Millenary Petition facts for kids
The Millenary Petition was a list of requests given to King James I in 1603. It was presented by a group called the Puritans. They gave it to the King as he traveled to London to become the new ruler of England.
Some people say that 1,000 Puritan ministers signed this petition, but we don't have proof. The document was written very carefully. It showed that the Puritans were unhappy with the Church of England. It also considered King James's own religious beliefs and his love for a good debate, which he wrote about in his book Basilikon Doron.
Even though many of the main Puritan goals were not met, the petition led to the Hampton Court Conference. This meeting eventually caused King James to approve a small update to the Book of Common Prayer in 1604. The most important result of the conference was the creation of a new English translation of the Bible. Today, we know this as the King James Version.
Why did the Puritans write the petition?
At that time, it was not a good idea to openly criticize the King. So, the petition did not show any unhappiness with the King's power over the Church. The Puritan reformers made sure to say that they were not trying to separate from the Church. They also said they were not trying to cause divisions.
The document showed how many Puritans felt about the Church. They believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough. They wanted to remove all things they saw as errors from the Catholic Church within the Church of England.
The Puritans hoped that King James would agree with them. This was because he had been the King of Scotland. In Scotland, he had managed the Church of Scotland, which was mostly Presbyterian. This church had fewer ceremonies than the Church of England. One of the biggest complaints from the Puritans was their dislike of many Church ceremonies.
What did the Puritans want to change?
The Puritans wanted to stop several Church ceremonies and practices. They felt these were too much like the old Catholic ways.
Here are some of the things the Puritans wanted to change:
- They wanted to stop the sign of the cross during baptism.
- They wanted to get rid of Confirmation.
- They did not want regular people, like midwives, to perform baptisms.
- They wanted to stop the use of a ring in marriage ceremonies.
- They disliked bowing when the name of Jesus was said.
- They did not want ministers to have to wear the surplice (a white robe) and cap.
- They wanted to stop the practice of one person holding many Church jobs and getting paid for each.
The Puritans also disliked the words "Priest" and "Absolution". They thought these words sounded too much like the Roman Catholic Church. They wanted people to follow the Sabbath (Sunday) more strictly. King James actually supported this idea at first, but he later changed his mind. They also believed that only "able and sufficient men" should be ministers.
The Puritans also asked for some changes to how the Church was run.
- They wanted punishments to be given only by Christ's own rules.
- They believed that excommunication (being officially removed from the Church) should not be decided by non-clergy officials.
- They asked that people should not be excommunicated for small things, like "trifles and twelvepenny matters."
- Finally, they wanted less use of the ex officio oath. This oath forced people to accuse themselves.
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