History of the Puritans under Elizabeth I

Puritanism (also called the Puritan movement) was a religious belief inside the Church of England. It formed in the late 1500s and early 1600s. The people who followed this belief were called Puritans. They wanted to change or “purify” the Church of England from all Catholic traditions they believed were wrong. They also wanted to build a society that lived fully by Christian rules.

Many Puritans did not want to break away from the Church of England. They wanted to stay and reform it. These Puritans were called non-separating Puritans. Other Puritans believed the church could not be fixed. They separated from it and formed their own churches. These were called separatists.

Puritanism followed the ideas of John Calvin. It taught that God chooses who will be saved and that salvation does not come from human effort. Many Puritans believed that Christians should prove their faith through moral living and strict discipline. They also taught that church government should be controlled by ministers and church members, not by bishops or kings.

Puritanism influenced politics, culture, and daily life. In England, Puritans played a major part in the English Civil War, which led to the temporary fall of the monarchy. Some Puritans left England and helped found the New England colonies in North America, where their beliefs shaped early American society.

Puritanism slowly ended as a separate movement in the late 1600s and early 1700s, but its ideas helped form later groups such as the Congregationalists and Baptists, and it left a strong impact on English-speaking Protestant culture.

 Terminology — “Puritan” as a name 
The word Puritan was first used as an insult in the late 1500s. It was used for Protestants in the Church of England who wanted stronger reform. They believed that the church still followed too many Catholic traditions. People used the term to make fun of those who wanted a “pure” church.

Puritans themselves did not always agree on what the word meant. Some accepted it, but others rejected it because they did not want a special label that separated them from other Protestants.

In the 1600s, the term became more widely used. It included people who wanted changes in church worship, church leadership, and Christian behavior in society. It also sometimes wrongly included groups like Separatists and Presbyterians, even though they were not always the same as Puritans.

Outside England, people sometimes use the word to refer to the early colonists in New England. Many of these settlers were Puritans, but the colonies also included other Protestant groups. Over time, the word “Puritan” has also been used more generally to describe anyone with strict moral views, but this meaning is not historically accurate.

Puritans themselves preferred names like “the godly,” “the faithful,” or simply “Christians,” because they believed their reforms were the true form of Christianity.

 History 
Puritanism grew out of the English Reformation in the 1500s. King Henry VIII changed England’s religion by breaking from the Roman Catholic Church. But the new Church of England kept many Catholic traditions. Protestants who wanted stronger reform hoped the church would become more like the Reformed churches in Europe, especially in places like Geneva.

 Elizabeth I and early Puritans 
When Queen Elizabeth I ruled (1558–1603), she supported a moderate Protestant church called the ‘‘Elizabethan Religious Settlement.’’ This policy tried to unite the nation by keeping some older traditions while rejecting the authority of the pope. Many Puritans believed these compromises were wrong and wanted the church to remove every practice they thought came from Catholicism.

They argued for:
 simpler church buildings and worship
 no special clothing for priests (called ‘‘vestments’’)
 sermons as the main part of worship

church leaders chosen by ministers and church members, not by bishops or the government

In the 1560s, some Puritan clergy refused to wear required vestments. This caused a conflict known as the ‘‘vestiarian controversy.’’ Elizabeth ordered them to obey church rules. This made many Puritans angry and convinced some of them that more serious reform was needed.

 Growth and debate 
Puritan ideas spread through preaching and printed books. They formed small groups that met for Bible study and prayer outside the regular church services. These groups encouraged strict moral behavior and daily devotion.

Some Puritans also spoke against church courts and bishops. They wanted a new form of church leadership based on local congregations working together in larger assemblies.

However, Puritans disagreed among themselves about how quickly and how far reform should go. Some wanted to remain in the Church of England and wait for change, while others thought separating from the church was the only solution.

 James I and Charles I 
When James I became king in 1603, Puritans hoped he would support their cause. They gave him a petition known as the ‘‘Millenary Petition,’’ which asked for church reforms. James allowed a new English Bible translation — the King James Version (1611) — but he continued to support bishops.

Under his son, Charles I, things became worse for Puritans. Charles supported Archbishop William Laud, who enforced traditional ceremonies and punished ministers who resisted. Many Puritans felt persecuted and believed the church was moving back toward Catholicism.

