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In the meantime the Reformation had taken hold in England. The beginning
there was political rather than religious, a quarrel between the king and the
pope of the sort that had occurred in the Middle Ages without resulting in a
permanent schism, and might not have in this instance save for the total
European situation. The dispute had its root in the assumption that the king
was a national stallion expected to provide an heir to the throne. England did
not have the Salic law, which in France forbade female succession, but England
had just emerged from the Wars of the Roses and the fear was not unwarranted
that the struggle might be resumed if there were not a male succession.
Catherine of Aragon, the queen of Henry VIII, had borne him numerous children
of whom only one survived, the princess Mary, and more were not to be expected.
The ordinary procedure in such a case was to discover some flaw in the marriage
that would allow an annulment or, in the terminology of that day, a divorce. In
this instance the flaw was not difficult to find, because Catherine had been
married to Henry's brother Arthur, and the law of England, following the
prohibition in the book of Leviticus, forbade the marriage of a man with his
deceased brother's widow. At the time of the marriage the pope had given a
dispensation to cover this infraction of the rule. The question now was whether
the pope had the authority to dispense from the divine law. Catherine said
there had been no need for a dispensation because her marriage to Arthur had
not been consummated and there had been no impediment to her marriage to Henry.
The knot would have been cut by some casuistry had Catherine not been the aunt
of Emperor Charles V, who was not prepared to see her cast aside in favour of
another wife, and who controlled the pope. Clement VII, wishing neither to
provoke the emperor nor to alienate the king, dallied so long that Henry took
the matter into his own hands, repudiated papal authority, and in 1534 set up
the Anglican Church with the king as the supreme head. The spiritual head was
the archbishop of Canterbury, now Thomas Cranmer, who married Henry to Anne
Boleyn. She bore the princess Elizabeth. By still another wife Henry did have a
son who succeeded as Edward VI. (see also Index: Roman Catholicism,
Salic Law of Succession, Supremacy, Act of) | |
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Although the basic concern of Henry was political, the alterations in the
structure of the church gave scope for a reformation religious in character.
Part of the impulse came from the survivals of Lollardy, part from the Lutheran
movement on the Continent, and even more from the Christian humanism
represented by Erasmus. The major changes under Henry were the suppression of
the monasteries, the introduction of the Bible in the vernacular in the parish
churches, and permission to the clergy to marry, though this was later revoked.
The resistance to Henry's program was not formidable and the executions
resulting were not numerous. Henry was impartial in burning some Lutherans who
would not submit to his later reactionary legislation and toward some Catholics
who would not accept the royal supremacy over the church, notably John Fisher
and Thomas More. | |
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On his ascension to the throne in 1547, young Edward VI was hailed by
Cranmer and other Protestants as England's Josiah, the young 7th-century-BC
king of Judah who enforced the Deuteronomic reform. Edward, it was held, would
rid the land of idolatry so that England might be blessed. Protestantism
advanced rapidly during his reign through the systematic reformation of
doctrine, worship, and discipline--the three external marks of the true church.
A reformed confession of faith and a prayer book were adopted, but the
reformation of the ecclesiastical laws that would have defined the basis of
discipline was blocked in Parliament by the most powerful of the English
nobility. | |
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The death of Edward and England's return to Roman Catholicism in 1553 under
Queen Mary was interpreted by Protestants as a judgment by God upon a nation
that had not taken the Reformation seriously enough. Many, including Cranmer,
died as martyrs to the Protestant cause. Others fled to the European continent.
Those in exile experimented with more radical forms of worship and discipline.
Leading clergymen published material justifying rebellion against an idolatrous
ruler. Many saw in Geneva, which was a haven for English exiles, a working
model of a disciplined church. Exiles produced two large volumes of
incalculable consequence for English religious thought. John Foxe's Actes and Monuments, popularly
known as The Book of Martyrs, and the Geneva Bible were the most popular
books in England for many years after they were published. They provided a view
of England as an elect nation chosen by God to bring the power of the
Antichrist (understood to be the pope) to an end. An England obedient to God
would receive his favour. Otherwise, it would experience his plagues. | |
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Elizabeth I, beginning her rule in 1558, was hailed as the glorious Deborah
(12th-century-BC Israelite leader), the "restorer of Israel." She did
not restore it far enough for English Protestants, however. Two statutes
promulgated in her first year--the Act of Supremacy, stating that the queen was
"supreme governor" of the Church of England, and the Act of
Uniformity, ensuring that English worship should follow The Book of
Common Prayer--defined the nature of the English religious establishment.
