Bunyan, John
Bunyan, John (1628–88). Puritan author. Son of a brazier near Bedford, but mustered in a parliamentary levy and stationed at Newport Pagnell 1644–6, Bunyan resumed his father's trade, then suffered a severe religious crisis initiated by his wife's piety. Subsequently joining a nonconformist group in Bedford under John Gifford, he began to preach (1657). The Restoration revived hostilities against conventicles, so his refusal to give any undertaking not to continue preaching led to imprisonment for most of the next twelve years, until the Declaration of Indulgence (1672); the county gaol being less brutal than portrayed by legend, the enforced leisure produced a stream of theological and devotional works. After further brief confinement (1677), he became pastor of the Bedford separatist church, was nicknamed ‘Bishop Bunyan’ for his zeal in pastoral work and preaching, and continued to write. The vitality of Pilgrim's Progress, written in gaol, made him a household name.
A. S. Hargreaves
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Bunyan, John