To what extent did the confessional rifts of the 1630s determine patterns of Civil War allegiance in Norwich during the ensuing decade? The dramatic events leading to the collapse of Charles I's Personal Rule provided the godly with an opportunity to present their grievances and begin the task of furthering the Reformation once again. But what of the discernible core of support for Bishop Wren? Admittedly death robbed this faction of its more senior leaders, like Robert Debney, prior to 1640, although the summoning of the Long Parliament saw remnants of the ‘pro-Wren’ contingent under Henry Lane conduct various rearguard actions against the godly. A royalist constituency did exist among Norwich's governors. But ultimately, the king's loyal adherents, left increasingly isolated in local affairs by Charles's consolidation of a power base away from East Anglia, did not prove forceful enough to prevent the city's alignment with Parliament in 1643. Our aim is not to outline in detail the collapse into Civil War and its ramifications for Norwich's citizens. Instead, this chapter will attempt to tie up some loose ends from the previous section, to explore the ways in which religious alignment in the 1630s was played out in the political jockeying for sides during the early 1640s. While the struggle was not exclusively about religion, views on the Caroline Church shaped factions among the city's elite.

Indeed, Henry Lane's elevation to the mayoralty in May 1640 ensured that the godly activists' rise to prominence was by no means well assured on the eve of the calling of the Long Parliament.