Puritans 

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* Puritans were an extreme form of Protestant. They were inspired by John Calvin in Geneva and wanted to remove all Catholic elements in England. 

* Puritans were disappointed with Elizabeth’s religious settlement and didn’t agree with any tolerance towards Catholics. 

* Early in her reign Elizabeth made many Puritans Bishops, they were unhappy with her rules on clothing but by 1566 they had accepted this as otherwise they would lose their job. 

* A small group, the Presbyterians continued to argue that the Church was too Catholic and wanted Bishops removed from the Church completely. 

Puritan threat 

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Actions

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* In the 1570 prophesysings, in which the clergy met for prayer and discussion became popular. These were often critical of Elizabeth. The Archbishop of Canterbury Edmund Grindal, encouraged these meetings although Elizabeth felt they were dangerous. 

* Puritans began to increasingly separate themselves following the suspension of Grindal. In 1580 a new separatist Church was established in Norwich, led by Robert Browne. A second Church was set up in London in 1592, its leaders were arrested and hung. 

* Some key members of the court and parliament were Puritan including Robert Dudley and Francis Walsingham. Two MPs Sir Peter Wentworth and Anthony Cope tried to pass laws to change the religion but failed. Walsingham limited Elizabeth’s attempts to crack down on Puritans. 

* In 1583 the new Archbishop of Canterbury, John Witgif, passed rules to crack down on Puritanism – banning unlicensed preaching and bringing in recusancy fines for those not attending Church. 

* A High Commission was established to punish and fine Puritans. 

* After Dudley’s death in 1588 and Walsingham’s in 1590 puritanism lost its most useful supporters and Elizabeth became increasingly strict. 

* As Puritans became increasingly critical of the Church they lost much of their support and Elizabeth backed Whitgif’s attempts to limit the Puritan threat. The organisation of the Puritans was quickly dismantled. 

* John Stubbs had his hand cut off for criticising Elizabeth’s marriage negotiations with the Duke of Anjou