The Puritan Threat Flashcards
Who were the Puritans?
Radical/Extreme Protestants who wanted a purer form of worship
List some Puritans beliefs
Opposed the role of bishops –> believed they were just puppets within the church to maintain control
Opposed to anything not stated in the Bible
Sunday was the Lord’s day and should be devoted to God
Felt as though the Elizabethan Church was still too Catholic
What was the Vestments Controversy?
In 1566, Matthew Parker issued the ‘Book of Advertisements’, laid down the rules for conducting services. 37 Puritan priests were dismissed from their posts for refusing to wear vestments
What did Thomas Cartwright propose?
In 1570, he proposed a Presbyterian system:
Abolition of the post of the archbishop
Abolition of all bishops
Each church should be ruled locally by its own community
Ministers should be elected by their own church congregations
What were Presbyterians?
Puritans that wanted further reform the church and called for simpler services
What were Separatists?
The most radical group, wanted to break away from the national church and to have an independent church to run its own affairs
What happened to Thomas Cartwright?
His views were opposed by the government and he was forced to flee to Geneva
Who was John Stubbs?
In 1579, he wrote a pamphlet that criticised Elizabeth’s marriage talks with the Duke of Anjou (a French-Roman Catholic)
As a result, his arm was cut off and he was imprisoned for 18 months
What was the Marprelate Tracts?
From 1588-9, a series of anonymous pamphlets were published where they attacked the church and Elizabeth
This had the opposite effect and Puritans lost support and many Puritans opposed it as it contained offensive language and opposed how Puritans aimed to act
Name some Puritan MPs within Parliament and Privy Council
Walter Strickland Peter Wentworth Anthony Cope Peter Turner John Field Thomas Wilcox
What did Walter Strickland do?
In 1571, he proposed a bill in parliament introduce a new Book of Common Prayer and for all Catholic elements in the Middle Way to be gone (eg: banning of vestments)
He was prevented from attending the HoC by the Privy Council and Elizabeth closed parliament before he could discuss this
What did John Field and Thomas Wilcox do?
In 1572, they were two London clergymen who published books in which they argued that the Presbyterian church structure was the one laid down in the Bible. It was seen as an attack on Elizabeth’s church and as a result they were arrested
What did Peter Wentworth do?
In 1576, he was a Puritan MP and complained to the HoC that MPs were not being to discuss what they wanted to in parliament
He was then imprisoned in the Tower of London for a month
What did Peter Turner do?
In 1584, he was a Puritan MP who proposed a bill to change the government of the church and to copy the Calvin’s system at Geneva, it failed to get support and was attacked during a speech by Christopher Hatton (he was a moderate Protestant hated Puritans and their beliefs)
What did Anthony Cope do?
In 1586, he was a Puritan MP and introduced a bill that called for the abolition of all bishops and to replace the Book of Common with the Geneva Prayer Book of John Calvin
The bill was attacked by Hatton and Cope and Wentworth were confined in the Tower of London for several months in 1587
