Article
Metropolitan Puritans and the Varieties of Godly Reform in Monmouth
Welsh History Review
(2005)
Abstract
Oliver Cromwell's opening speech to the Assembly of Saints (Barebones
Parliament) on 4 July 1653 has been singled out as 'the high-water mark
of radicalism' because his millenarian and reformist language revealed the
influence of London-based Fifth Monarchists. 1 But Cromwell began his
speech not with biblical references but with 'that case ofWales, which I
must confess for my own part I set myself upon, if I should inform you
what discountenance that business of the poor people of God there had' by
the Rump's refusal to renew the Propagation Act 'to the discountenancing
of the honest people there', despite the seemingly obvious proof 'that
God kindles a seed there . . . hardly to be paralleled since the primitive
times'.2 In other words, Cromwell brought in the Saints because the
Rump had refused to renew the 1650 Act for the Better Propagation and
Preaching of the Gospel in Wales. The connection between Westminster
politics and Welsh religion was certainly uppermost in Cromwell's mind
in 1653, even if this was not his main motivation.3 Indeed, metropolitan
Puritans had a surprisingly intimate connection with Wales.
Keywords
- Puritans,
- Welsh Marches
Disciplines
Publication Date
December, 2005
Citation Information
Newton Key and Joseph P. Ward. "Metropolitan Puritans and the Varieties of Godly Reform in Monmouth" Welsh History Review Vol. 22 Iss. 4 (2005) p. 646 - 672 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/newton_key/10/
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