are educated and so had ideas about democracy that they used to bring down the King. All of these people spread their idealized ideas about religion and government in England and created this society that spurned on the Civil War. Hobbes’ criticism differs from the common criticism of religious politics in that he puts all the small religious groups together in blaming them for the English Civil War.
The first text is written by someone pertaining to court. It is a collection of documented incidents of run-ins with Quakers from 1655 to 1656. The text is showing how blasphemous the Quakers were, especially James Nayler who pretended to be Jesus. At the same time people were unsure of what to do with the Quakers as they were unsure of what punishment they deserved for their action, if any at all. The second text is an excerpt from Behemoth by Thomas Hobbes which was written in 1668. It is a book about the civil war, and it’s causes, in particular it talks about the Long Parliament. It criticizes the decision of Parliament and of how the people practice religion. Hobbes wrote it to give critique to the people about how he believes the war came about.
The texts show how religion is still a problem for England. The first text shows how more factions are still coming about. It also demonstrates how the government was unsure on how to punish religious crimes. Without a unified church and no king to enforce religious beliefs, who is to say what is a crime. And once a crime has been identified, who is to say what the punishment for it should be. Because of the uncertainty of it all, the crown and Long Parliament are reestablished and this is what is spoken about in the second text by Hobbes. Parliament is back and religious factions are still in place as there is still no unified church. English translations of the Bible allow whoever is literate enough to read to interpret it as they please. These interpretations led to varying beliefs and to the division of the people.
According to Hobbes, the Long Parliament caused the civil wars. The text is titled “Behemoth or the Long Parliament” because parliament is being likened to a behemoth which is a large monster. Hobbes believed that Parliament used the promise of liberty and being freed from tyranny to urge the people into action and to cause discontent. He mentions how some people still did not want to do away with popery and papist beliefs. The analysis of religious politics is unique because the use of religion to sway people a certain way was effective. Personal interpretations of religion also were the cause of some people’s actions. Before religion was debated upon because people argued which way it was best to interpret it. Now Hobbes is saying that people should believe what they want and conform to the religion superficially. Also that Parliament used religion to get the common people to believe that they were oppressed, thus giving them a reason to want liberty.
Both texts assigned for this Blog Post have Unclear authors. But both contain primary source elements. The First text “Quaker women going ‘naked’ for a sign” is a secondary scholarly source date 1655, however it also includes anecdotes of primary events explaining the role and views of Quakers. This in turn provides evidence and background to the views of a portion of the common wealth and their feelings on the liberties of religious and political expression. This text goes on to speak about the parliament on James Nayler which outlines and discusses the actions of Nayler’s embodiment of christ. This piece of the first text also details and outlines political and religious perspectives of the time, specifically in regards to radicalism and presbyterianism. The second text is a transcription of the primary record of Nayler’s parliament hearing. It takes the form of a recording of the questions asked and the answers given. This article provides additional evidence to the political and religious thoughts and beliefs of the time due to Nayler’s status and position as well as the responses from all party’s involved.
These texts provide evidence of many larger problems facing English society during this time. The main issue that these texts express is the disagreement and distaste that the English people have amongst them. The text illustrate the fact that many specifically those that were outside of the protestant faith began to express themselves and push for liberties that they had previously not been given. Because of these inequalities within the english society there exists a disunity between the people.This disunity spreads not just to England but is felt widely amongst the three nations, England, Ireland, and Scotland. Though the demographics and political landscapes of these countries are very different they are all experiencing similar discontent regarding individuals ability to belong in the society of their birth. As for Hobbs he describes these issues and the discontent and disunity that are felt from everyone as the result of the civil wars. He goes on to suggest that these emotion driving the populous are what causes the revolution. Hobbs then elaborates and goes on to explain how the populous is driven by the religious factions that a majority hold over minority population of none puritan conforming citizens.
