Yes, I'd agree that during the period in question, in "official"
terms, everyone was Catholic, and that there are few "official"
records of dissenters, except perhaps in the 24 people executed for
"heresy" during the reign of Henry VII. However, you'd have to dig up
the original court records of the examinations (if they're available)
to find out what constituted "heresy" in each case:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/TUDheretics.htm
There are written records remaining of people's opposition to official
state religion and adherence to other beliefs (letters, diaries,
"unofficial" pamphlets, court examinations, works smuggled out of
England and published abroad, etc.), some of which are in internet
databases, but not in the form of the regularized statistics you seek.
Religions outside the state church weren't alternatives: they were
treason (as was practicing Catholicism in the later Tudor period). |