Puritanism
Puritanism was a Protestant reform movement that developed within the Church of England in the 1500s. It had a major influence on English social, political, and religious thought. Followers of the movement, known as Puritans, sought purity of heart, mind, and worship. They viewed the Bible as the foundation of their faith and rejected any practices that lacked scriptural authority.
Roots of the Movement. Puritanism emerged during the reign of the Protestant king EDWARD VI (from 1547 to 1553). It began with opposition to the use of certain vestments (garments) by church officials. The Anglican* church required members of the clergy to wear the vestments. However, reformers objected because the use of these garments was not based on the Bible. When MARY I, a Catholic, took the throne in 1553, many Puritans fled to Germany, where they continued the debate over vestments and proposed reforms to the Anglican prayer book.
ELIZABETH I became queen in 1558 and restored Protestant religious practices in England. However, her policies did not satisfy the Puritans. Reformers renewed their attacks on the use of traditional vestments, and Elizabeth settled the issue by ordering all members of the clergy to wear them. In 1566 the Puritans tried to obtain religious reforms through Parliament, but their efforts failed.
Demands for Reform. The Puritan movement took on a new issue in 1570, when the reformer Thomas Cartwright called for a more democratic church organization. His proposal would have eliminated the offices of deacons, bishops, and archbishops. The following year Walter Strickland, a Puritan member of Parliament, introduced a bill to strike from the Anglican prayer book certain ceremonies of which Puritans did not approve. The failure of his bill deepened the tensions within the church. So did the decision of a church court, made around the same time, ordering some prominent Puritans to support various beliefs and practices of the Anglican Church.
As tensions mounted, a new debate arose over "prophesyings"—a practice in which ministers and students of theology* met for Bible study, followed by a sermon. In 1574 Queen Elizabeth banned prophesyings, apparently viewing them as a way for Puritans to spread their demands for reform. Puritans responded by holding "exercises" or "classes," in which a minister preached a sermon, followed by a group discussion. The archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Church of England, put an end to the meetings by forcing clergy members to accept the Anglican prayer book and by using the church courts to punish outspoken Puritans.
Despite these setbacks, the Puritans remained a powerful force. In the early 1600s, they outlined a series of new demands to the new king, JAMES I. James agreed to moderate religious reforms, including better training and higher salaries for the clergy and a new translation of the Bible. However, the only reform actually carried out was the publication of the Bible.
The struggle within the Church of England reached a crisis in the 1630s. William Laud, the bishop of London and, later, archbishop of Canterbury, reinforced many traditional church practices and stifled dissenting* voices in the church. The Puritans resented Laud's policies, and their hostility contributed to the outbreak of a civil war in 1642.
