: In the Scandinavian and British regions, belonging to any church other than the state-sanctioned Lutheran or Anglican bodies was illegal until the mid-19th century.
Early anti-Catholicism was less about personal faith and more about political loyalty. In post-Reformation Britain and the American colonies, the Catholic Church was viewed as a "transnational monolith" led by a "spiritual despot" in Rome. anti-catholicism
: Because Catholics answered to the Pope, they were often viewed as inherently unpatriotic or as agents of rival powers like France or Spain. : In the Scandinavian and British regions, belonging