The first text that was analyzed, “Quaker Women Going ‘Naked’ for a Sign and Trial of James Nayler” are primary source texts from the 1650s. The first part of the text is an account of Quaker women parading around their city ‘naked’ in an effort to display their religious views as Quakers. Although these women did not truly parade around ‘naked’, they did not dress or behave in a manner consistent with most Catholic women of the time. For example, the women did not cover their hair and wore their hair undone. When the mayor approached one of the women, asking why she was going around the city in this manner, she replied, “in obedience to the light in my conscience.” This shows that these women were displaying their cause and were pushing for Quaker views to be seen and accepted. The second part of the text is a description of the trial of James Nayler, who was a prominent Quaker leader. James Nayler received harsh treatment from Parliament, as they were debating what course of action and punishment to take with Nayler. Nayler may have faced a harsh Parliament due to his heretical view, as he claimed that he was the second coming of Jesus Christ. The second text that was analyzed, “Behemoth”, is a primary source text written by Thomas Hobbs. He wrote this text to describe the multiple causes of the English Civil Wars. Hobbs cites many reasons for the causes of the English Civil Wars, many of them being religious disagreements and the rise of different sects of Catholicism pushing for reform.
The main problem that these texts display is a lack of social, religious, and political unity across England. Prior to the Reformation, it was commonplace for every English citizen to outwardly profess Catholicism and act in a manner consistent with Catholic teachings. Even if the English citizens had inward convictions that differed from their outward convictions, there was a complete lack of toleration for breaking away from the Catholic Church and its teachings. As made evident by the text “Quaker Women Going ‘Naked’ for a Sign and Trial of James Nayler”, one prominent puritan group that was on the rise was Quakers. The Quaker women undoing their hair to further their cause coupled with James Nayler openly confessing heretical beliefs shows that groups with radical views did not believe they should be silenced anymore, even if it would lead to social upheaval. However, the different reactions from authority towards the Quaker women and James Nayler shows a political divide among authority, as it was unclear of how to deal with an increasingly divided population.
According to Hobbs, as expressed in “Behemoth”, the main cause of the English Civil Wars was the rise of groups who wanted to reform various aspects of England. Mainly, the groups seeking toleration for their beliefs that diverged from Catholicism had a large impact on the growing social unrest. Specifically, Hobbs cites groups such as Quakers, Anabaptists, Presbyterians, and more religious groups as igniting the fire that lit up the social upheaval. These various groups led to the start of the English Civil Wars because their ideas broke the foundation that England was built upon and threatened monarchical power. While the Monarch typically wanted unity in social, religious, and political ideology, the growing belief was that people should not be subject to one person’s views. Hobbs ultimately believes that the people need a king to guide them under uniform beliefs otherwise there will be social unrest. This analysis of religious politics is unique in comparison to what we have seen before because of Hobbs causing everyone to take the blame for the breaking of England. Although Hobbs does cite specific groups, he ultimately believes that anyone who threatened the King’s authority and rule, which was a large population at the time, is to blame for the English Civil Wars.
The first text is two separate accounts of different events involving Quakers. The first part of this text is a second hand account from 1655 of a Quaker woman marching through the streets of Bristol while “naked.” In reality she was not actually naked but wearing a sackcloth. This text shows the Quakers peaceful method of promoting their beliefs which is in contrast to many other methods that other religions used to promote their beliefs at the time. The second part of the text is about James Nayler, a Quaker minister, who in 1656 rode into Bristol on a donkey impersonating Jesus. The rest of this part of the text explains his trial in Parliament and some people of parliament’s division over Nayler’s reasoning and responses. The second text is a text written by Thomas Hobbes and it is discussing the causes of the English Civil War. In the text Hobbes lists many reasons that set off the war including political, economic, and religious reasons. He tries to go to the root of the problem in this text in contrast to most people at the time who were mostly just blaming other groups of people for the War happening.
These texts show the larger social problems which were present in England at this time. These problems included religious toleration, who is in charge of the country, and division among the English people in general. The problem of religious toleration is showing especially in the passage about the trial of James Nayler. Part of the debate in parliament over Nayler is a debate over religious toleration more than anything. One person of Parliament argues that this is why toleration should not be allowed as there will be heretics and blasphemers like Nayler that arise as a result. Another member of Parliament argues in response that Nayler simply only believes that Christ is in him just like many other people in different religions and how can you fault a man for that. This highlights the debate in England over what should be tolerated and also who should make decisions as Parliament was often divided on issues such as in this case. Finally the Quakers showed an inversion in the logic of Puritanism. The puritans requested complete reform of the Church to cleanse it of sin. The Quakers and their demonstrations showed that if provoked even peacefully the puritans would react violently which is in contrast to their message of no sin. This is shown in the passage about the naked Quaker women when the people grew violent against her even in her peaceful protest. This also helps show the division and religious turmoil in England at this time.
