Hot Protestants: A History of Puritanism in England and America

by Michael P. Winship

Overview

“The rise and fall of transatlantic puritanism is told through political, theological, and personal conflict in this exceptional history.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

Begun in the mid-sixteenth century by Protestant nonconformists keen to reform England’s church and society while saving their own souls, the puritan movement was a major catalyst in the great cultural changes that transformed the early modern world. Providing a uniquely broad transatlantic perspective, this groundbreaking volume traces puritanism’s tumultuous history from its initial attempts to reshape the Church of England to its establishment of godly republics in both England and America and its demise at the end of the seventeenth century.

 

Shedding new light on puritans whose impact was far-reaching as well as on those who left only limited traces behind them, Michael Winship delineates puritanism’s triumphs and tribulations and shows how the puritan project of creating reformed churches working closely with intolerant godly governments evolved and broke down over time in response to changing geographical, political, and religious exigencies.

“Among the fairest and most readable accounts of the glorious failure that was trans-Atlantic Puritanism.” --The Wall Street Journal

“Exhilarating popular history . . . convincingly captures in one bold retelling decades of scholarship on Puritanism’s origins, developments and characteristics” —Times Literary Supplement

“Winship has established himself as a leading authority on the history of the Puritans. While many works have focused on a specific aspect of Puritan history, . . . there are fewer works that show Puritanism as a multinational movement in Europe and the Americas. This book fills those gaps.” —Library Journal

A Choice Outstanding Academic Titles

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300244793
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	06/24/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	379
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Michael P. Winship is E. Merton Coulter Professor in the Department of History at the University of Georgia.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Acknowledgments xii

A Note on the Text xiv

Introduction 1

Part I Rise and Retreat, c. 1540-c. 1630

1 The Seeds of Puritanism 9

2 Proto-Puritans in Exile 17

3 The Birth Pangs of Puritan England 26

4 The Elizabethan Puritan Political Movement 37

5 The Puritan Path to Heaven 50

6 Taming Puritanism 59

7 The Lure of the Atlantic 71

Part II Reformations, c. 1630-c. 1660

8 John Cotton Comes to Massachusetts 85

9 Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation in the 1630s 91

10 A Miraculous Year Goes Bad 114

11 The Wobbly Rise and Precipitous Collapse of Presbyterian England 130

12 Shaking out Antichrist in the 1650s 145

13 Consolidating Reformation in New England 165

14 Old England's Corruptions Come to New England 178

15 Waban's Reformation 193

Part III Twilight, c. 1660-c. 1689

16 English Puritanism under Persecution 203

17 English Puritanism Goes Public Again 218

18 Religious Pluralism Comes to Puritan New England 233

19 New England's Reformations Come of Age 241

20 New England's Puritan Autonomy Ends 251

Part IV Endings, 1689-1690s

21 Hopes Raised and Dashed 265

22 The Final Parting of the Ways for English Puritans 268

23 A Godly Massacre of the Innocents in Post-Puritan Massachusetts 280

Glossary 293

Endnotes 296

Index 340

Editorial Reviews

★ 01/28/2019

The rise and fall of the transatlantic puritanism is told through political, theological, and personal conflict in this exceptional history from Univ. of Georgia history professor Winship (Godly Republicanism). Spanning from the 1540s to the 1690s, Winship’s overview covers extensive physical ground—Bermuda, England, New England, and Switzerland, among other locations—while emphasizing the movement of people and ideas. Inevitably, the mixing of cultures that accompanied the rise of mercantilism, Winship writes, provided the incremental and unpredictable processes necessary for religious and political reformation. Central to this change was widespread questioning of the nature of authority (and asserting the right to redefine it), sparking debates over a bishop’s investiture garments, the independence of the congregation, and the authority of the British monarchy. The book’s episodic treatment of themes also serves to emphasize how personal choices can shape the course of puritan history. Highlights are Winship’s explanations of Jeremiah Dyke’s “God is departing from us” address to the House of Commons and the religious tensions that led to the Second English Civil War in 1648. Winship concludes with a discussion of the Salem witch trials, an overreach of authority that, for him, signaled the twilight of puritanism. With a clear narrative tied together with helpful clarifications, Winship’s cogent work nicely lays out the history of how puritans emerged from Protestantism. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Hot Protestants is a fine work of scholarship, written in a gracefully understated style, and is among the fairest and most readable accounts of the glorious failure that was trans-Atlantic Puritanism.”—Barton Swaim, Wall Street Journal

“Exhilarating popular history...convincingly captures in one bold retelling decades of scholarship on Puritanism’s origins, developments and characteristics”—Johanna Harris, Times Literary Supplement