In 1563 the primary church legislative body, the Convocations of Canterbury and
York, defined standard doctrine in the Thirty-nine Articles, but attempts in
the Convocation to reform the prayerbook further and to produce a reformed
discipline failed. Defeated there, the reformers came to rely more on
Parliament, where they could always depend on strong support. | |
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In Scotland the Reformation is associated with the name of John Knox, who
declared that one celebration of the mass is worse than a cup of poison. He
faced the very real threat that Mary, Queen of Scots, would do for Scotland
what Mary Tudor had done for England. Therefore Knox defied her to her face in
matters of religion and, though a commoner, addressed her as if he were all
Scotland. He very nearly was, because in the period prior to 1560 many an
obscure evangelist had converted the lowlands largely to the religion of John
Calvin. The church had been given a Presbyterian structure, culminating in a
General Assembly, which had actually as great and perhaps a greater influence
than the Parliament. Because of her follies, and very probably her crimes
(complicity in the murder of her husband), Mary had to seek asylum in England.
There she became the focus of plots on the life of Elizabeth until Parliament
decreed her execution. Presbyterianism came to be established in Scotland, and
this very fact alone made possible the union of Scotland with England. Union of
Protestant England with a Catholic Scotland would have been unthinkable. (see
also Index: Presbyterian churches) | |
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Knox is frequently reproached for his intolerance in regarding one
celebration of the mass as worse than a cup of poison, but one must remember
that the year 1560 marked the peak of polarization between the confessions.
Similar intolerance had been mounting at Rome. Paul III, after an abortive
attempt at reform, had introduced the Roman Inquisition in 1542. His successor,
Paul IV, placed everything that Erasmus had ever written on the Index. The
Council of Trent began its sittings in 1545, introducing rigidity in dogma and
austerity in morals. The Protestant views of justification by faith alone, the
Lord's Supper, and the propriety of clerical marriage were sharply rejected.
All deviation within the Catholic fold was rigidly suppressed. When Carranza,
the archbishop of Toledo, returned to Spain in 1559, after assisting Mary in
the restoration of Catholicism in England, he arrived in time for the last
great auto-da-fé of the Lutherans. Himself under suspicion for ideas no
more heretical than those of Erasmus, he was incarcerated for 17 years in the
prison of the Inquisition. The liberal cardinal Giovanni Morone was imprisoned
during the pontificate by Paul IV, and under Pius V, Pietro Carnesecchi, an
Erasmian and one-time secretary of Clement VII, was burned in Rome. John Knox
and Pope Pius V represent the acme of divergence between the confessions.
(R.H.B./ J.C.S./Ed.) | |
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Despite Elizabeth I's conservatism the Protestant reformers in England began
to see their programs and ideas take hold more firmly during her reign. The
movement known as Puritanism was part of this growing Protestant influence in
English society in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. | |
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Puritanism first emerged as a distinct movement in a controversy over
clerical vestments and liturgical practices. Immediately following the
Elizabethan Settlement, a practical latitude existed for Protestant clergy to
wear what they chose while leading worship. Many preachers took this
opportunity to do away with the formal attire as well as other practices
traditionally associated with the Roman Catholic mass. But in 1564 Queen
Elizabeth demanded that Matthew Parker, the archbishop of Canterbury, enforce
uniformity in the liturgy. He did so somewhat reluctantly with the publication
of his Advertisements
in 1566. Those who refused to wear the now prescribed garb came to be
considered collectively, and with scorn, as "Puritans" or
"precisians" for their unwillingness to submit in these seemingly
minor points to the supremacy of the queen. | |
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Aside from vestments and liturgy the form of church government was a second
