The Origins of Puritanism in England III

Following Mary's death her half-sister Elizabeth became queen. With Elizabeth came a period of greater political stablility but a resistance to thorough-going reform of the church. She was content with just a certain amount of Protestantism, enough to suit her own needs yet keep the church tightly bound to the crown. Parliament and the Anglican bishops passed the Act of Uniformity in 1559, the year after she became queen. This law stipulated that High Church Anglicanism was the only official church in England and that all others were suppressed. Everyone was required to subscribe to the Thirty-Nine Articles and the Book of Common Prayer along with all the other practices of the state church. The idea was to prevent the more extensive reform seen in Geneva and Edinburgh; the result was a church that continued to resemble Roman Catholicism in most of its points. Within the Church of England there developed a body of Christians that sought to "purify" it of all traces of Romanism and bring about a greater sanctity among the people--hence the name "Puritan." Through most of Elizabeth's reign the Puritans grew as an opposition party, particularly in defense of religious and civil liberties upon which the state increasingly encroached.

Tomorrow: Cambridge as the epicenter of Puritanism.