(1603-1642)

King of England. Charles was determined to put into practice his father James' theories about divine rights of kings. No law and no parliament would restrain him and to make matters worse in the eyes of the Puritans, his wife, Henrietta Maria, was a French Roman Catholic princess. Charles reintroduced stained glass windows, crosses, even crucifixes. They elevated the Communion table and called it an altar and they insisted that worship be conducted according tho the Prayer Book and no other. He eventually tried to force his high church brand of Anglican religion upon the Presbyterian Scots. When the Parliamentarians beheaded his Archbishop Laud, Charles tried to punish the leaders of this opposition and civil war erupted. By 1646 Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentary army forced Charles to surrender. Eventually resentment against Charles broke out anew and in 1648 another war erupted. Finally in January of 1649 the king was tried and

(1599-1658)

Lord Protector of England (1642-1660?). England's Civil War occurred under his rule. As a colonel in the Parliamentary forces he proved to be a military genius. His regiment, known as Ironsides, was never defeated in part because Cromwell instilled in his men a sense of discipline and Christian mission. In time he became a leader of the New Model Army, a force of 21,000 men, who considered their role in English history a call from God. By the end of 1646 Cromwell's Army had forced Charles to surrender. But fierce resentment against Charles broke out in the Army and in 1648 war erupted anew. This time the Army defeated the allies of the king and the Presbyterians were purged from the House of Commons. In January 1649, Charles was executed in from of the royal palace of Whitehall in London.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Oliver-Cromwell, Presbyterians[/tags]

Designating a church which upholds church government by presbyters, or elders. It is a form of church government which invests presbyters, or elders, with all spiritual power and admits no prelates over them. Under King Charles I, the Presbyterians held sway in England's Parliament. When Oliver Cromwell became the Lord Protector after Charles' execution he purged Parliament of Presbyterian control.

[tags]BlogRodent, Charles-I, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Oliver-Cromwell, Presbyterians[/tags]

Exiles who were forced to flee England under the reign of "Bloody Mary", returned under the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) to cry out against the "ease in Zion". They had read their Bibles and had developed their own ideas about a true reformation in England, differing from Elizabeth's establishment. We know these reformers as "Puritans", preachers of personal and national righteousness.

In its day Puritanism stood for change and a new day in England. The first Puritans had little confidence in traditional religion. Their plans for a new England arose from a deep conviction that spiritual conversion was crucial to Christianity. This rebirth separated the Puritan from the mass of mankind and endowed him with the privileges and the duties of the elect of God. The church may prepare a man for this experience, and, after it, the church may guide him, but the heart of the experience,