4 - Foreign visitors

Summary

One of the results of the Oath of Allegiance controversy was to make King James I of England a celebrated figure in Protestant circles in Europe. The Oath of Allegiance, required by law in England in 1606, was intended to separate Roman Catholics who adhered to the doctrine that a pope could depose a temporal ruler from Roman Catholics who did not hold this view and could therefore be considered loyal subjects. The king not only defended the oath in print, but in doing so opposed Pope Paul V, who condemned the oath, and Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, who defended the papal deposing power. In his writings James stated his own religious faith clearly and succinctly and denounced the temporal claims of the papacy. As the translators of the authorized or King James version of the Bible wrote in 1611, when the translation appeared: “the zeale of your Maiestie towards the house of God,” already shown in support for preaching God's word at home, “doth not slacke or goe backward, but is more and more kindled, manifesting it selfe abroad in the furthest parts of Christendome, by writing in defence of the Trueth.” The king of Scotland, Ireland, and England, the most important Protestant ruler in Europe, thereby became one of the most widely admired figures in the Protestant community. Expressions of this admiration came from some unexpected quarters.