The King James "Authorized Version"
In 1603 James VI and I became the first monarch to rule over England, Scotland, and Ireland together. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Have you ever attended a frustrating meeting where nothing much seems to get done? The Hampton Court conference , held in 1604, was like that. When James VI of Scotland rode south to London on the way to the coronation that would make him James I of England, Puritans presented him with a petition, pleading for freedom from man-made rites and ceremonies in worship. Since over 1,000 leaders of these reform-minded Christians signed the petition, James could not ignore it. He called for a conference of churchmen and theologians to be held at Hampton Court , one of the royal palaces. But his attitude toward the event was signalled by the wording of the summons, "for the hearing, and for the determining, things pretended to be amiss in the Church." [our italics] The Puritans thought that the Church of England had kept too many Catholic practices.