詹姆斯一世与议会、以及移民美国的清教徒前辈
James I (1603-1625) and the Parliament
苏格兰的詹姆斯六世在继承伊丽莎白一世的王位后，成为英国的詹姆斯二世(1603-1625)。他的继位带来了两国的暂时统一。但他的统治也深受宗教冲突的困扰。清教徒在国会中的势力日益强大，他们认为宗 教改革还不够彻底，呼吁实行更为净洁的礼拜仪式。詹姆斯初为国王时，他们开始很高兴，因为苏格兰教会是纯粹的新教，民主选举教会官员，这不同于罗马天主教和英国国教的做法--国王任命主教，主教挑选其他教会官员。
James VI of Scotland succeeded Elizabeth I and became James I of England (1603-1625). His
succession brought a temporary union of the two countries but his reign, too, was troubled by religious controversy. The Puritans became very powerful in the Parliament, believing that the Reformation had not gone far enough and calling for a pure form of worship. They were happy to have James as king at first because the Scottish Church was a pure Protestant Church with democratically elected officials, in contrst to the practice of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England whereby kings chose bishops and bishops chose all the other officials.
当詹姆斯在 1604 年拒绝清教徒的所有改革建议时，他们大为震惊，国王说 "没有主教就没有国王"。 由于国王的亲西班牙外交政策以及他儿子与西班牙的联姻，清教徒们越来越怀疑他是个秘密的天主教徒。
The Puritans were shocked when James refused all their proposals for change in 1604 with the words “ no bishop, no king”. They increasingly suspected him of being a secret Catholic because of his pro-Spanish foreign policy and his son’s Spanish marriage alliance. The Catholics engineered a number of plots.
清教徒的抗议更为平和，但詹姆斯一世对他们的要求极少同情。另一种《圣经》的英译本(后来被称为 "詹姆斯国王之《圣经》"或"钦定英译本"，于 1611 年出版)，这是极少的让步之一。詹姆斯声称他会"让他们服从，否则就把他们赶出英国去"。许多清教徒离开英国去荷兰。1620 年有一批清教徒，称为清教徒前辈移民，共 102 人，他们乘坐"五月花"号船从普利茅斯出发，到美洲创立新普利 茅斯殖民地，这是英国在新大陆建的第一个殖民地。
The puritan protests were more peaceful, but James had little sympathy with their demands. A new translation of the Bible into English ( know thereafter as the King James or Authorized Version, and was published in 1611) was one of the few concessions. James declared that he 30would “ make them conform or harry them from the land”. Many Puritans had left England for Holland. In 1620 a small group of these Puritans, numbering 201, called the Pilgrim Fathers, sailed from Plymouth in the Mayflower, and founded New Plymouth in America, Britain’s first settlement in the New World.
詹姆斯一世坚持相信"君权神授"。当时大多数欧洲统治者都持此观点，詹姆斯根本不想要议会，且连 续七年从未召集过。1621 年召集国会，下议院马上就重新坚持其政治权力，这是因为国王不断要求提高税收。詹姆斯对与他作对的议会的反应就是解散它。结果是他无法从议会得到拨款。他不得不用各种有损名誉的方法弄钱，如卖官、出售专利权及强迫贷款等