controversial issue among Elizabethan English Protestants. In 1570 Thomas
Cartwright (1535-1603) delivered a series of lectures at Cambridge University
proposing that presbyterian government, or government by local councils of
clergy and laity, might be an improvement over the current system of
archbishops, bishops, and appointments. Cartwright was dismissed for his
opinions and fled to Geneva. Two years later John Field and Thomas Wilcox
anonymously published an Admonition
to the Parliament
which pushed Cartwright's ideas even further. In reply John Whitgift,
vice-chancellor at Cambridge, maintained that the government of the church
should be suited to the government of the state and that episcopal government
best suited monarchy. In this dispute most Puritans shied away from extremes
and supported some form of episcopacy, but a small number went beyond even
Cartwright and Field in seeking to effect immediately a "reformation
without tarrying for any." These Separatists broke with the established
parish system to set up voluntary congregations that covenanted with God and
with themselves, chose ministers by common consent, and put into practice the
Puritan marks of the true church. Robert Browne (d. 1633) was an early advocate
of the Separatist mentality. | |
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The leaders of the Puritan movement, however, including Cartwright (who had
returned to England in 1585) and Field, repudiated the Separatists and sought
to set up "presbyterianism in episcopacy," or a "church within
the church." This compromise between presbyterianism and episcopacy was
preferred by the most prominent Puritans, and they began to institute such a
system by means of informal public meetings of clergy and laity to expound and
discuss the Bible. These meetings were called "prophesyings," and
they were favoured for their educational value to the rural population by
Edmund Grindal, who had succeeded Parker as archbishop of Canterbury in 1576.
But the prophesyings were also the occasions for local Puritan clergy, laity,
and gentry to mobilize, and they were viewed by Elizabeth, in the context of
the more radical groups, as a political threat. An increasingly clear alliance
between Puritans and certain factions within Parliament did not allay
Elizabeth's fears. (see also Index: prophet) | |
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Thus, the Queen ordered Grindal to suppress the prophesyings. When he
refused, Elizabeth effectively suspended him from the exercise of his office.
This suspension further alienated Puritans. Meetings continued, often in a
modified form, called classis
or conferences, which were loosely coordinated by John Field in London.
Following Grindal's death in 1583, John Whitgift, Cartwright's old opponent,
advanced to Canterbury. Whitgift had no hesitance in closing down the
prophesyings, but he proceeded with caution in formal prosecution of Puritans.
Extended ecclesiastical hearings by the Court of High Commission, under the
leadership of John Aylmer, and civil proceedings by the Star Chamber were
accompanied by the imprisonment of only a few of the most prominent Puritans. | |
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Whitgift's policy, along with the death of Field and other Puritan leaders
between 1588 and 1590, effectively ended any grand plan for a continuing
reformation of the English Church under Elizabeth. The generally moderate
Elizabethan Puritan movement was over, and the forces of reform dispersed into
various parties and programs ranging from nonseparating congregationalism (as
advocated by William Ames) to open subversion of the established hierarchy as
in the anonymous Marprelate Tracts (1588-89). Despite failure to promote reform
in matters of church structure, the Puritan spirit continued to spread
throughout the society. Protestants with Puritan sympathies controlled colleges
and professorships at Oxford and Cambridge, had the ears of many leaders in the
House of Commons, and worked tirelessly as preachers and pastors to continue
the preaching of Protestantism in its distinctively "hot" Puritan
form to the laity. (M.E.M.) | |
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Puritan hopes were raised when James VI of Scotland succeeded Elizabeth as
James I of England in 1603. James was known to be Calvinist in theology, and he
had once signed the Negative Confession of 1581 favouring the Puritan position.
