History of the Constitution of the United Kingdom and applied it to their form of government. When Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603 without issue, she was succeeded by her cousin James VI of Scotland, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and he became King James I of England. This was a major step towards creating a single British state, although the Kingdom of Great Britain did not come about until a hundred years later. James VI faced a fractious religious England since it contained Anglicans (of the Church of England), Puritans, Separatists (who wanted to break from the Church of England), and also many Roman Catholics,
History of the Puritans under King James I For this reason, the Puritan movement continued to grow and expand throughout England in remarkable ways under the reign of King James. To be sure the Puritan movement in England was considerably strengthened on account of the succession of the three Archbishops of Canterbury who served under King James. Archbishop John Whitgift (1583-1604), appointed by Queen Elizabeth sought to suppress the Puritan movement. Archbishop Richard Bancroft (1604-1610) chief overseer of the production of the King James Bible also sought to suppress the Puritan reform movement, but was forced to increasingly rely upon them because of the Catholic threat. Archbishop George