An important strand of recent work on the history of Catholicism has been an attempt to move beyond studies of martyrdom and survival, or of a deep-rooted collective anti-Catholicism, by concentrating instead on the possibilities of coexistence and practical toleration. Studies of the perception of religious difference and various forms of interaction across confessional boundaries in everyday life have demonstrated that religious coexistence was generally peaceful and characterized by pragmatism or even curiosity. This trend has been accompanied by a greater awareness of the fluidity of religious identities, even among the highly educated. This emphasis contrasts with an awareness of the successful revival and instrumentalization of anti-Catholic sentiments on the eve of the English Civil War, despite the evidence that anti-Catholicism does not seem to have been a powerful collective phenomenon during the 1630s.

Based on new research on the experiences and perceptions of religious differences in early modern Europe, this chapter will shed new light on the complex interdependencies of religious politics, the experience of religious differences in everyday life and anti-Catholic discourses in mid-seventeenth-century England. At its heart lies the question of why Queen Henrietta Maria came to stand for the threat of popery with such force that the traditions of practical coexistence were threatened. Essential for understanding this phenomenon are the terms of the marriage contract, whose impact has never been analysed.