In 1603 the Millenary Petition (with a claimed thousand signatures) presented
Puritan grievances to the King, and in 1604 the Hampton Court Conference was
held to deal with them. The petitioners were sadly in error in their estimate
of the King, who had learned by personal experience to resent Presbyterian
clericalism. At Hampton Court he coined the phrase, "no bishop, no
king." Outmaneuvered in the conference, the Puritans were made to appear
petty in their requests. | |
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As a seal upon the Hampton Court Conference James appointed Richard Bancroft
to be Whitgift's successor as archbishop of Canterbury and encouraged the
Convocation of 1604 to draw up the Constitutions
and Canons against Nonconformists. Conformity in ecclesiastical matters
became a pattern in areas where forms of nonconformity had survived under
Elizabeth. Though a number of the clergy were deprived of their positions,
others took evasive action and got by with minimal conformity. Members of
Parliament supported them in their position by arguing that since the canons
had not been ratified by Parliament they did not have the force of law. | |
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Puritans remained under pressure, but men of Puritan sympathies still came
close to the seat of power in James's reign. The enforced reading from pulpits
of James's Book
of Sportsdealing with recreations permissible on Sundays, in 1618, however,
was a further affront to those who espoused strict observance of the sabbath,
making compromise more difficult. | |
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Increasing numbers of Separatist groups could not accept compromise, and in
1607 a congregation from Scrooby, Eng., fled to Holland and then migrated on
the Mayflower to establish the Plymouth Colony on the shore of Cape Cod
Bay in 1620. | |
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Despite the presence of controversy, Puritan and non-Puritan Protestants
under Elizabeth and James had been united by adherence to a broadly Calvinistic
theology of grace. Much of Whitgift's restraint in handling Puritans, for
instance, can be traced to the prevailing Calvinist consensus he shared with
the Nonconformists. Even as late as 1618 the English delegation to the Synod of
Dort supported the strongly Calvinistic decisions of that body. Under Charles
I, however, this consensus broke down, driving yet another rift into the Church
of England. Anti-Puritanism in matters of liturgy and organization became
linked with anti-Calvinism in theology. | |
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The leaders of the anti-Puritan and anti-Calvinist party, notably Richard
Montagu, whose New Gagg for an
Old Goose (1624) first linked Calvinism with the abusive term
"Puritan," drew upon the development of Arminianism in Holland.
Arminians stressed God's universal offer of salvation to mankind in contrast to
the Calvinistic doctrine according to which God predestined a few to salvation,
with the rest of humanity reprobated or damned. Early English Arminians added
to this an increased reverence for the sacraments and liturgical ceremony.
Richard Neile, bishop of Durham, was the first significant patron of Arminians
among the hierarchy, but by the time William Laud was appointed bishop of
London in 1628, he was the acknowledged leader of the anti-Puritan party.
London was regarded as the stronghold of Puritanism, and a policy of thorough
anti-Puritanism was begun there. Men who were not Separatists found their
positions increasingly difficult to maintain. | |
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Laud, who became archbishop of Canterbury in 1633, was clearly a favourite
of Charles. He oversaw the advance of Arminians to influential positions in the
church and subtly promoted the propagation of Arminian theology. His fortunes
began to turn, however, when he attempted to introduce into the Church of
Scotland a liturgy comparable to the Anglican Book
of Common Prayer. When "Laud's Liturgy" was introduced at the
Church of St. Giles at Edinburgh, a riot broke out leading to a popular
uprising that restored Presbyterianism in Scotland. | |
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Charles sought to put down the Scots, but his armies were no match for the
Scottish forces. In 1640 he was faced with an army of occupation in northern
England demanding money as a part of its settlement. Short of funds, Charles
was forced to call Parliament, without which he had been trying to rule since
1629. | |
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Religion played perhaps the key role in the parliamentary elections, and
Calvinists came to dominate the Commons. Puritans, who had been increasingly
alienated from the ecclesiastical and civil hierarchy since the mid-1620s,
suddenly saw an opportunity to return the Church of England to its original
doctrinal system and to carry out reforms that had been held in check since the
Elizabethan Settlement. Arminianism in theology, liturgy, and government was
linked in the popular mind with Catholicism, as fears of a Spanish conspiracy
to undermine Protestant England became widespread. The first act of the Long
Parliament, as it came to be called (1640-53), was to set aside Nov. 17, 1640,
as a day of fasting and humiliation. Cornelius Burges and Stephen Marshall were
appointed to preach that day to members of Parliament. Their sermons urged the
nation to renew its covenant with God in order to bring about true religion
through the maintenance of "an able, godly, faithful, zealous, profitable,
preaching ministry in every parish church and chapel throughout England and
Wales" and through the establishment of a civil magistracy that would be
"ever at hand to back such a ministry." | |
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Hundreds of similar sermons were preached on monthly fast days and on other
occasions before Parliament during the next few years, urging the people to
adopt true doctrine, pure worship, and the maintenance of discipline as a means
to claim God's blessing so that England might become "our Jerusalem, a
praise in the midst of the earth." | |
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In the course of his reign it had become apparent that Charles himself was
the patron of Arminians and their attempt to redefine the doctrine of the
Church of England. Arminians in turn favoured Charles's causes against Puritans
and Parliament. This alliance held despite increasing pressure on Charles to
cooperate with Parliament on economic and military matters. The resulting civil
war between the forces of the King and the troops of Parliament was hardly just
a religious struggle between Arminians and Calvinists, but conflict over
religion played an undeniably large role in bringing about the Puritan
Revolution. As Protestantism split, so did English society. | |
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Fighting broke out in 1642, and after the first battles members of
Parliament called together a committee of over a hundred clergymen from all
over England to advise them on "the good government of the Church."