“The rise and fall of transatlantic puritanism is told through political, theological, and personal conflict in this exceptional history. . . . With a clear narrative tied together with helpful clarifications, Winship’s cogent work nicely lays out the history of how puritans emerged from Protestantism.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Hold on to your hats. Michael Winship has written one of the finest and most challenging studies of early modern Puritanism—and this in a field replete with gifted scholars.”—Jonathan Wright, Catholic Herald

“Michael P. Winship tells an ocean-spanning story with a light touch and an ear for compelling vignettes.”—Alec Ryrie, BBC History Magazine

“Winship has established himself as a leading authority on the history of the Puritans. While many works have focused on a specific aspect of Puritan history, . . . there are fewer works that show Puritanism as a multinational movement in Europe and the Americas. This book fills those gaps.”—Jeffrey Meyer, Library Journal

"Winship has produced one of the best introductions to puritanism that currently exists. Here is an accessible narrative spanning 150 years that never bogs down while still providing enough detail to understand what the puritans were all about."—Abram Van Engen, Reading Religion

“Engaging and informative, this is a must-read for any student of Puritanism.”—M. Reardon, Choice

“Winship ventures a massive undertaking, the first of its kind, by providing a truly trans-Atlantic history of Puritanism for the historical community and an even wider readership. . . . Winship’s impressively documented study of both primary and secondary sources is a welcome contribution to ongoing Puritan scholarship.”—Joseph T. Cochran, Presbyterion 

Winship's “command of the Puritan story in England and America is authoritative, and I’m not aware of another book that so seamlessly tells the story in such a fluid, comparative way.”—Thomas S. Kidd, The Gospel Coalition 

“A fresh interpretation . . . [and] a thoroughly researched, up-to-date narrative. . . . Hot Protestants is an outstanding read; it is well-researched and overflowing with detail. It is lively history at its best.”—Robert W. Caldwell III, Christianity Today

“Michael Winship’s brilliant and original book Hot Protestants shows, from 1540 to 1700 relations between Presbyterians and Congregationalists were anything but smooth or straightforward. . . . Essential reading for any Presbyterian curious about British antecedents to the rise and development of the church polity that American Presbyterians take for granted and that was implemented in America without any of the fanfare of civil war or regicide. Even better, Hot Protestants is a book that readers will not be able to put down.”—Darryl G. Hart, Ordained Servant

"A unique and desperately needed synthesis. . . . Due in great measure to Winship’s winsome writing style, nonexperts, including those in undergraduate history classes, will reap considerable benefit from reading it."—Paul C.H. Lim, Journal of Church and State

"Illuminating and enjoyable...the first properly transatlantic history of the Puritan movement.”—Peter Marshall, Journal of British Studies 

 “A major achievement, one that will benefit students and specialists alike” — Adrian Weimer, William and Mary Quarterly

An essential reference for readers interested in early modern religion or politics, as well as British and Atlantic history.”—Neal T. Dugre, Early American Literature

“[Winship] has added mastery of a massive secondary literature on English circumstances to his proven expertise on American developments to provide a fascinating account.”—Mark Noll, New England Quarterly

“A highly textured story that plumbs the depth and breadth of puritanism while showing the complexities, successes, and failures of the puritan project. . . . Readers of all kinds will encounter stories that grab their interest and raise thought-provoking questions. Religious historians will undoubtedly find something new in these pages, while the relative brevity of the book makes it an excellent choice for the classroom. Hot Protestants deserves both a wide readership and close attention from scholars.”—Paul J. Glutacker, Journal of Religion

“With the study’s title, Winship makes clear that his intention is not to deal with revisions and developments of Puritanism and its reception history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, yet he nonetheless lays a significant cornerstone for such research. . . . Hot Protestants recommends itself as a standard work and basis for future scholarship.”—Philipp Reisner, Journal of the American Academy of Religion

Listed on Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles List for 2019
 

“A fresh retelling of the ups and downs of the Puritan movement in England and New England, a story conveyed through vignettes that capture its dynamics in unusually insightful ways.”—David D. Hall, author of A Reforming People

“An important work by one of our leading scholars of puritanism, placing the movement in its proper Atlantic context and offering valuable insights in a way accessible to all readers.”—Francis J. Bremer, author of First Founders

"A compelling read. This is the only genuinely trans-Atlantic history of puritanism, taking in the full sweep of the story from the 1540s to the 1690s. Throughout, Winship displays an unmatched command of the field, astute judgment, and independence of mind. Hot Protestants is a tremendous achievement."—John Coffey, author of Exodus and Liberation

“A long needed study of the transatlantic Puritan movement, knitting together its disparate elements into a coherent whole.  Winship's mastery of the subject on both sides of the Atlantic is unparalleled, and his forceful account, told in vigorous and lucid prose, will remind readers why Puritanism had a powerful influence in shaping the modern world.”—Mark A. Peterson, author of The Price of Redemption

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