Religion in 17th-Century England

LIKE the waves in a storm-tossed sea, ever changing, rushing to and fro, so the changing scene of seventeenth-century England presents a religious struggle never since equaled. Its swirling crosscurrents of opposite thought and action were marked by bitterness, persecution and bigotry.

Early in the reign of James I (1603-1625) the decision to produce a fresh translation of the Bible resulted in the Authorized Version of 1611, which soon became more popular than any other version. But though men might enjoy the Bible, toleration of varying beliefs outside the Church of England was limited. After the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, control was tightened still more. Under Charles I (1625-1649) the rigid measures of the fiery-tempered Archbishop Laud helped toward civil war, the ascendancy of Presbyterians and Independents and a direct challenge to the divine right of kings. More toleration was shown by Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth (1649-1660), although a clamp was put upon episcopacy. A reversal quickly set in with the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II (1660-1685) and a great wave of persecution of the Puritans broke out. James II (1685-1688) tried to restore Catholicism in such a systematic way that he lost his crown through the fears he fanned, and once more toleration appeared, this time in greater measure than ever before.

Throughout this changing scene the Puritan played a key part. But what really was a Puritan? Writers define the name in various ways, some viewing a Puritan merely as a gloomy fanatic, some excluding Quakers and Presbyterians, but in the broadest sense it included all those driven into dissent, those not wishing to conform to the Anglican way. At first given in scorn, the Puritan soon came to be proud of his name.

PERSECUTION AND INTOLERANCE

We might have difficulty today in understanding life in the seventeenth century and how it could be possible for those calling themselves Christians to show such bigotry and intolerance. But religion was like that then because they were not really Christian. “Humanity was no part of its special teaching. It must indeed be allowed that religion was then associated with the rack, the stake, the burning town, the massacre of women and children, the hate that never dies, the wrongs that can never be avenged.”¹

Typical of this was the burning of Bartholomew Legate at Smithfield, London, merely because he had rejected the trinity and told others of his views. Edward Wightman was the last man to be burned at the stake in England, in 1612, and this stirred up such resentment that the king decided that in the future it would be better to let heretics quietly waste away in prison. Among other instruments of persecution was the pillory, a wooden contraption in which the head and hands of the offender were fastened. Mainly at the instigation of Laud, three men, Prynne, Burton and Bastwick, were sentenced to a £5,000 ($14,000) fine each and to life imprisonment for circulating attacks on the bishops. At the suggestion of the chief justice, Prynne was also to have the letters “S L,” meaning seditious libeler, branded on both cheeks. Before a groaning crowd the hapless three were put in the pillory and had their ears sawed off. This was only one of the harsh sentences passed by the Court of Star Chamber. Its rival, the ecclesiastical Court of High Commission was also guilty of despotic cruelty, repeatedly causing men to be thrown into prison without warrant and without trial. Throughout the century trials were often mock affairs; false witnesses were called and the accused person was frequently not allowed to answer charges made against him, while few lawyers would risk undertaking his defense.

Acts of parliament were used as implements of persecution. The Corporation Act of 1661 removed Puritan magistrates; the Conventicle Acts prohibited unorthodox religious gatherings. The Five Mile Act prevented ministers ejected from their livings from staying within five miles of any town, so driving them from their main audiences. Even being absent from the established church could bring heavy fines, and the fines of those unable to pay were added to the wealthier Puritans. One example of these staggering fines is recorded in 1673. Sir George Maxwell of Newark, Renfrewshire, was fined the following:

For each sabbath’s absence

from the parish church

for three years £31,200 $87,360

For each sabbath’s attendance

at conventicles 62,400 174,720

For three “disorderly”

baptisms 1,200 2,360

Total £94,800 $264,440⁠²

In spite of this, many met in secret places, in barns, in malt kilns or oast houses and in the woods. Many were the raids made upon conventicles, and death on the spot was considered to be justified. Informers responsible for discovery were often men who came from the lowest levels of society, criminals and vagabonds, yet their tales were eagerly listened to. The comment of Archbishop Sancroft seeks to justify the use of such men: “After all, you can’t build a ship without using crooked timber.”³

