Though this time, the men succeeded in fleeing to the Netherlands. The next year, they travelled North to board a ship in Immingham. Nevertheless, the Scrooby Separatists were not deterred. After a month of captivity, most of them were released. They were seized and imprisoned in Boston. To their horror, they came to realise they had been betrayed by the captain. During the Autumn of 1607 they secretly travelled to Scotia Creek, near Boston, where they had chartered a boat to smuggle them out of the country. The Scrooby congregation also chanced an escape to the Netherlands via Boston, Lincolnshire. However, leaving England without permission was punishable, and so they quietly slipped away from Gainsborough and re-emerged in Amsterdam. John Smyth, the minister of different Separatist group from Gainsborough, decided that he and his congregation would emigrate in pursuit of freedom of religion. Bradford’s diary, Of Plimoth Plantation, is an account of his group’s story, including their persecution in England which made it impossible for them to lead a peaceful life. Brewster strongly influenced a local young man, William Bradford. It is believed that Brewster founded a Separatist church in his family home, Scrooby Manor. Many of the Separatists came from Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. By the time King James I ascended the throne in 1603, the situation had become more tense. Those who did not, would face prosecution.
However, Henry VIII had decreed that all citizens were required to follow the state religion: the Anglican Church. Others called for a break with the existing church, and became known as the Separatists. Some even wished to ‘purify’ the Anglican Church of all Catholic rituals.
Many people felt that there were still too many similarities with the Church of Rome, and demanded greater reforms.
When the Pope refused to annul the marriage, Henry broke with the Church of Rome and started the Anglican Church. When his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, failed to bear him a son, Henry sought to have their marriage annulled. During the 16th century, Henry VIII was king of England.
0 kommentar(er)
