INFORMATION to USERS Xerox University Microfilms
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of th e origi ral document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce th is document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1.The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along wi th adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an imago and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred imago. 'Vou will find a good image of the page in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a defirito method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoi ng at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue phoToi ng from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessar\, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row/ and continuing on until complete. 4. The majority of users indicate that the textualccnteratisof greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understandingoTthe dissertation. Silver prints of "photographs" may be ordered at additional charge by writing the Order Department, giving the catalog number, title, author and specific pages you wish reproduced. 5. PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Artxr. WIcMgan 443106 74-3175 GIBSON, Richard Merritt, 1945- JOHN ROGERS: RELIGION AND POLITICS IN THE LIFE OF A PURITAN SAINT. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1973 History, modern University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. JOHN R(X}SHi3: REIIGI02I AUD POIITICS IN THE LETS OF A PURITAN SAINT DISSERTATION Pressn-tsd in Partial Fulfillment of the Sequdrenents for the Degree Doctor of Philosopher in the Graduate School of The Ohio S tate U nirersltar By Richard M erritt Gibson, B,A,, ÎC.A. ***** The Ohio State U n iv ersity 1973 Reading Codait tee Approved By Dr, Clayton Roberts Dr. Harold Grima Drc Bradley Chapin ^ Âdriser Dsparhasnt of History PREFACE This s-tiK3y bs gau as m attempt to find out srfif cerfc«i.n men became leading F3Lft.h HoTiar-chlsts dtiring the Interregmim dn EragLand, 1649-1660. The outcome of the Civil Wars created atk eacüraorâltiairy atmosphere in nhicba aearly all traditional English, socdal, political, r e lig io u s , ecomoisaie, in te lle c tu a l re la tio n s h ip s 'wea'e sa b je c t to g e n e ra l changes, Because a P uritan Independent, OlLvear CroiwcIZl, came to wield final, anithorlty through hi “Army of Saints»" nancy of the popular attacks o:x ddoas and institutions of the establ-lshed order were couchad In religious terms. Among the re llgiously- oriented groups who sought changes in England, the Fifth Monarclilsts were the most active and the most radical. Convinced that the thousand year jreigr» of Christ was imminent, these millonarians saw in the successes of tlia Civil. Wars the earthly begiiudngs of the New Jerusalem, or Fifth, llonarchjr, in England, They helioved they had the God-given right s.nd du:ty to destroy, by force if necossar 7, all of the evils and corruptions of worldly governments in order to prepare f or the Fifth Monairci^, Ihsy were religious revolutionaries who worked within the revolirtioix that had already deposed and executed, a King, Although th-ls environment o f ra d ic a l change -was shared by a l l , each Fifth Monarchist came to his beliefs for his own reasonsBat interpretive biogra^haos of almost all of the Fifth fflonar-oktds't 11 leaders s till do not exist. From the Restoration to the present» most historians have viewed the Fifth Monarchists as a bizarre aberration in an already unparalleled period in English history. Because the materials are too widely scattered, incomplete, or singly not extant, a comparison of the motives behind the actions of the Fifth Ifonarchist leaders is beyond the scope of a Doctoral Dissertation at this time. Therefore, this study evolved into an examination of the motives behind the actions of one of the Fifth Monarchists' most prolific writers and more famous propagandists, John Rogers, But such an examination inevitably led to considerations of Rogers as a thinker, a Puritan, a radical Independent dissenter, and a quasi-republican theoretician. This, then, is not just a study of John Rogers the F ifth Monarchist, but of John Rogers the man; a man who was illustrative of a way of thought made possible by the Puritan Revolution; a man whose life was unique because of the political commitments ha drew from his religious beliefs: and a man whose career casts additional light on the reasons behind the failure of Englishmen to find a viable alternative to monarchy in the 1650's. In the preparation of this voltm» I have incurred many obligations. I am grateful to the staffs of the British Museum, the Public Record Office, the Bodleian Library, the Institute of Historical Research, the University of Toledo Library, the Indiana University Library, and The Ohio State University Library who have furnished me with vsüuable services and innumerable courtesies, i i i research in England was facilitated by a fellowship and a grant from The Ohio State University* I would like to thank Professor Leo F» Soit of Indiana University for permission to peruse his microfilms of seventeenth century books and pamphlets. greatest debt is to Professor Clayton Roberts of The Ohio State University from whom I have received invaluable suggestions, keen and helpful criticism , and constant encouragement. All spelling, punctuation, and capitalization in the quotations has bean modernized except idiere the original enhances the author's meaning. Dates are according to the Old Style, but the year has been taken to start on January 1. iv VITA October 14, 1945 Born - Toledo, Ohio 1967 ..................... B.Ai, The University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio 1969 ..................... Teaohing Assistant, Department of History, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 1970 ..................... M.Â., Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 1969-1972 . Teaching Associate, Department of History, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1972-1973 . University Fellow, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio FIEIDS OF STUDY Ma;^r Field: History Tudor-Stuart England, Professor Clayton Roberta Modern England, P ro fesso r P h ilip P o irie r Renaissance-Reformation, Professor Harold Grimm E arly Modern Europe, P rofessor John Rule TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE...................................................... 11 VITA ................................................................... V ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE FOOTNOTES .............................. v l i INTRODUCTION ....................................... ............. 1 Chapter I . THE SEEKER................................. 8 I I . ORIGINS OF FIFTH MONARCHISM.............................................. 30 I I I . THE MILIENARIAN REFORMER........................................... 53 IV . THE FIFTH MONARCHIST REFORMER............................................ 94 V. THE SUFFERING S A IN T ........................... *................................... 129 V I. THE MILITANT SAINT...................................................................... 164 V II. THE CONVERTED S A IN T .................................................................. 191 V U I. THE COMMONWEALTH ADVOCATE..................................................... 216 IX . THE EX I I E ......................................................................... 242 X. CONCLUSIONS................................................................................ 230 APPENDIX I . ABBREVIATED GENEOLOGY OF THE ROGERS FAMIIY.................... 260 n . BISnCAL PASSAGES REFERRED TO IN THE T E X T ................... 261 SELECTED BIBUCGRAPHI........................................................... 2?5 v i ABBREVUTIONS USŒD IN rHE FOOrKOTES 'Add, MSSs Additional Manuscripts X.X,: Bodleian library I,K,s British Museum C ,J ,s Jo u rn als of the House o f Comaons Co So Pc D.: Calendar of State Pa-perso Pomes'tie C, So Pc V.: Calendar of State PaTeTg*. Tei^tlan C.NoB: Dictionary of National Biography 1, Jo: Journals of the House of Lords E*ublic Record O ffice £,F,r State Papers y li IMTRCDÜCTION On a cold y damp day in February 1655* twelve men from the Independent congregation of Sto Thomas Apostle*s Church made their way through th e narrow s tre e ts of London towards the Palace of Whitehall, Their mission was a grave one. They were going to bag for the release of their minister from the prison where he had been detained for sedition «ga.last the Government, Their minister was John Rogers, Eis captor vas none other than the Lord Protector of England, O liver CronsweHl* Anyone who had known John Rogers in 1653» had traveled o ut of England for eighteen imonths, aujd then returned in 1655» would have fouivü It well-nigh inpossihle