Hobbes saw the causes of the Civil War very differently than the majority of people in England at the time. He saw religious, economic, and political reasons at the root of the problem. Hobbes saw in England that the various religious sects were bound to fight with each other because at the root of their religions they all believed the same thing. He recognized that the Catholics and the various reformed religions all believed that they were God’s chosen people and the true religion and as a result they were bound to fight with each other. Another reason for the Civil War that Hobbes saw was the poverty of the English people. He realized that the English people saw a chance for prosperity in the war and also a means to make money. They yearned for prosperity and they saw that in Spain a Civil War led to a time of great prosperity and this greed poverty led to the Civil War as well. This view of Religious politics by Hobbes was also unique for the time as most people in England at the time chose a side for religion and as a result condemned the other side rather then look at the root of the problems and violence within religion. Hobbes saw the reasons for the Civil War very differently then most of the people in England at the time.
The first text is called “Quaker women going ‘naked’ going Naked for a sign” and the trial of James Naylor with two separate parts both talking about different instances of Quakers and the poor reaction they received from their fellow Englishmen. The first part is written in 1655 talks about how a quaker lady went out on the street for several days only wearing a sac and she was ridiculed by the people around her when she did nothing but support her division of catholicism. The second part is the trial of James Naylor, a well known quaker priest, written in 1656 and it is the retelling of specific parts in the court room. James Naylor reenacted christ going into Jerusalem by traveling into Bristol and the court believed that this was blasphemy, saying he believes himself to be christ. The judge in the end says that it wasn’t blasphemy however he did speak against the Quaker sect. The second text “Behemoth” is written by english philosopher Thomas Hobbes written well after the death of king Charles 1 and the restoration of monarchy putting Charles the second on the throne writing his book in 1681. Inside “Behemoth”, Hobbes covers the reasons for the fall of the monarchy and the beheading of Charles I, the long parliament, and reasons why the civil had started.
When you are trying to solve the case about what are the large social problems in England the first text gives you two very good examples. After the reformation and the establishment of the Church of England, Catholicism and protestantism had been divided in smaller and smaller sects of each other. They all believed generally the same big concepts however, each sect tried to push their smaller ideas for influence inside the Church of England and english society. This leads to conflict in England has everyone other sect now becomes the enemy. You can see this in the first two texts, as the three lady’s dressing up in sacks for several days were just trying to follow their specific sect, however, all of their neighbors and Englishmen ridiculed and hurt them for what their doing. James Naylor was just trying to reenact what he believed was a very holy scene, but once again their neighbors of different sects did not like what they see. Overall, with so many different sects trying to gain power even with the same core values, they still were out to destroy anyone who didn’t have the exact same beliefs.
Thomas Hobbes beliefs for why the english civil war has started could be characterized into 3 main groups. The first idea was that it was partly the fault of papist, presbyterians, anabaptists, independents, the fifth monarchy, quakers, adamits and other religious sects. He believes these religious group tried to all push their own ideas, publicly polluting the minds of the english people for many different political ideas and pushing them against the king. The second belief was the fact that high class Englishmen have now started reading early ancient roman and greek texts and saw those civilization flourish in their time without a king, thus putting the idea that their king is not necessary. Finally he blames the people themselves for being so easily corrupted. He says with many of the low class having little to no money they saw a civil war as an opportunity to get their money back. Also the wars in the low countries against the king of Spain and the people’s admiration of their prosperity had led them also to believe that their king was unnecessary.
The two articles that are the sources of the blog post are “Quaker women going ‘naked’ for a sign and Trial of James Nayor” as well as “Behemoth”. The first source is a primary source of account written in 1655 and 1656. The text is about a woman named Sarah Goldsmith and two other women who walked through the town naked in an expression of their quaker views. She stood with her accomplishes in the town center until riot broke out and forced them into a shop in which she was approached by the mayor and sent to prison. This shows that different ideas although not contratisting were often looked down upon.The second source, “Behemoth” is a book written by Thomas Hobbes after the civil war and long parliament. The book was written to explain the civil war and Long Parliament though the discussion between A/B. The teacher/student interaction helps to explain the events leading up to the execution of Charles which made it possible.
