Hampton Court Conference (1604): James I Meets the Puritans

The Hampton Court Conference was a meeting held at Hampton Court Palace from 14 to 18 January 1604, at which the new king, James I, listened to Puritan proposals for reforming the Church of England. James defended the bishops and turned down most of the demands, but he accepted one suggestion that would have enormous consequences: a new translation of the Bible, published in 1611 as the King James Version.

Background: the Millenary Petition

Puritans were Protestants within the Church of England who believed the Elizabethan settlement of religion had not gone far enough. They objected to ceremonies they considered remnants of Catholicism, such as the sign of the cross at baptism, the wedding ring and the surplice, and they wanted a better-educated preaching ministry.

When James VI of Scotland became King of England in 1603, after the Union of the Crowns, Puritans hoped that a king raised in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland would favour them. During his journey south in April 1603 they presented the Millenary Petition, so called because it claimed the support of about a thousand ministers. It asked for moderate changes rather than the abolition of bishops.

The conference

James agreed to hear both sides. The meeting was planned for late 1603 but postponed because of plague. When it took place, the king dominated the proceedings and clearly enjoyed theological debate.

On the first day, 14 January, James met the bishops, including Archbishop John Whitgift of Canterbury and Bishop Richard Bancroft of London, and discussed points in the Book of Common Prayer such as private baptism, confirmation and absolution.

On the second day, 16 January, the four Puritan representatives were admitted: John Rainolds, Laurence Chaderton, Thomas Sparke and John Knewstub. Rainolds was their main speaker. When he referred to church matters being settled by the bishop with his presbyters, James took this as a call for Presbyterian government and reacted sharply. He reminded them of his experience with the Scottish Kirk, and William Barlow’s account records his famous maxim, “No bishop, no king”.

On the final day, 18 January, the king met the bishops again, along with civil lawyers, to settle the changes he had agreed.

The new translation

During the second session Rainolds proposed a new translation of the Bible. Bancroft was doubtful, but James liked the idea. He considered the marginal notes of the Geneva Bible, the favourite version of many Puritans, partial and dangerous to royal authority, and he wanted a single translation without such notes for use in all churches.

The work was organised in 1604 under Bancroft’s supervision. About 47 scholars, divided into six companies meeting at Westminster, Oxford and Cambridge, worked on the text. Rainolds himself joined the Oxford company but died in 1607 before the work was finished. The result, the King James Bible, appeared in 1611.

Outcomes for the Church

The changes made to the Prayer Book were small. Private baptism was to be performed by ministers rather than midwives, the title of the confirmation service was clarified, and a section on the sacraments was added to the catechism. A royal proclamation in March 1604 enforced the revised book.

Whitgift died in February 1604, and Bancroft succeeded him as Archbishop of Canterbury later that year. The Canons of 1604, 141 rules approved by the Convocation of Canterbury and the king, required clergy to subscribe to the royal supremacy, the Prayer Book and the Thirty-Nine Articles. Roughly 80 to 90 ministers who would not conform were deprived of their posts between 1604 and 1610, a smaller number than many had feared.

Key people

• James VI and I (1566–1625), the king who chaired the conference and believed bishops supported royal power.
• John Rainolds (1549–1607), President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, the leading Puritan speaker.
• Laurence Chaderton (c. 1536–1640), Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and later a Bible translator.
• Richard Bancroft (1544–1610), Bishop of London, a firm opponent of Puritanism.
• John Whitgift (c. 1530–1604), Archbishop of Canterbury since 1583.

Legacy

The conference is often remembered as a defeat for the Puritans, but most of them stayed inside the national church and continued to push for reform. Separatists who rejected the national church altogether went further: some left England, among them the passengers of the Mayflower in 1620, and tension between conformity and conscience grew sharper under James’s son Charles I. Its most enduring result, however, was the Bible translation that shaped English language and literature for centuries.

Timeline

• 1603, 24 March: Elizabeth I dies; James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England.
• 1603, April: Puritan clergy present the Millenary Petition to James.
• 1603, October: James announces a conference, later postponed because of plague.
• 1604, 14 January: First session with the bishops.
• 1604, 16 January: Puritan representatives are heard; Rainolds proposes a new Bible.
• 1604, 18 January: Final session settles the changes.
• 1604, 29 February: Archbishop Whitgift dies.
• 1611: The King James Bible is published.

Why it matters

The Hampton Court Conference set the religious tone of James I’s reign: a royal church governed by bishops, with only modest room for Puritan reform. By chance, it also launched one of the most influential books in the English language.