Because of this pressure, some Puritans left England for the Netherlands and for North America. Their migration to New England in the 1630s is often called the ‘‘Great Migration.’’

Lead
The reign of Elizabeth I of England, from 1558 to 1603, saw the start of the Puritan movement in England, its clash with the authorities of the Church of England, and its temporarily effective suppression as a political movement in the 1590s by judicial means. This led to the further alienation of Anglicans and Puritans from one another in the 17th century during the reigns of King James and King Charles I, that eventually brought about the English Civil War, the brief rule of the Puritan Lord Protector of England Oliver Cromwell, the English Commonwealth, and as a result the political, religious, and civil liberty that is celebrated today in all English speaking countries.

The English Puritan movement in the reign of Elizabeth and beyond sought to further the work of reforming the Church of England, eradicate the influence of Roman Catholicism in the land, as well as promote the national interest of the English crown and the English people under a united Protestant confession that was in strict conformity to the Bible and Reformed theology. This Puritan vision that began in the Elizabethan era would eventually result in the Westminster Assembly and the Westminster Standards, including Westminster Confession of Faith, the Shorter Catechism, and Larger Catechism, and the Directory for Public Worship.

Background, to 1559

The English Reformation began in the 1530s when Henry VIII separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church and the authority of the pope. During Henry's reign, Protestants remained a minority of the English population, and Henry alternated between favoring his Protestant advisers and his traditional ones who wanted to maintain Catholic belief and practices.

Protestants were also divided among themselves. By the 1540s, Lutherans and the Swiss Reformed churches were opposed on questions like predestination and the use of religious images. The Reformed churches saw statues, stained glass and pictures in churches as idolatry and disliked clerical vestments, preferring ministers to wear plain black gowns. They replaced medieval liturgy with simpler services focused on prayer and preaching. The Lutherans believed in the real presence in the Lord's Supper and were not as opposed to images and vestments. Many English Protestants thought the Reformed churches were more faithful to the Bible.

Under Henry's son, Edward VI, the English Reformation moved in a Reformed (Calvinist) direction. By 1548 leading English Protestants, including Thomas Cranmer (Archbishop of Canterbury), had adopted Reformed views on the Lord's Supper. Protestant theology entered the liturgy in the 1549 Book of Common Prayer and more clearly in the 1552 revision. Processions were banned, clerical marriage was allowed, prayers for the dead and chantries were abolished, and many images and wall paintings were removed.

When Edward died in 1553 his Catholic half-sister Mary I of England became queen. Mary tried to restore England to Rome. About a thousand Protestants, the Marian exiles, left England. They found refuge in places like Wesel, Frankfurt, Strasbourg, Zurich, Basel, and Geneva. There they met Reformed churches and ideas, especially from John Calvin's Geneva, and many of these exiles brought Reformed views back to England after Mary's death.

Elizabethan religious settlement, 1559

In 1558 Queen Mary died and Elizabeth became queen. Elizabeth had been raised Protestant. Many Marian exiles came back to England in her first year. In 1559 a compromise known as the Elizabethan Religious Settlement tried to make England Protestant without driving away those who had stayed loyal to Catholic forms under Mary. The settlement became firmer by 1563 and an interim statement of 11 articles was used for a few years.

The Church of England under Elizabeth was broadly Reformed. Her first Archbishop of Canterbury, Matthew Parker, had been close to Reformed leaders. Still, some people were unhappy. They wanted more change. This demand for "further reform" in the 1560s became the Puritan Movement.

Puritans were not satisfied with the Anglican settlement. They wanted the church reformed more strictly by the Bible and by faithful preaching, like the continental Reformed churches. They opposed rule by bishops, the required use of the Book of Common Prayer, and many Anglican rituals they saw as obstacles to true religion. They believed many people were trapped by forms and rituals and so remained ignorant of true faith.

Puritans wanted to remove all practices they thought showed "Roman Catholic idolatry": the mass, the surplice, kneeling at communion, vestments, graven images, and other customs. They also disliked immoral stage plays and wanted strict Sabbath keeping. Doctrinally they were Calvinist and wanted both the church and society to follow Scripture, not human tradition.