Between the two sources, they cover a summation of a series of local and international events that were both caused by political, social, and religious turmoil in England. The unifying theme in both sources is an underlying tone of dissonance. The reformation has brought about a theme of religious reformation, but alongside it a religious instability. When religion in England is so prefrent in daily life, any opposing political, social, or religious views become interchangeable and causes conflict. An example of this is even though the townspeople didn’t disagree with the belief of the quaker women, the didn’t support how the chose to express those beliefs. Another example is how the king of one of the most stable monarchies was able to be executed. The social dissonance caused by religion has impeded the country at a national level and caused conflict and turmoil.
In the “Behemoth” Hobbes expresses that he believes that the underlying causes of the English Civil War is due to religious groups who wanted to reform England. Because of the mixing of the church and state during the Reformation, political, social and religious reformation all become synonymous. If you wanted to reform politics, you would join a faction of christanity that supported your reforms, rather than a political party. Some of these groups that Hobbes points out include, Quakers, Anabaptist, and Presbertirians, who are all groups who are continually pushing for reform. Hobbs believes that these groups lead to the English civil war because their ideas deconstructed the monarchy that had held England in place. He believed that having a set of unified beliefs (King) would unify the people and without it, would cause social upheaval(English civil war). Hobbes views anything that opposed the king’s authority as a cause for the Civil War.
The first text is written as a historical account. It describes incidents involving Quakers from 1655-1656. The first part describes a woman going to the center of town essentially without clothing. This was done according to her religious belief. The second part of the text describes the hearing of James Naylor before parliament. He claimed to be the second coming of Jesus. Both of these incidents were in direct contrast to the prevailing religious identities at the time. The second text was written by Thomas Hobbes after the Civil Wars and it describes the Long Parliament or ‘Behemoth’ as he calls it.
Both of these texts are indicative of the larger problems occurring within England. England is trying to balance the level of religious tolerance that they should have. Naylor in particular was pushing this as he claimed to be the second coming. Most of the population was offended by this but the debate continued if this was grounds for legal consequences for him. The division in England was present in other parts of society. The fragmentation of English churches is leading to different churches adopting different reforms. While Puritans sought to reform or ‘purify’ the Church, they wanted all puritans to do the same things. The Quakers pushed back on this by reforming the church in a completely different way that puritans saw fit.
According to Hobbes, essentially all religious groups were responsible for the Civil War. He believes that all of these groups sought to destroy each other. They were more focused on their narrow self-interests instead of seeking stability for the country. This is a unique perspective taken by Hobbes. During the Civil War, most of the religious groups blamed another group for the unrest. This is unproductive and truly shows that all groups were at least partially to blame for the unrest.Hobbes also took the view that these various groups had different fundamental values. This led to a broad lack of acceptance as most groups believed the other was in the wrong.
The first document listed for today, “Quaker Woman Going Naked for a Sign and Trial of James Nayler”, are primary sources dating back to between 1655 and 1656. These accounts are directly showing the reader how radical some actions of Quakers of the time were as a woman is going through the streets “naked”(in a sort of sack) to show off her being a Quaker. With their acceptance of James Nayler as the second coming of Jesus however, these extreme actions rooted in their faith and how many radically believed in Quakerism may not come as a surprise. The second document seems to be a primary account of Parliament trying of James Nayler. Nayler and his followers delivered a contrasting, peaceful manner in which they spread their beliefs which was arguable rare at the time, especially in the English political climate. However, Parliament was clearly still comfortable with delivering cruel punishment upon Nayler for his blasphemous acts. Finally, we analyze a section Thomas Hobbes’ work, “Behemoth”. that pertains to what Hobbes views as the most influential factors of the English civil war. With this book being published well after that time, it is interesting to hear an educated hindsight view of the situation from someone who also felt extremely passionate about England and its future at the time.
