In the aftermath of King Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy (1534), Henry became the Supreme Head of the Church of England. This successful coup of Henry to take control of the Anglican Church from the Papacy initiated a long struggle among the religious groups in England. Because these religious groups rejected the beliefs and traditions of the Anglican Church, many were persecuted and punished. Persecution was strongly administered to the English Catholics who had viewed the Pope as their church leader and not an Anti-Christ as Henry had proclaimed (McDougall, 2005). As for the Puritans, they wanted to reform the Anglican Church by eliminating the hierarchical system in the church. Puritans believed an individual was his own priest and could communicate directly with God (Kang, 2009). Another English Protestant group, known as the Separatist (the Pilgrims), believed that the church was only a place for "saints". They did not believe the damned, the King's subjects, should be permitted in the church (Wu, 1990). From Henry VIII to Charles I, these religious groups attempted to reform the Anglican Church. .
In contrast, the English monarchs, Henry VIII, Elizabeth, James I and Charles I, countered the religious reform movements. Yielding to the religious groups' reformation drives would have been disastrous for the English monarchs. The English monarch would have lost lands (wealth via taxation) and the Crown, a symbol of Imperial order. In turn, the English monarch implemented several policies, traditions, and practices such as the Oath of Allegiance, ceremonies and sacraments, and appointment of loyal clergies and bishops (Bernard, 1990). This uncompromising position between the English monarchs and the radical religious groups eventually led the Separatist to break completely from the Anglican Church and move to the New World. The Puritans soon left England because they were being persecuted from trying to reform the Anglican Church.
