The Puritan Challenge

• Puritans were radical Protestants who wanted to ‘purify’ the Christian religion by getting rid of anything that wasn’t in the Bible
• Puritans wanted to develop their own Church, which would not be controlled by the queen. There would be no bishops, and priests would not wear vestments.
• Many Puritans were anti-Catholic and believed the pope was the ‘anti-Christ’. Other Puritans – millenarians – believed the world was ending and that Christians had to prepare for Jesus’ return
• To prevent upsetting Catholics, Elizabeth ordered for a crucifix to be placed in each church. However, she had to back down on this, as it made Puritan priests threaten to resign.
• The royal injunctions ordered that priests should wear special vestments. However, puritan priests refused to do this and argued no vestments or very simple ones should be worn
• In 1566 the Archbishop of Canterbury required priests to attend an exhibition showing the vestments they must wear. This led to 37 puritan priests resigning
• • Puritans were a vocal group within English society. Puritans, such as John Foxe, Thomas Cartwright and John Field, were openly anti-Catholic and opposed to bishops.
• Puritanism had less of an impact on northern England, where people remained mostly Catholic in outlook
• The government ignored most Puritan demands for reform of the Church of England, including the Admonition to Parliament in 1572, suggesting that Puritanism’s support was limited.
• The admonition to parliament was written by a Puritan, John Field which proposed that the book of common prayer should be abolished and elders should be elected instead of bishops. Elizabeth rejected it.