Other punishments included selling offenders to colonies abroad. Tragedy struck one ship carrying more than two hundred covenanters to slavery in Barbados when a storm wrecked the vessel off the north of Scotland. The crew nailed the hatches down on them so that they could not escape by swimming to the shore, and most of them were drowned. Imprisonment was the more usual method, though, and at one time 12,000 Quakers as well as other dissenters crowded the filthy, disease-ridden quarters up and down the country. No wonder many considered it a judgment from God when first the plague and then the Great Fire of London swept through the metropolis in 1665 and 1666. Nonconformist preachers were not slow to fill the pulpits vacated by the clergy who fled from London in fear.

FIGHT FOR FREEDOM OF WORSHIP

The severe restrictions placed upon people’s religious views led to a long hard fight for freedom. Both press and pulpit came under censure. The crown controlled all printing through the archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop of London and enforced the printing ordinance by the Star Chamber. Every hole by which Puritan feeling could find vent was stopped up. A license was required to preach, and Laud drew up a list of all the clergy, marking those for preferment with the letter “O” (orthodox) and those needing a careful watch with the letter “P” (Puritan). Laud seemed bent on carrying out the threat King James had made against the Puritans that he would “harry them out of the land.” Importation of Calvinist literature from the Continent was banned, and in 1628 men were even forbidden to discuss free will and predestination, one of the foremost controversies at the time. Comments one noted church historian on the conditions then: “The discipline of the Church was brought to bear upon every department of the life of a generation that was little fitted to receive it. It interfered with a man’s management of his household, with his trade, with his amusements, as well as with his religious life and religious duties. What wonder if it became equally hateful to the immoral, to the careless, and to the precise?”⁴

In their fight for freedom many people came to blame the power of the bishops. A petition with 15,000 signatures to it aimed at abolishing episcopacy so completely that it became known as the Root and Branch Petition. With the church on one side and the Presbyterians leading the other, parliament tried to conciliate both, but in the end failed to avert civil war.

Such restrictive practices and intolerant action prompted a vigorous growth of thought and literature. In their prison cells and behind the barred doors of their homes men turned over in their minds the problems they individually faced. They talked with friends and neighbors quietly and wondered. When a bold preacher voiced their thoughts they hailed him as their champion. So George Fox came to be known far and wide, and soon the body of Quakers that followed him won respect for their doctrine of free conscience, the guiding “inner light.” The Quaker withstood all kinds of ridicule, standing unmoved in court while his hat was filled with water—by order of the justice—and clapped on his head, to the huge merriment of all present. For conscience’ sake the Quaker would not remove it, even though streams of water ran down his neck and tickled his spine.

Though now remembered principally for his poetry, John Milton led the ranks of writers who poured out tracts and pamphlets for the Puritan cause. “Let truth and falsehood grapple. Who ever knew truth to be worsted in a free and open conflict?” was Milton’s motto. But the greatest of all Puritan literature was undoubtedly John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress.” Written in Bedford gaol, where he spent twelve years for refusing to conform his preaching to orthodox standards, the story of the Pilgrim was his own story, an experience of that age. Bunyan’s greatest treasure was his Bible, and this was the book that provided so many with the strength to fight for freedom. So when, in 1960, a three-hundred-year-old Bible was discovered concealed in the wall of a cottage in Wrotham, Kent, it came as a forceful reminder of how men appreciated the Bible when faced with severe religious persecution.

THE PENDULUM OF RELIGIOUS ATTITUDES

The seventeenth century was notable for its degree of change. Matters went from one extreme to the other. Under Archbishop Laud only the Prayer Book could be used, but under Oliver Cromwell the Prayer Book was banned. Both sides expelled clergymen from their livings when they held the reins of power. In 1604 King James ejected about 300 clergy, who became known as the “silenced brethren.” In 1643 it was the turn of the Anglican clergy when 2,000 of them lost their livings, a serious matter for families in those times. By 1662 the Anglican church was back in power and 2,000 nonconformists were deprived under the Act of Uniformity.

