The Puritans And English Revolution

30 Pages 7461 Words

The Puritans and the English Revolution
INTRODUCTION

It is the main aim of this paper to show the Puritan not only as a religious reforming force but also as a human being and a cultural phenomenon.
I will endeavour to investigate 1) how Puritanism came into being; 2) what the basics of Puritanism were and how the various branches of the movement differed; 3) how and why Puritanism came to dominate the Civil War and the ensuing Interregnum of the 17th century; and 4) what became of the movement and what changes it wrought in English society.
My sincerest thanks to Thomas Simonsen for proof-reading the first draft.

CRUCIAL DATES

1559 Elizabethan Settlement of church and state
1603 Ascension of James I
1605 Gunpowder Plot
1625 Ascension of Charles I
1638 Scottish rebellion
1641 Irish rebellion against Protestant settlers
1642 Charles I attempts to arrest 5 MPs; Civil War breaks out
1645 The battle of Naseby; Civil War ends
1647 The Army rebels against Presbyterian attempts to disband it
1648 The Army purges Parliament of non-radical MPs
1649 Charles I executed; House of Lords abolished; beginning of Commonwealth
1653 Parliament dissolved by Oliver Cromwell; beginning of Protectorate
1658 Richard Cromwell inherits his father's office
1660 Charles II restored by General Monk
1673 Test Act
1685 Ascension of James II
1688 The Glorious Revolution

THE REFORMATION AND THE RISE OF PURITANISM

To understand the rise of Puritanism some knowledge of what had gone before it is needed. Like any movement in history Puritanism did not appear overnight or for no reason. The foundations for the rise of the movement were laid down when, after centuries of religious orthodoxy, the Reformation occurred in the 16th century.
The Catholic church in England had been unpopular on several occasions. The Benedictine Reform of the 10th century and the discontent with the Catholic church in the 14th century, when the English were ...