* Puritanism * -Puritans and puritanism-

Windsor castle is situated in the south-east of England and it is near London. It is the biggest castle in the world and it has been inhabited for a lot of years. With Buckingam Palace it is one of the main residences of the British monarchy: the Queen Elizabeth II spends here a lot of weekends during the year and she uses it for civil and private meetings. - Windsor castle - It dates back at the time of William the Conqueror but in the 17 th century it bacame headquarter of Oliver Cromwell (representative of the Puritans) and his soldiers. In this period the castle suffered damages because the soldiers were underpaied and to escape wars, the State allowed them to steal castle’s treasures.

During the period of the Commonwealth the castle was so described: “La casa del Re è una baracca; tutti si riuniscono qui, dal fanatico, allo straccione, allo sguattero, tutti sono al lavoro... Tutti alloggiano dove possono, nelle torri e nei gabinetti”.

Oliver Cromwell * Oliver Cromwell was born in 25 April 1599; he was an English Puritan, best known in England as the founder of Commonwealth and for his rule as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. * After the execution of King Charles I in 1649, Cromwell dominated the short-lived Commonwealth of England and conquered Ireland and Scotland * Cromwell made puritanism an essential part of his life, but his Commonwealth collapsed after his death and the royal family was restored in * He was elected Member of Parliament for Cambridge in the Short and Long Parliaments. * He entered the English Civil War on the side of the "Roundheads" or Parliamentarians and became a key military leader.

* In 1649 he was one of the signatories of Charles I's death warrant and was a member of the Rump Parliament, which selected him to take command of the English campaign in Ireland during 1649–50. * He led a campaign against the Scottish army between 1650 and * On 20 April 1653 he dismissed the Rump Parliament by force. * Cromwell has been one of the most controversial figures in the history of the British Isles, considered a regicidal dictator by some historians. * In a 2002 BBC, Cromwell was elected as one of the Top 10 Britons of all time. His measures against Catholics in Scotland and Ireland have been characterised as genocidal or near-genocidal. * He died on 3 September 1658 and he was buried in Westminster Abbey.

The Puritans * The Puritans were a large group of English Protestants during the 16 th and 17 th centuries. * The word "Puritan“ was historically used to characterize Protestant groups as extremists people. * Initially, Puritans were mainly concerned with religious matters, rather than politics or social matters. * They had strange views on clerical dress, in opposition with that of the episcopal system.

* They largely adopted Sabbatarian views in the 17th century, and were influenced by Millennialism. * In alliance with the growing commercial world, Puritanism became an important political force in England and came to power as a result of the First English Civil War. * After the English Restoration of 1660 all Puritan clergy left the Church of England and some of them became nonconformist ministers. For this reason the nature of the movement in England radically changed.

* Puritans felt that the Church of England was tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church:  so they identified with various religious groups advocating greater "purity" of worship and doctrine. * During the reign of Elizabeth I, Puritans appeared as a reforming movement: politically, they attempted unsuccessfully to have Parliament pass legislation to replace episcopacy with a congregational form of churc governance. * They held out little hope for those who remained attached to "popish superstitions" and worldliness  Puritanism was fundamentally anti-Catholic: Puritans felt that the Church of England was still too close to Catholicism and needed to be reformed further.

* There were works of theology written by Puritans, but there is no theology that is distinctive of Puritans. * In the relation of churches to civil power, Puritans believed that secular governors were accountable to God to protect and reward virtue, including "true religion“. They opposed the supremacy of the monarch in the church, and argued that the only head of the Church in Heaven and Earth was Christ. * Puritans appreciated both individual and corporate conformity to the teaching of the Bible. Beliefs

* They believed that man existed for the glory of God; that his first concern in life was to do God's will and so to receive future happiness. * Puritan reforms were typified by rituals and decorations and by an unambiguous emphasis on preaching. * Calvinists generally believed that the worship in the church should be strictly regulated by what is commanded in the Bible. * They loved simplicity in worship and during these ceremonies they were not used to use strange vestments, images, candles, and music. * They did not celebrate traditional holidays which they believed to be in violation of the regulative principle.

* Puritans usually migrated to New England as a unit family. * Puritan men of the generation of the Great Migration believed that a good Puritan wife did not linger in Britain: a wife had some real authority in the family. * Puritan marriage choices were influenced by young people’s inclination, by parents, and by the social rank of the persons involved. * Problems between husband and wife could terminate marriage. Family and marriage:

* Upon finding a suitable match, husband and wife in America followed the steps needed to legitimize their marriage, including: 1) a contract, comparable to today’s practice of engagement; 2) the announcement of this contract; 3) execution of the contract at a church; 4) a celebration of the event at the home of the groom; 5) sexual intercourse. * An English Common Law provided that when a woman married, should gave all her property to her husband and became a feme covert, losing her separate civil identity in him. Doing this, she accepted her role as managing her husband’s house and educating her children.

Puritanism * Puritanism was an English and Scottish movement of 17 th century wich was only based on the Bible and wich predicated a strict moral. * It was founded after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1559, as an activist movement within the Church of England, but it was subjected to repression, under both Elizabeth’s and James’ reign. * The Puritan movement of Jacobean times became distinctive by adaptation and compromise, with the emergence of "semi-separatism", "moderate puritanism", the writings of William Bradshaw who adopted the term "Puritan" as self-identification, and the beginnings of Congregationalism. * Most Puritans were non-separating and remained within the Church of England, and Separatists who left the Church of England altogether were numerically much fewer.