I believe these texts perfectly deliver the message that although the English civil war may be over, there is still an extreme amount of disconnect when it comes to religion in the country. James Nayler and radical followers highlighted within the first document demonstrate to us readers that even in 1655, there were still factions emerging that had the power to draw whole populations of people to follow it. The willingness of so many people to try a new religion and the rate at which they would leave their past religion also speaks to how miserable things likely were at the time for those people. To leave your religion at the age many of these people did was something you likely would not be willing to do unless all other hope was lost from your previous resources. One of the things that made it so easy for conversion to be palatable as well is how similar the core values of each religion of the time were. These three texts also illustrate the propensity of each of these religions to look past their core values, and instead impede each other simply because they identified as a different religion. Puritans clearly set out to reform the Church of England, and arguably each sub-sect that formed from the larger Puritan grouping did as well. However, each sect was so dead set on hindering the others’ progress that the least reform to the Church of England possible likely occurred during that time period.
Hobbes views anyone and everyone who desired change in England at the time to be responsible for the civil wars. Hobbes specifically mentions the lower class of England as wanting a social reformation much like that of Spain where they would all of the sudden be higher in social rank and receive more daily benefits. When considering religion, Hobbes saw groups like the Antibaptists, Quakers, and other groups emerging out of the Catholic Church as having caused great divide when they felt the need to reform the Church of England. It even seems that Hobbes hypothesizes that another cause of the civil war was the educated people of England spawning ideas that appeared desirable to those less educated and in turn, had no way of seeing a negative in their actions. Hobbes did definitely however blame a large part of the civil wars on the religious groups striving for reform at the time. His outlook differed from most at the time in that he decided to group all the tinier religions together and blame them as one group, rather than form a somewhat biased opinion and focus on only one or two of those groups to blame.
As a secondary source, the piece “Quaker Women Going ‘Naked’ For a Sign” is an account likely edited by a scholarly historian, with gathered information from primary sources, written by Quakers of this time. Following that piece, the “Trial of James Naylor” is mainly a transcript of the trial. The Quaker women event occured on May 3, 1655, and the trial occurred in 1656. These texts argue in favor of Quakers, explaining that they were people with a devout devotion of God, with no blasphemous intentions. They were likely written to spread this opinion to others. “Behemoth” was written by Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes was a political theorist, widely read even to this day–evidently. “Behemoth” was originally published in 1681. This piece is Hobbes’ explanation of a history of England and the English Civil War. He argues that rebellion should be avoided as much as possible, and did not approve of the Civil War at large. Through his explanation, he builds evidence for his ultimate claim of the uniform monarch and style of government.
The Quaker texts highlight the larger social issue of religious acceptance at the time. Responses to both of these events ultimately ended in punishment for Quakers–perceived as radicals. At this time, a main problem of the Reformation was the reluctance to acknowledge and accept other perceptions of belief. This actions describes showed an inversion to puritanism in that those practicing the radical actions were trying to start a whole different Christian church, not revise the one already standing. As for Hobbes, his text shows in a way a similar response. The constant disagreement and fighting he describes shows the struggle with intolerance during the Reformation. Hobbes credits the religious and ideological disputes as the root cause for the wars.
In the first document, “Quaker woman going naked for a sign” has an unknown author and is a primary source that was written in 1655. During this period, there was a major intolerance towards people with other religious views. This intolerance is shown when Quaker women try to peacefully preform their religious practices but are scorned by Christians for having other religious beliefs. Christian were not accepting of any other religious views besides theirs, and wanted to demonize people who didn’t conform to their own religious beliefs. To protest against this discrimination, the Quaker women walked through the town and stood at a high cross naked. This protest led to them being demonized and eventually imprisoned, solely based upon who and how they chose to worship. The second part of this document is, “Trial of James Naylor” written in 1656. This document is describing the trial of James Nayler and Parliament. Nadler was imprisoned for impersonating God and referring to himself as “ King of Israel”. Similar to the Quaker women, he also had different religious beliefs that Christians were not tolerant of. The third document, “Behemoth”, was written by Thomas Hobbes during the time of the Civil War. In this text, Hobbes was discussing the major divide the civil war has put upon the nation. He uses his voice as a way to educate others about the civil war and aspires to prevent it from occurring again.