The Puritan movement was helped by several of Elizabeth's top advisers who leaned toward Puritan views. These included William Cecil (the queen's chief adviser), Francis Walsingham, Walter Mildmay, and Robert Dudley. Even though Elizabeth was an Anglican, she relied on many who favored Puritan reforms.

The poet Edmund Spenser supported Puritan ideas. His poem The Faerie Queene shows Puritan virtues in its hero, the Red Cross Knight. Other leading figures like John Jewel showed a mix of Anglican and Puritan traits.

Four Reformed leaders—John Calvin, Henry Bullinger, Peter Martyr Vermigli, and Theodore Beza—influenced English Puritans and communicated with English leaders. In the 1560s and 1570s Calvin's works were very popular in England, and the others were also widely read.

John Knox and the Scottish Reformation also strengthened Puritanism. Knox worked in England under Edward VI, then in Geneva with Calvin, and later led the Reformation in Scotland. His work influenced English Puritans; some later writers called Knox "the first Puritan."

Archiepiscopate of Matthew Parker, 1559–1575

Convocation of 1562/3
The Convocation of 1563 opened on 15 January 1562/3 with a sermon by William Day. Reformers like Day, Alexander Nowell and Thomas Sampson were prominent. The Convocation approved the Thirty-nine Articles as the Church of England's confession of faith. Bishops proposed further reforms to canon law and liturgy. They suggested removing vestments, ending kneeling at communion, dropping the sign of the cross in baptism, and changing church music. These so-called Alphabet bills were later introduced into Parliament but failed. Some clergy still tried to introduce reforms locally. For example, at Cambridge William Fulke urged students not to wear surplices. Archbishop Parker later issued Advertisements to require uniform clergy dress.

Vestments controversy, 1563–1569

Puritans strongly objected and appealed to continental Reformers for support. Many continental leaders thought the Puritans were making trouble. Bullinger called them "a contentious spirit under the name of conscience" in a letter to Bishop Edmund Grindal, which Grindal published without permission. Theodore Beza was more sympathetic but cautious because he did not want to anger the queen. When many clergymen refused to wear vestments, 37 ministers were suspended. In 1569 some ministers began to hold separate services; this was an early sign of Puritan separatism.

Admonition to the Parliament (1572) and demand for Presbyterianism
Around 1570 a rare set of events hardened the government's pro-Protestant position. The Rising of the North wanted a return to Catholicism, Pope Pius V issued Regnans in Excelsis in 1570 releasing Catholics from allegiance to Elizabeth, and the Ridolfi plot tried to replace Elizabeth with Mary, Queen of Scots. In response, the state required all clergy to subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles, made those at least once a year take communion in their parish, and made it treason to call the queen a heretic.

In this anti-Catholic climate Puritans pushed for more reform. John Foxe and Thomas Norton presented a proposal for reform to Parliament, but Elizabeth rejected it. At Cambridge Thomas Cartwright gave lectures in 1570 calling for the end of bishops and the establishment of presbyterian government in England.

Puritans were angered when bishops said that subscribing to the Thirty-nine Articles also meant accepting the use of the Book of Common Prayer and vestments as not contrary to Scripture. A bill to allow deviations from the Prayer Book failed in Parliament. Cartwright lost his university posts in 1571 after clashes with John Whitgift, the vice-chancellor. In 1572 Thomas Wilcox and John Field published An Admonition to the Parliament, the first classic Puritan statement. It said Puritans had accepted the Prayer Book to keep peace, but now bishops forced them to accept popish rites. The Admonition called for replacing episcopal rule with presbyterian government.

This started a major controversy. Whitgift wrote an Answer against the Admonition. Cartwright replied with Replyes defending the Puritan view: a properly reformed church should have teaching elders, ruling elders, deacons and professors, and any pre-eminence of one minister over another violated divine law. Walter Travers published a detailed Full and Plaine Declaration of Ecclesiasticall Discipline in 1574. The government moved against Field and Wilcox (imprisoned) and Cartwright (who fled abroad). In the end, many clergy found ways to qualify their subscriptions and avoid total suppression.

