How did King James I make life hard for the Catholics?

Answer 1

He didn't. He gave English speaking christians the Authorized King James Bible...not just any bible but he even named it after himself! How humble

The decision whether to use an old or a modern translation is complicated by attitudes held by conservative Christians. Some Protestants will tell you that the only acceptable version of The Bible is the King James. This position is known as "King James-onlyism." Its advocates often make jokes such as, "If the King James Version was good enough for the Paul, it's good enough for me" or "My King James Version corrects your Greek text."

They claim that the King James is based on the only perfect set of manuscripts we have (a false claim; there are no perfect manuscripts, and the ones used for the KJV were compiled by a Catholic, Erasmus), that it is the only translation that avoids liberal renderings, and that its translators were saintly and scholarly men. Since the King James is also known as "the Authorized Version" (AV), its advocates sometimes argue that it is the only version to ever have been "authorized." [To this one may point out that it was authorized only in the Anglican Church, which now uses other translations, and that the man who authorized it, King James I, was scarcely the well-spring of moral authority King James-onlyites paint him as (in fact, he was a notorious homosexual). For a critique of King James-onlyism, see D. A. Carson, The King James Version Debate: A Plea for Realism(Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979).]

As amusing as King James-onlyism may sound, many Protestants take it seriously. There is even a Catholic equivalent, which we might call "Douay-Rheims-onlyism." The Douay-Rheims version, which predates the King James (the complete KJV was published in 1611, the complete Douay-Rheims in 1609) was the standard Bible for English-speaking Catholics until the twentieth century.

ANSWER:

King James allowed a convention to consider the extinguishing of non-biblical rituals of the Roman religion such as confession boxing, indulgences, Latin ceremonies, etc. Out of such a convention came the idea for an authorized Bible, the King James Bible of 1611. The publishing of Bibles in the language of the people did more to break the Roman monopoly on religion than any other single initiative. Prior to this bishops and priests had maintained that only they were authorized to tell the people what was in scripture.

Answer 2

James I and IV had a somewhat flip-flopping attitude towards Catholics during his reign. Like Elizabeth, he felt that so long as a person was loyal to the crown, he had no reason to search their consciences, but, also like Elizabeth, felt this loyalty was demonstrated by attendance at the State Church. When he needed money he would raise the Recusancy fines; he would prosecute (persecute) Catholic Priests and the people who helped them hide; he would pass new edicts against Recusant Catholics and then fail to enforce them until he needed to. At the same time, he was negotiating with Spain and France, both Catholic countried, for a marriage alliance for his son, Charles (Charles I). He wrote letters to the Pope making vague promises of religious freedom for Catholics and went after the people who he felt were a bigger danger to the country, the Puritans.