Kinship and Religious Politics among Catholic Families in England, 1570-1640

Abstract

Historians have argued that the Reformation provoked emotional turmoil amongst vast numbers of English men and women as they attempted to come to terms with the religious changes. Moreover, cases of family divisions between – to use partly anachronistic terms – Catholics and Protestants, are amply available. This article will examine the effect on Catholic families endeavouring to survive in an increasingly hostile legal atmosphere. As Catholics gradually awoke to the realization that no change in the established religion was coming soon, decisions had to be made regarding Mission strategy. Paramount was the issue of self-definition, particularly for leading Catholic families. Through this politicizing process, hitherto close communities, networks and even families, such as that centred on the Barons Petre of Writtle in Essex, which incorporated as key members the Southcote family, were ripped apart. Nevertheless, it is here that are found both the faultlines within the Catholic community and also, paradoxically, the ideological glue that bound it together.