Archiepiscopate of Edmund Grindal, 1575–1583
Grindal's time as Archbishop of Canterbury was quieter compared with Parker's. A major issue was the rise of separatism under Robert Browne, who led a congregation at Bury St Edmunds to leave the Church of England because they thought its ministry did not preach enough or enforce discipline. Browne and followers went into exile in the Low Countries. Cartwright, who was in Middelburg then, advised them but opposed separation; he preferred reform from within.

Another development was the growth of Puritan prophesyings—meetings modeled on Zurich's Prophezei—where ministers met weekly to discuss Bible questions and practice preaching. These meetings often discussed Sabbath keeping and became early signs of English Sabbatarianism. The queen disliked such conventicles and ordered Grindal to stop them. Grindal refused, citing I Corinthians 14, and he was punished and put under virtual house arrest for the rest of his tenure. After a short break the meetings resumed.

Archiepiscopate of John Whitgift, 1583–1604
Whitgift had opposed Cartwright and believed church governance was an adiaphora—a matter indifferent—and that the church should fit the monarchy's needs. In a monarchy the church should have bishops.

Renewed calls for Presbyterianism
The 1583–1585 trouble in Scotland led to the Black Acts which outlawed the Scottish Second Book of Discipline. Many Scottish ministers, like Andrew Melville, came to England and took part in English conventicles. They urged English Puritans to renew their push for presbyterianism. In 1584 Puritans in Parliament tried to replace the Book of Common Prayer with the Genevan Book of Order and to introduce presbyterianism, but failed. Field, Travers and Cartwright drafted a Book of Discipline in 1586 to present to Parliament; that effort also failed.

Martin Marprelate, 1588–1589, and response

In 1588–1589 a set of scurrilous anti-episcopal pamphlets appeared under the name Martin Marprelate. Likely printed by Job Throckmorton and the Welsh printer John Penry, these tracts attacked bishops in the strongest terms, even calling them agents of Antichrist.

In the late 1580s several government supporters of moderate reform died: Francis Russell (1585), Robert Dudley (1588), and Francis Walsingham (1590). Richard Bancroft (Whitgift's chaplain) led a crackdown. Cartwright and eight other Puritan leaders were imprisoned and tried in the Star Chamber. The conventicles were suppressed.

Some Puritans followed Browne and separated from the Church of England. A number of separatists were arrested near Islington in 1593. John Greenwood and Henry Barrowe were executed for separatism. Followers fled to the Netherlands and helped form the later Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in North America.

In 1593 Parliament passed the Religion Act (35 Elizabeth c. 1) and the Popish Recusants Act (35 Elizabeth c. 2). These laws required anyone worshipping outside the Church of England to either conform within three months or leave the country and forfeit their lands; failure to leave could be a capital offence. Although aimed at Roman Catholics, these laws also threatened many Puritans and caused much fear, though no Puritans were executed under them.

Drive to create a preaching ministry
A central Puritan aim was to have a preaching ministry across the country. At the Elizabethan settlement fewer than 10 per cent of the 40,000 parish clergy were licensed to preach. Since the Lollard repression, it had been illegal for an ordained parish priest to preach without a licence from his bishop. Elizabeth herself preferred liturgy to preaching, but some bishops and wealthy laymen supported training more preachers.

Sir Walter Mildmay founded Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1584 to train preaching ministers. The Puritan preacher and scholar Laurence Chaderton was its principal. Other Puritan leaders included Richard Rogers, Richard Greenham, John Dod, and William Perkins. Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex founded Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge in 1596, another Puritan stronghold. Emmanuel and Sidney Sussex became centres of academic Puritanism.

Even with more preachers, there were still too few. A person wanting a sermon might have to travel to another parish. Preaching ministers often shortened the liturgy to allow more time for sermons and sometimes used extemporaneous prayer rather than reading the Prayer Book. This created two styles in the Church of England: a traditional liturgy-centered style, and the Puritan preaching-centered style. One of the best-known Puritan preachers was Henry Smith, called "Silver-tongued Smith".

Experimental predestinarianism
Following suppression after the Marprelate tracts, Puritans in the 1590s took a lower-profile approach. Many ministers moved from pushing structural church change to urging personal holiness. Scholars like William Perkins focused on individual righteousness. Perkins popularized a strong view of double predestination using a diagram called "The Golden Chain".

