Religion
In reply to the discussion: Richard Dawkins to atheist rally: 'Show contempt' for faith [View all]muriel_volestrangler
(101,082 posts)Henry VIII's initial split from Rome was about politics - his desire for a male heir. Edward VI and his regents/advisers were more explicit in purely religious coercion, and then Mary very explicitly. Conflict was often about religion after that - the Gunpowder Plot, the suspicion of Charles I having Catholic sympathies, and then his sons, the alleged Catholic plots, and then, finally, chucking out a British, but Catholic, James II in favour of his daughter and son-in-law, purely because they were Protestant (and he'd had a son he was bringing up Catholic).
The biggest conflict, the British Civil Wars, had religion involved (eg the Scottish Covenanters rejecting the imposition of episcopal liturgy), but were perhaps mainly about politics - a 'unitary' king versus a parliament of the landed gentry.