The declaration called the “Book of Sports” helps us to understand religious attitudes too. This allowed Sunday games if church service had been attended. Puritans opposed this vigorously despite a fine of twelve pence for each absence from church. Maidservants even refused to wash dishes on Sunday.

Then the tables were turned and the Puritans gained control. Parliament in 1647 abolished Christmas, Easter, Whitsun and saints’ days. The reason for this shows how strong was the desire to return to true Christian teachings. Hugh Martin states it in these words: “We ought not to ignore the truth of the Puritan contention that many of the traditions of these festivals were pagan rather than Christian, even if we think it possible at times to learn even from the pagans. There is no warrant in Scripture for these days; they are not referred to in the apostolic Fathers, and many early Christian writers such as Chrysostom, Socrates the historian and Origen are very critical of their observance. There is a good deal of evidence that many of the Christian festivals were deliberately superimposed upon pagan festivals.”⁵

Changing attitudes were also reflected in the position of the communion table. Should its long side be north and south, or east and west? Laud insisted on the former or “altarwise” position. But with the fall of Laud the tables went back to their former position with great rejoicing. Revenge for Laud’s actions manifested itself by the wrecking of many churches, or “steeple houses,” as they were termed. At Norwich the cathedral was reduced to a ruin inside and the organ pipes, vestments, copes, surplices and service books were carried to the market place there to be set on fire while the crowds turned the cathedral into an alehouse.

The Presbyterians’ brief term of power saw the introduction of the Solemn League and Covenant. In return for military assistance from Scotland, parliament agreed to reform religion in England and set up a Presbyterian form of church government. The famous Westminster Assembly convened to settle all details, but little was ever done in reality and Presbyterianism never gained much strength in England. Instead it was the Independents or nonconformists who, during Cromwell’s time especially, built a foundation that was to last for centuries and insure their survival.

Oliver Cromwell is still one of the most controversial figures in English history. During his rule a more tolerant attitude toward religious differences prevailed. Cromwell felt that all his actions were governed by God, an attitude shared by large numbers of people in those days. This led to unfortunate statements at times. At the capture of Drogheda in Ireland Cromwell ordered a most hideous massacre, justifying it by stating, “I am persuaded that this is a righteous judgment of God upon these barbarous wretches.”⁶ Describing the battle of Dunbar, where Cromwell met the religious Scots, Winston Churchill observes with insight: “Both sides confidently appealed to Jehovah; and the Most High, finding so little to choose between them in faith and zeal, must have allowed purely military factors to prevail.”⁷

With the restoration of the monarchy the Anglican church was again dominant and persecution of Puritans was renewed with vigor in many parts. But nonconformity was stronger now, more sure of its own ideas and aims. With the death of Charles II the pendulum swung rapidly the other way, as James placed Roman Catholics in office here, there and everywhere. In trying to win the dissenters for his own purposes he drove them toward the Anglican camp. His designs were too apparent and he fled to France when William of Orange was invited to land in England.

William would not agree to reign without freedom of worship. In 1689 the Toleration Act saw the end of much suffering for the sake of conscience in religious matters, though isolated examples, such as the massacre of Glencoe three years later, still revealed much hatred and bitterness.

Not once in the seventeenth century did the pendulum point to a really Christian course of action by government and people. It was an era characterized by fear, bigotry, persecution, corruption and favoritism. The mixture of church and state led to great restraint of liberty for many and the framing of one law after another to hobble the dissenter. Such a page from history can be a warning today; to follow that course would be to reject the apostle’s sound counsel given nineteen centuries ago: “On the other hand, the fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.”—Gal. 5:22, 23.

REFERENCES

¹ England Under the Stuarts, by G. M. Trevelyan, page 28.

² The Scottish Covenanters, by J. Barr, page 98.

³ A Collection of the Sufferings of the People Called Quakers, by J. Besse, 1753, Volume I, page 460.

⁴ The Church and the Puritans, by H. O. Wakeman page 133.

⁵ Puritanism and Richard Baxter, by H. Martin page 111.

⁶ Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches, by T. Carlyle, Letter 98, September 17, 1649.

⁷ A History of the English-speaking Peoples, by W. S. Churchill, Volume 2, page 235.