De Adeundis Ecclesiis Protestantium

This book covers a particular controversy between an ex-Jesuit and a Jesuit following the oath of allegiance exacted by James VI in 1606 but gives an impressive overall view of a conflict for the Catholics which began effectively in 1559 with the Act of Supremacy. The coming of the joint mission of seminary priests and Jesuits in 1580 galvanized the regime into enacting drastic laws intended to make the open practice of their faith impossible. The screw turned finally the year after the Gunpowder Plot. This was the excuse not only to close all professions and make any exercise of the faith tantamount to civil death but—something never attempted under Elizabeth—obliged everyone to take the Protestant communion as a sign of allegiance to Church and State: a single entity allowing no differentiation. The Catholic ideal demanded fearless declaration of the faith and a refusal to participate with heretics—and take the consequences. This meant not only loss of property and social status but even a martyr's death horribly inflicted.