This body, the Westminster Assembly of Divines, convened on July 1, 1643, and
continued daily meetings for more than five years. (see also Index:
English Civil Wars) | |
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A majority of the Puritan clergy of England probably would still have opted
for a modified episcopal church government. Parliament, however, needed
Scotland's military help. It adopted the Solemn League and Covenant, which
committed the Westminster Assembly to develop a church polity close to
Scotland's presbyterian form. A small, determined Assembly group of
"Dissenting Brethren" held out for the freedom of the congregation,
or "Independency," as opposed to the power of presbytery. Others,
called Erastians, wanted to limit the offenses under the power of church
discipline. Because both groups had support in Parliament, the reform of church
government and discipline was frustrated. | |
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Dissent within the assembly was negligible compared with dissent outside it.
Pamphlets by John Milton, Roger Williams, and others schooled in Puritanism
pleaded for greater freedom of the press and of religion. Such dissent was
supported in the New Model Army, a Parliamentarian army of 22,000 men organized
and disciplined under Sir Thomas Fairfax (1612-71) as commander in chief and
Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), and the real power in England was passing to the
military leaders who had defeated all Royalist forces. Late in 1648 the victors
feared that the Westminster Assembly and Parliament would reach a compromise
with the defeated Charles that would destroy their gains for Puritanism. In
December 1648 Parliament was purged of members unsatisfactory to the Army, and
in January 1649 King Charles was tried and executed. | |
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Both Parliament and the assembly continued to sit on a "rump"
basis (containing only a remnant after the purges), and Oliver Cromwell emerged
as England's Lord Protector. Cromwell was a typical Puritan in that he saw the
judgment and mercy of God in events. Military successes to him were definite
signs of the blessing of God upon his work. | |
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The Independent clergyman John Owen guided the religious settlement under
Cromwell. He maintained that the "reformation of England shall be more
glorious than of any Nation in the world, being carried on, neither by might
nor power, but only by the spirit of the Lord of Hosts." Error was a
problem for both Cromwell and Owen, but, as Owen expressed it, it was better
for 500 errors to be scattered among individuals than for one error to have
power and jurisdiction over all others. | |
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Such was the basis for a pluralistic religious settlement in England under
the Commonwealth in which parish churches were led by men of Presbyterian,
Independent, Baptist, or other opinions. Jews were permitted to live in
England. But it was unacceptable for such groups as Roman Catholics or
Unitarians to hold religious views publicly. Cromwell was personally willing to
tolerate The
Book of Common Prayer, but his Parliament was not. Voluntary associations
of churches were formed, such as the Worcestershire Association, to keep up a
semblance of church order among churches and pastors of differing persuasions. | |
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In the upheaval brought on by the wars radical groups appeared that both
challenged and advanced the Puritan vision of the New Jerusalem. The Levellers
(a republican and democratic political party) in the New Model Army in 1647 and
1648 interpreted the liberty that comes from the free grace of God offered to
all men in Christ as having direct implications for political democracy. The
Diggers (agrarian communists) in 1649 planted crops on common land, first at
St. George's Hill near Kingston and later at Cobham Manor, also near Kingston,
to encourage God to bring soon the day when all men would live in an
unstructured community of love with a communal economy. The Fifth Monarchy Men
(an extreme Puritan millennialist sect) in 1649 presented their message of no
compromise with the old political structures and advocated a new structure,
composed of saints joined together in congregations with ascending
representative assemblies, to bring all men under the kingship of Jesus Christ.