In 1970 R. T. Kendall used the term "experimental predestinarianism" for the approach of Perkins and his followers, contrasting it with "credal predestinarianism". Credal predestinarians accepted Calvinist predestination but thought it was impossible to know in this life who was elect. Experimental predestinarians taught that some people could have an inner, experimental knowledge of their election. Those who felt sure of their election then sought out other like-minded people.

As a result, a group of Puritans began to see themselves as "the godly", different from ordinary church members who lacked an emotional conversion. Sometimes this caused calls for separation. Most Puritans remained "non-separating", but by the early 1600s Puritans had become a distinct social group inside the Church of England.

By the reign of King James I the Puritan type was common enough to be satirized in plays by Ben Jonson. By the end of Elizabeth's reign Anglicans and Puritans could be in deep conflict, with Puritans criticizing Anglican rituals and bishops as subversive of true religion. Within Puritanism there were different views on church government—congregational, presbyterial, or episcopal.

The high point of Elizabethan Puritanism can be seen in three men and their works: William Perkins's theological writings, Henry Smith's sermons, and Edmund Spenser's poetry.

Notable Puritans
John Foxe (1516–1587) the historian and author of Acts and Monuments, known as "Foxe's Book of Martyrs," which tells the story of Protestant suffering, especially under Mary I.
Thomas Norton (1532–1584) lawyer, politician, scholar and anti-Catholic pamphleteer who translated John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion into English.
Myles Coverdale (1488–1569) reformer, Bible translator, and one time Bishop of Exeter, known for preaching and biblical work.
William Whittingham (1524–1579) preacher and translator of the Geneva Bible who promoted Presbyterianism and preaching conventicles on his return to England.
Laurence Humphrey (1527–1590) scholar and theologian, President of Magdalen College and influential in the vestments controversy.
David Whitehead (1492?–1571) scholar and theologian who refused the Archbishopric of Canterbury because of Puritan convictions.
Thomas Sampson (1517–1589) preacher, scholar, Marian exile, and Geneva Bible translator who played a large role in the vestments controversy.
Anthony Gilby (1510–1585) preacher and Geneva Bible translator known for commentaries and a "Treatise on the Doctrine of Election."
Christopher Goodman (1520–1603) preacher and friend of John Knox who wrote on political theology in "How Superior Powers Ought to be Obeyed."
Richard Greenham (1535–1594) preacher and theologian known for devotional treatises, including one on the Sabbath.
Thomas Cartwright (1535–1603) leader of the Presbyterian movement in England and author of disputations and letters.
Laurence Chaderton (1536–1640) first Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and a translator of the King James Version of the Bible.
Edward Dering (1540–1576) fiery preacher and opponent of episcopacy.
William Fulke (1538–1589) preacher and controversialist who led part of the Vestments controversy.
Thomas Wilcox (1549–1608) preacher known for co-authoring "An Admonition to Parliament."
Walter Travers (1545–1638) theologian known for opposing Anglican views of Richard Hooker.
Arthur Dent (1545–1607) preacher and writer of devotional works like "The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven."
John Knewstub (1544–1624) preacher who represented Puritans at the Hampton Court Conference of 1604.
John Field (1545–1588) scholar and co-author of "An Admonition to Parliament."
Job Throckmorton (1545–1601) activist, pamphleteer, and MP, recognized as one author of the Martin Marprelate tracts.
Andrew Melville (1545–1622) Scottish scholar and reformer whose fame drew students to Scottish universities.
John Dod (1549–1645) preacher known for Exposition of the Ten Commandments and called "Decalogue Dod."
Robert Browne (1550–1633) Separatist founder of the Brownists who later returned to the established church.
Henry Barrowe (1550–1593) Separatist who advocated congregational independence and was executed for sedition.
John Greenwood (1556–1593) Separatist executed with Barrowe for radical views.
Eusebius Pagit (1551–1617) preacher and supporter of Thomas Cartwright.
John Udall (1550–1592) controversialist associated with the Marprelate tracts and prosecuted for writings.
Richard Rogers (1550–1618) fellow of Emmanuel College known for strong Biblical preaching.
Henry Smith (1560–1591) famed Puritan preacher of the Elizabethan age.
William Perkins (1558–1602) Master of Emmanuel College and leading Puritan theologian known for "The Golden Chain of Theology."

Notes

References