These documents represent the intolerance of other religions in England. It also represents the instability of the government during this time and how they should handle “religious crimes”. Within the first text, these women who were doing no harm to other people were being imprisoned for their beliefs but the government wasn’t exactly sure what they were being imprisoned for or how they should punish them. It represents the immense discrimination that people who had other religious beliefs faced. This is also represented in the second part of the text when Nayler is receiving an even harsher punishment for simply expressing his religious ideals.
According to Hobbes, the people wanting reformation of England was a major cause of the civil war. This longing for reformation only created more uproar and divide in England because the people were starting to realize that everyone had a plethora of different beliefs and ideals. People were unable to agree on anything and discriminated each other for having different beliefs that deviated from the societal norm. This analysis of religious politics is unique because Hobbes isn’t blaming one specific entity for the divide in England. He is blaming everyone as a conglomerate source of the downfall of England.
Written in 1656, the first text is called “Quaker Women Going Naked for a Sign.” The first half of this text discusses how English Quaker women aimed for a proper practice of the religion in where Sarah Goldsmith and other women walk through the town in order to protest. In the other source within the text, the trial of James Naylor takes place and the charges brought against are heresy due to the fact that he claimed he was the Messiah. The second text is an excerpt taken from a book written by Thomas Hobbes called Behemoth. The section discusses the possible causes and the events that played up to the Civil War. It was written in 1668. The source discloses the current state of England as a country from a teaching perspective and encourages the English to take all of these events as a learning experience.
According to the texts, England was experiencing much disorder at this point in time with very little political progress. For example, Parliament willingly wasted their time giving someone like James Naylor the time of day who claimed he was the Messiah. On the other hand, certain individuals like Thomas Hobbes were able to recognize the problems within English society and stressed the importance of educating people on what was going on. According to Hobbes, the people of England themselves caused the war with their ignorance and lack of awareness with what was going on in society. Hobbes denounced the ignorance of the English public such that no one had realized how bad the country had gotten. There was constant religious upheaval in the country with fights among all the religious groups. It was all civil unrest and people would not stop in order to defend their faction. Ideas of what the Anglican Church should be were very different from each other. The Quakers and the Puritans would constantly go at it because it was Reformists against Conservatism.
The first source, ‘Quaker Women going Naked for Sign’ and the Trial of James Naylor,’ is the description of a Quaker woman doing a demonstration that turned violent and a record of the court hearing of James Naylor in the Cromwellian Parliament in 1655. The Quaker woman walked around in a sackcloth with her hair uncovered in order to demonstrate humility and purity of spirit. However, her demonstration resulted in violence and she was sent to prison. In James Naylor trial the prosecutors were several Major-Generals in Cromwell’s army. Naylor was in court for riding a donkey into a town and claiming he was the second coming of Jesus Christ. However, Naylor argued that he was not claiming to be the one true Christ, but that Christ was in him. The second source, “Behemoth,” was written by Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes was an English philosopher and scholar. This text was written in 1668 but published posthumously due to its controversial nature. In this document, Hobbes describes the causes of the English Civil War and mainly focuses on the religious causes.
The first source, ‘Quaker Women going Naked for Sign’ and the Trial of James Naylor,’ shows the complicated implications of toleration. A problem during the Reformation during Cromwellian England there were too many different factions of Protestant Religion to enforce a singular belief upon everyone by Government. This led to moderate toleration among Protestant sects, Catholicism was still intolerable. However, this led to controversy over who should be punished for acting upon their beliefs. This is seen in the hesitation of the judge in James Naylor’s trial, who claims that “if you hang every man that says, Christ is in you the hope of glory, you will hang a good many…it is hard to define what is blasphemy.” This shows the difficulty in enforcing religious code in a country that religious power of the state was deteriorating. The Quakers showed an inversion of the logic of Puritanism in this text. This is shown in the fact that Quakers no longer wanted to reform the Church of England, instead they want to challenge the authority of government to regulate religion. This was done through demonstrations like that of Sarah Goldsmith and James Naylor, that resulted in punishment.