As distinct units these groups were short-lived. A more enduring group was
founded by George Fox (1624-91) as the Society of Friends, or Quakers, which
pushed the Puritan logic disallowing any remnants of popery to its ultimate
limit with a program of no ministers, no sacraments, and no liturgy. Puritanism
had never been a monolithic movement, and accession to power had brought the
factions to bear. The limits of the Puritan spirit of reform showed clearly in
the widespread persecution of the Quakers. | |
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After the death of Cromwell chaos threatened, and in the interest of order
even some Puritans supported the restoration of Charles II. They hoped for a
modified episcopal government, such as had been suggested in 1641 by the
archbishop of Armagh, James Ussher (1581-1656). Such a proposal was
satisfactory to many Episcopals, Presbyterians, and Independents. When some
veterans of the Westminster Assembly went to Holland in 1660 to meet with
Charles before he returned, the King made it clear that there would be
modifications to satisfy "tender consciences." | |
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These Puritans were outmaneuvered in their attempt to obtain a comprehensive
church, however, by those who favoured the strict episcopal pattern. A new Act
of Uniformity was passed on May 19, 1662, by the Cavalier Parliament. The act
required reordination of many pastors, gave unconditional consent to The
Book of Common Prayer, advocated the taking of the oath of canonical
obedience, and renounced the Solemn League and Covenant. Between 1660 and when
the act was enforced on Aug. 24, 1662, almost 2,000 Puritan ministers were
ejected from their positions. | |
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As a result of the Act of Uniformity, English Puritanism entered the period
of the Great Persecution. The Conventicle Act of 1664 punished any person over
16 years of age for attending a religious meeting not conducted according to The
Book of Common Prayer. The Five Mile Act of 1665 prohibited any ejected
minister from living within five miles of a corporate town or any place where
he had formerly served. Still, some Puritans did not give up the idea of
comprehension (inclusiveness of various persuasions). There were conferences
with sympathetic bishops and brief periods of indulgence for Puritans to
preach, but fines and jailings set the tone. Puritanism became a form of
Nonconformist Protestantism. | |
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During the short reign of Charles's Roman Catholic brother, James II
(1685-88), fear of Roman Catholic tyranny united politically both establishment
and Nonconformist Protestants. This new unity brought about the "Glorious
Revolution" (1688), establishing William and Mary on the throne. The last
attempt at comprehension failed to receive approval by either Parliament or the
Convocation under the new rulers. In 1689 England's religious solution was
defined by an Act of Toleration that continued the established church as
episcopal but also made it possible for dissenting groups to have licensed
chapels. The Puritan goal to further reform the nation as a whole was
transmuted into the more individualistic spiritual concerns of Pietism or else
the more secular concerns of the Age of Reason. (see also Index:
Toleration Act) | |
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A decade before the landing of the Mayflower
(1620) in Massachusetts a strong Puritan influence was planted in Virginia.
Leaders of the Virginia Company who settled Jamestown in 1607 saw themselves in
a covenant relation to God, and they carefully read the message of their
successes and failures. A typical Puritan vision was held by the Virginia
settler Sir Thomas Dale. His strict application of severe laws disciplining the
Jamestown community in 1611 probably saved the colony from extinction, but he
also earned a reputation as a tyrant. Dale thought of himself as a labourer in
the vineyard of the Lord, as a member of Israel building up a "heavenly
New Jerusalem." Like Oliver Cromwell later, whom he resembled, Dale
interpreted his military success as a direct sign of God's lending "a
helping hand." (see also Index: United States) | |
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Puritan clergymen saw excellent opportunity for their cause in Virginia. The
Reverend Alexander Whitaker, the "apostle of Virginia," wrote to his
London Puritan cousin in 1614, "But I much more muse, that so few of our
English ministers, that were so hot against the surplice and subscription, come
hither where neither is spoken of." The church in Virginia, however,
became more directly aligned with the English establishment when the
settlements were made into a royal colony in 1624. | |
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In New England, however, the Puritans had their greatest opportunity.
