Lecture 23: Puritanism, Anglicanism and Popular Politics
I. Introductory Comments
II. Revisiting Religion in Early Modern England (just riff with this stuff
A. Protestant Reformation—
B. Henry's Split
C. Problems with religious change
D. Political change and religious fervor in the sixteenth century
III. Seventeenth-Century Politics and Religion--a battle between protestants and a class
issue
A. The role of the Church of England--keepin' it straight
You might remember when we were talking about Church reform leading
up the Revolution that we talked about Archbishop Laud and the concept
of Arminianism, which said that good works and ritual could aid the
salvation of one's soul. The Church maintained this position throughout
the Civil War and in the face of the emergent dissenting traditions after
Charles' execution, Church of England members reinforced their
differences from other religious practices that began to emerge.
B. The Rise of Puritanism in English Parliamentary Politics
1. The Independents—they believed that Individual congregations should
be able to decide for themselves what form of worship and disipline they
would have within the loose binds of a "national Church." Independents
eventually became known as Congregationalists. The Independents
were also on the fence in the Parliamentary Politics, not wanting to be
tied down to the strict demands of the overt Parliamentarians.
2. The Ranters—Ranters essentially believed that God, being the good
God that he is, would not create a world with sin, therefore, no one was
capable of sin. Ranters emerged in fairly popular form during the time of
the Rump Parliament after the end of the Revolution. Because they
believed that sin did not exist, they were more freeform in their expression
of religion and in their desires for society. They wanted a looser structure
to society. They were religious radicals who felt a firm place in society
with a semblance of religious toleration following Charles' death. They
believed that "those in tune with God, who is pure good, can commit no
sin. They were accused of engaging in all kinds of "sinful" acts such as
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public nudity, drunkenness and other kinds of "debauched" activities.
These claims were leveled at them by their enemies, most notably
various of the Puritans who practiced a strict Calvinist theology. Most of
what we know of the Ranters comes from other dissenting religions that
wanted to stifle the toleration of more radical protestant religions, but the
Ranters did leave behind some writings, most of which were critical of
Puritan strongholds on Inter-Regnum society. After the Protectorate was
established, the Ranters dissipated in strength.
3. Presbyterianism and a milder Scottish Kirk—we know that Scottish
Presbyterians emerged from Calvinism from the teachings of John Knox.
Presbyterians were politically more conservative than their English
counterpart, Puritans, and sought to avoid the execution and pushed for
the Restoration of 1660. They were influenced by the Scottish model of
religion and doctrine through a court system that culminated in a meeting
of a general assembly.
C. Class struggle in religious politics
1. The Levellers and their idea of "republicanism"—the Levellers included
some members of the army during the civil war (c. 1647). They
demanded freedom of consciences, (almost) universal manhood suffrage,
law reform and the "sovereignty of the people." They put for the
Agreement of the People, which we talked about in our groups on
Tuesday, which set forth a series of debates about what level of equality
and "republicanism" should be allowed in society. They were suppressed
under the Commonwealth.
The Diggers, like the Levellers, looked to ease the stratification of society.
They were a religious sect, but they argued that the Bible did not endorse
private property. They established communes in Surrey (St. George's
Hill) among other places, but were broken up by repression from the
government and hostility from the locals (1649-1650).
2. Harrington's notion of class struggle, capital and political discourse
(don't worry, I know you won't be reading this yet)
IV. Concluding Comments / Class discussion on Readings—Today we've covered
various types of religious political affairs during the civil war and Inter-Regnum. What we
can say is that the Civil War seemed to promise a new "reformation" on a much deeper
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level. People were distanced from the Church of England and found support in
"dissenting faiths" and once it was clear that the King would not win, there was a surge
in new sects and radical groups who combined religious issues with political and
economic affairs.