7) Puritans and their beliefs

Who were the puritans?

  • Strict Protestants who were influenced by extreme Protestants in europe, like John Calvin
  • In some cases, they lived in exile in europe during the reign of Elizabeths Catholic sister, mary
  • They were keen to remove all Catholic elements from the English Church
  • They studied thebible, wanted plain clothing and simple services
  • Some puritans were appointed by bishops by Elizabeth, though some argued over their robes. by 1568, most of them had agreed to wear the white gown or surplice required by the Church of England during services

Hard-line Puritans

  • Known as Presbyterians, they questioned Elizabeth's religious settlement and the need for bishops
  • In the 1570's, they held popular meetings, called prophesying, to discuss the bible. there was often criticism of the queen and her religious policies at these meetings, too
  • Edmund Grindal, the archbishop of Canterbury, encouraged prophesying despite these criticisms
  • Elizabeth suspended Grindal as Archbishop
  • in 1580, John Field, a prominent and very strict puritan, was banned from preaching
  • The leaders of a new separatist church founded in London in 1593, Henry Barrow and John Greenwood, were hung

Powerful Puritans

Sir Francis Walsingham - the queen's senior minister and spy master. he largely kept his religious views to himself, aware they might make him unpopular

Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester - a privy councillor and seen as a potential husband for Elizabeth. he was unwilling to put his position at risk by openly challenging the Church

Peter Wentworth and Anthony Cope - Presbyterian MP's who tried to bring change to the church by introducing bills to parliament, however, they didn't gain much support from other MP's

Elizabeth's response to Puritanism

When Grindal died in 1583, Elizabeth replaced him as Archbishop with John Whitgift, who took a tough stance against Puritans. with this key appointment, and the death of Dudley in 1588 and Walsingham in 1590, Elizabeth began to crack down on Puritanism

measures against Puritans included;

  • New rules introduced by Whitgift banning unlicensed preaching and forcing church attendance with recusnacy fines
  • A new High Commission with the power to fine and imprison Puritans who refused to follow the rules
  • The dismissal or imprisonment of hundred of clergymen
  • The punishment of printers for spreading the Puritan message
  • A crackdown on high profile Puritans, like Anthony Cope, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London