Between 1628 and 1640 the Massachusetts Bay Colony was developed as a covenant
community. Governor John Winthrop stated thecase concisely in his lay sermon on
board the Arbella before the colonists landed, | |
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Thus stands the cause between God and us; we are entered into covenant with
Him for this work; we have taken out a commission; the Lord hath given us leave
to draw our own articles . . . Now if the Lord shall be pleased to hear us and
bring us in peace to the place we desire, then hath He ratified this covenant
and sealed our Commission, [and] will expect a strict performance of the
articles contained in it. | |
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Lack of performance of the articles, in this view, would bring down the
wrath of God. | |
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The pattern for church organization in the colony was determined by John
Cotton, who pursued "that very Middle-way" between English Separatism
and the presbyterian form of government. Unlike the Separatists he held the
Church of England to be a true church, though blemished; and unlike the
Presbyterians he held that there should be no ecclesiastical authority between
the congregation and the Lordship of Christ. Cotton proposed that the church
maintain its purity by permitting only those who could make a "declaration
of their experience of a work of grace" to be members. Cotton's plan
ensured that church government should be in the hands of the elect, the chosen
of God. | |
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Taking their cue from Thomas Cartwright, the Puritans of the Bay Colony
fashioned the civil commonwealth according to the framework of the church. Only
the elect could vote and rule in the commonwealth. The church was not itself to
govern, but it was the means through which were prepared "instruments both
to rule and to choose rulers." Biblical law was the primary law for the
ordering of both church and state. | |
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The colony prospered; thus it seemed evident that God was blessing Puritan
performance. As a result the leadership could not take kindly to those who were
publicly critical of their basic program. Hence Roger Williams in 1635 and Anne
Hutchinson in 1638 were banished from the colony in spite of their ability to
declare experience of the work of grace. | |
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More troublesome than these dissenters were persons such as Mary Dyer. She
and other Quakers who returned again and again after being punished and
banished were finally hanged. It was difficult for the state to keep the church
pure. | |
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In order to head off a possible new form of church government dictated from
England at the time of the Westminster Assembly, churches from the four Puritan
colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven met in a
voluntary synod in 1648. They adopted the Cambridge Platform, in which the
congregational form of church government was worked out in detail. The standard
for church membership came under question when it was found that numbers of
second-generation residents could not testify to the experience of grace in
their lives. This resulted in the Half-Way Covenant of 1657 and 1662 that
permitted baptized, moral, and orthodox persons to share in the privileges of
church membership except for partaking of communion. | |
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Late in the 17th century it was apparent to all that the ideal commonwealth
was not being maintained. Ministers pointed to wars with the Indians and other
problems as signs of God's judgment. Visitation by demonic powers in the form
of witches was believable to people expecting the wrath of God. The Salem
witchcraft trials and hangings took place in 1692 at a period of declining
confidence in the old ideal. | |
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Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven were variations on
the main theme of realizing the Holy Commonwealth in America. Roger Williams
and the other founders of Rhode Island must also be regarded as Puritans with
the "one principle, that every one should have liberty to worship God
according to the light of their consciences." | |
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William Penn's "holy experiment" in Pennsylvania represented
another Puritan variation, only this time under Quaker norms. When Penn came
into the ownership of this vast tract of land, he saw it as a mandate from God
to form an ideal commonwealth. In New Jersey, Puritans from the New Haven
colony who were dissatisfied with the Half-Way Convenant sought to reestablish
the pristine Puritan community at Newark. Maryland, which had been established
under Roman Catholic auspices, soon had a strong Puritan majority among its
settlers. | |
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There was no colony in which the Puritan influence was not strong in one
form or another. One estimate is that 85 percent of the churches in the
original 13 colonies were Puritan in spirit. | |
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By the middle of the 16th century Lutheranism was dominant in northern
Europe. Württemberg, after the restoration of Duke Ulrich, adopted the
reform in 1534. The outstanding Reformer was Johannes Brenz and the great
centre Tübingen. Brandenburg, with Berlin as its capital, embraced the
reform in 1539. In that same year ducal Saxony, until then vehemently Catholic,
changed sides. Elisabeth of Braunschweig, also in that year, became a convert,
but only after long turbulence did her faith prevail in the land. Very
significant for the north as a whole was the stand taken by Albert of Prussia,
who was a member of the Polish Diet and whose wife was Danish. He secularized
the Teutonic Knights and in 1525 acknowledged himself a Lutheran. In the
Scandinavian lands Denmark toyed with Lutheranism as early as the 1520s, but
not until 1539 was the Danish Church established on a national basis with the
king as the head and the clergy as leaders in matters of faith. Norway followed
Denmark. The Diet of Västerås officially declared what had for some
time been true, namely, that Sweden was an evangelical state. The outstanding
Swedish Reformers were the brothers Olaus and Laurentius Petri. Finland, under
Swedish rule, followed suit. The Reformer there was Mikael Agricola, called
"the father of written Finnish." The Baltic states of Livonia and
Estonia were officially Lutheran in 1554. Subsequently ravished by the
Russians, portions of these lands united with Sweden, Denmark, and Poland.
