The journey to the Mayflower : God's outlaws and the invention of freedom /

Tomkins, Stephen, 1968-

The journey to the Mayflower : God's outlaws and the invention of freedom / Stephen Tomkins. - First Pegasus Books hardcover edition. - xi, 372 pages ; 24 cm

Includes bibliographical references (pages 339-357) and index.

I. THE BLOODY BEAST'S GEAR. Burning sermons -- Going underground -- A new hope -- A phoney wedding -- "Unspotted lambs of the Lord" -- Rebellion and discipline -- The charge -- Relighting the fire -- II. THE WILLING SORT. Robert Browne -- Middleburg -- Executions and surrender -- Reviving the London underground church -- The Armada -- The mystery of Martin Marprelate -- Round-up -- Debate in prison -- "A Brief Discoverie" -- The new Messiah -- On trial -- The scaffold -- III. NEW JORDANS. Amsterdam -- Newfoundland -- A new hope -- A rough crossing -- "The quicksands of Anabaptistry" -- Against Calvin -- "Tell the church" -- Home to die -- The Promised Land -- 'Twixt cup and lip.

"Brings readers the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower--the ship that took the Pilgrim Fathers to the New World. It is a foundational event in American history, but it began as an English story, which pioneered the idea of religious freedom. The illegal underground movement of Protestant separatists from Elizabeth I's Church of England is a story of subterfuge and danger, arrests and interrogations, prison and executions. It starts with Queen Mary's attempts to burn Protestantism out of England, which created a Protestant underground. Later, when Elizabeth's Protestant reformation didn't go far enough, radicals recreated that underground, meeting illegally throughout England, facing prison and death for their crimes. They went into exile in the Netherlands, where they lived in poverty--and finally to the New World. Historian Stephen Tomkins tells this fascinating story--one that is rarely told as an important piece of English, as well as American, history--that is full of contemporary relevance: religious violence, the threat to national security, freedom of religion, and tolerance of dangerous opinions." --

9781643133676 1643133675


Puritans--History.
Puritans--History.--England
Puritans--History.--United States
Puritans--History--New England--17th century.


Great Britain--History--Puritan Revolution, 1642-1660.

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