The second source, “Behemoth,” by Thomas Hobbes, shows the social problems of Renaissance influence and poverty. Due to the Renaissance there was an influx of education of the classics meaning that the Parliament was made of men who had studied the classics and therefore anti-tyranny and learned about democracy. The relative poverty of the common man caused those without employment to yearn for war in order to get paid. This also meant that they would fight for whichever side provided the most money. Hobbes claimed that these reasons along with religious ones caused the English Civil War. The religious factors included the types of leadership within the different sects of the church. These sects included Papists, Presbyterians and anti-Church of England sects such as Quakers and Anabaptists. These sects all challenged monarchical authority in different ways. Hobbes also claimed that the translation of the Bible into English emblazoned people to believe that they could understand the word of God just as well as any hierarchical church position, this also took power away from the Church, and therefore the Crown.
The two texts “Quaker women going naked for the sign’ and the trial of James Nayler” and “Behemoth”. Each deal with their own issues in their own times. Text one “Quaker women going naked for the sign’ and the trial of James Nayler” written in 1655-56 with no discernable author. Describes a group of Quaker women receiving a less than favorable response from practicing their religion whom many believed was radical. The text continues on to talk about the trial of James Nayler. The trial came about due to the man declaring himself to be Jesus Christ and thus representing his second coming. Parliament as a result of this man and his declaration and how he goes against the religious norms at the time was branded. The second text “Behemoth” Written in 1681 by Thomas Hobbes. Where in this text he describes the events of the civil war and the long parliament but in a more relaxed vibe. The purpose of his document was to layout the varying factors that ultimately lead to the execution of King Charles.
Having protestant beliefs at the time meant being a portion of the religious majority in England. While Christianity still existed, it was kept to small sects around the nation. The religious parallels meant very little to people as acceptance of other religions was a very small minority. This type of persecution brought to these Quaker women paints the true picture of the religious prejudice of Christianity. Being charged with blasphemy is the common legal consequence of those who practice a separate faith from the commonly accepted one. Such as what transpired with both the Quaker women and James Nayler, regardless of any differing severity in the claims the women and James made about themselves.
Hobbes blames a few aspects that lead to the start of the civil war. Starting with the religious division in the nation. And how all the various sects across England all push to have their reform be the one that people follow and worship. Another reason he cites is from the rise in educated men who believe that a stark change in the government will bring about wealth and other overall success. The Civil War and the Reformation differences come down to the smaller more nitty-gritty details rather than any big aspects. The tiny separations in such as Christianity and Protestant faiths are what can cause the large divisions ultimately between them.
The first text is titled “Quaker woman going naked for a sign and Trial of James Naylor” and is an excerpt from a textbook in which there is commentary of primary source accounts. The text about Quakers includes the author’s perspective on Quakers. The text on the trial of James Naylor details the proceedings of the trial. The documents provide information as to where the government places itself in comparison to religion and the authority it has to govern the people. The Quaker portion is concerned with what women should be wearing and the portion on the trial shows how difficult people of the time were finding it to decide what was allowed and what was prohibited. The second text is an excerpt from the book Behemoth written by Thomas Hobbes originally in 1668 but not published until 1681. Thomas Hobbes was a Leviathan and a philosopher in England and is most known for his development of the social contract theory. The social contract theory states that individuals are willing to sacrifice parts of their freedom for the preservation of social order. The purpose of this excerpt is that it attempts to explain the cause of the English Civil War. He says that the civil wars are due to the competing religious ideological factions within England that also say ways to profit from the dispute.
These texts highlight the different views of the English people on Christianity. People at the time were shunned and persecuted simply for their beliefs. Quakers are an example of a community that is shunned for their “radical” beliefs even though they are a peaceful group. During this time there is no separation from state and church so beliefs have the power to create and destroy rulers. While by modern standards people are allowed to have their freedom of opinion, at this time opinion was controlled by the rulers as they all believed in society at the time that everyone needed to be on the same page religiously and morally. Hobbes also believes that these different ideas and attempts to incorporate these new ideas into society were what caused unrest. He believed that England was fine yet all the attempts to reform the government, church, and society is what causes the unrest as it give the people something to dispute over. The influx of new religious and ethical ideas is causing chaos for English society as there is no longer simply one set of ideas and people were beginning to develop their own opinions and thoughts.