Lutheranism survived. Toward the east, Austria under the Habsburgs could enjoy
no state support for the evangelical movement, which nevertheless gained
adherents. In Moravia, as noted, the Hutterites established their colonies
under tolerant magnates. | |
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Eastern Europe was a seedbed for even more radical varieties of
Protestantism, because kings were weak, nobles strong, and cities few, and
because religious pluralism had long existed. Poland acquired a large German
Lutheran population when the Danzig area came under Polish control, and a large
contingent of the Bohemian Brethren migrated to Poland when the Habsburg ruler
attempted their extermination. Several of the Polish noblemen adopted their
pacifism and would wear only swords made of wood. To Poland also flocked the
Italian anti-Trinitarians, having been granted an asylum, perhaps merely
because they were Italian, by the Italian queen of Poland, Bona Sforza. Named
Socinians from their leader, Faustus Socinus, they flourished until dissipated
by the Counter-Reformation. Much more extensive was the Calvinist influx not
only into Poland but into the whole of eastern Europe. This variety of
Protestantism appealed to those of non-German stock because it was not German
and no longer markedly French, as well as because of its revolutionary temper
and republican sentiments. The Compact of Warsaw in 1573 called the Pax
Dissidentium ("The Peace of Those Who Differ") granted toleration
to Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, and Bohemian Brethren, but not to
the Socinians. | |
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In Hungary, the Turkish victory at the Battle of Mohács in 1526
brought about a division of the land into three sections, the northwest ruled
by the Habsburg Ferdinand, the eastern province of Transylvania under Zápolya,
and the area of Buda under the Turk. Even before this date Lutheranism had made
inroads not only in the German but also in the Magyar sections. Subsequently
Calvinism made even greater gains. The anti-Trinitarians found a permanent
locus in Transylvania. The weakness of the government and the diversity of
religion in this whole area made for a large degree of toleration. | |
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The Reformation gained no lasting hold in Spain and Italy. In Spain the main
reason for this must be found in the conflicts of the previous century when the
Christians were striving to achieve political, cultural, and religious
unification by converting or expelling the unbelievers, the Jews and the Moors.
The Inquisition was introduced in 1482 to root out all remnants of Jewish
practices among the Marranos, the Jewish converts to Christianity. The
non-Christian Jews were expelled in 1492. Then Granada fell and the same
process was applied to the Moriscos, the Moorish converts, and the unconverted
Moors, after a century, also were expelled. Because the process had thus far
been successful, the pressures were relaxed, and Spain enjoyed a decade of
Erasmian liberalism in the 1520s. But with the infiltration of Lutheranism the
machinery of repression again was brought into force. | |
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In Italy sectarian and heretical movements had proliferated in the late
Middle Ages. But one by one they had been crushed, and the Italians may well
have felt that such rebellions were futile. Furthermore, the friars preached
moral rather than doctrinal reform as Luther had done. Another consideration
was that the new monastic orders, the Capuchins, Theatines, and Jesuits, gained
papal favour and became a mighty force in counteracting Protestant
infiltration, which nevertheless did take place. Venice was a centre, with its
branch house of the Lutheran banking family of Fugger, and so was Lucca. At
Naples the Spanish mystic Valdés, though not a Protestant, expounded a
piety of the type of the liberal Catholic reform, and some of his followers
were attracted to the movements coming from beyond the Alps. Calvinism gained a
hold. But the Roman Inquisition, as above noted, was established in 1542, and
those with Protestant leanings either made cloisters of their own hearts, or
went to the stake, or crossed the mountains into permanent exile. The most
radical theological views of the Reformation were those propounded by the
Spanish and Italian anti-Trinitarians. | |
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