puritans. During the reign of the catholic Mary Tudor (1553–8) many hundreds of English protestants went into exile on the continent, where they experienced forms of worship which were ‘purer’ than those prescribed in the 1552 Prayer Book because they contained virtually no trace of catholicism. Returning to England at the beginning of Elizabeth I's reign, they hoped to create an established church closer to continental models, but the queen insisted on a comprehensive settlement. The Elizabethan church therefore retained a number of ‘impure’ ceremonial practices, which a minority of hard-line clergy refused to accept. They were harried by the government, under the name of ‘puritans’. The conforming majority, both clerical and lay, shared many of their reservations but were willing, albeit reluctantly, to obey the orders of their royal governor. They were helped by the fact that in its theology, if not its practice, the established church was calvinist. This remained the case under James I, despite the failure of the Hampton Court conference, but the accession of Charles I in 1625 brought the high-church arminians to power. By insisting that they alone constituted the true Church of England, and by calling all its low-church adherents puritans, the arminians drove the conforming majority into opposition. This opened the way to the destruction of the established church after the collapse of Charles's rule, but the victorious puritans were divided about how to replace it. The presbyterians wanted a state church similar but not identical to that in Scotland, whereas the independents insisted on autonomy for individual congregations. Matters were complicated by the proliferation of sects demanding freedom to worship as they pleased. Continuing puritan divisions throughout the Interregnum created a backlash which found expression in the re-establishment of the Church of England after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. The legislation known as the Clarendon code imposed severe penalties upon nonconformists, and sporadic persecution of puritans continued until the Glorious Revolution. Only in 1689 did the Toleration Act permit protestant nonconformists to worship freely, but even so they remained officially barred from public life.

Roger Lockyer