The history of the Puritans can be traced back to the first
Vestments Controversy
The vestments controversy or vestarian controversy arose in the English Reformation, ostensibly concerning vestments or clerical dress. Initiated by John Hooper's rejection of clerical vestments in the Church of England under Edward VI as des ...
in the reign of
Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
, the formation of an identifiable
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
movement in the 1560s and ends in a decline in the mid-18th century. The status of the Puritans as a religious group in England changed frequently as a result of both political shifts in their relationship to the state and the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
, and of changing views of Puritans. It is not typically summarised as a whole, since the political events of the 1640s, sometimes called the ''
Puritan Revolution
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of reli ...
'', have complex roots, not any more than the term "Puritan" can be given a
useful and precise definition outside the particular historical context. The Puritan's main purpose was to purify the Church of England and to make England a more Christian country.
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History of the Puritans under Elizabeth I, 1558–1603
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History of the Puritans under James I, 1603–1625
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History of the Puritans under Charles I, 1625–1649
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History of the Puritans from 1649
From 1649 to 1660, Puritans in the Commonwealth of England were allied to the state power held by the military regime, headed by Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell until his death in 1658. They broke into numerous sects, of which the Presbyterian grou ...
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History of the Puritans in North America
In the early 17th century, thousands of English Puritans colonized North America, almost all in New England. Puritans were intensely devout members of the Church of England who believed that the Church of England was insufficiently reformed, re ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:History, Puritans
Puritans
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...