Millenary Petition

Last updated

The Millenary Petition was a list of requests given to James I by Puritans in 1603 when he was travelling to London in order to claim the English throne. It is claimed, but not proven, that this petition had 1,000 signatures of Puritan ministers. This carefully worded document expressed Puritan distaste regarding the state of the Church of England, and took into consideration James' religious views as well as his liking for a debate, as written in Basilikon Doron .

Contents

While many of the main Puritan goals were rebutted, the petition did culminate in the Hampton Court Conference, which eventually led James to authorize the 1604 minor revision of the Book of Common Prayer . The most substantial outcome of the conference was the commission of a new English translation of the bible, now known as the King James Version .

Context and formulation

In a time where it was unwise to criticise the king directly, there was no hint of dissatisfaction with the royal supremacy in the petition. The Puritan reformers stressed throughout that they were not separatists or schismatics. The document expressed much of the general Puritan feeling regarding the Church; namely, that the English Reformation had not gone far enough to purge the Church of England from all perceived errors of the Catholic Church.

The Puritan party hoped to capitalize James's previous station as the King of Scotland, where he had administered the mostly Presbyterian Scots of the Church of Scotland. Among the most significant grievances leveled by the Puritans were their opposition to ritualism. [1] :72

The Demands

The Puritans rejected the following ceremonies: [2]

They also disliked the terms Priest and Absolution (terms they perceived as Roman Catholic), and rejected the surplice. They wanted a stricter observance of the Sabbath, which was originally supported by James up until The Book of Sports . They claimed that ministers should only be both "able and sufficient men".

The Puritans also requested some changes to ecclesiastical discipline. First, they asked, in a rather ambiguous statement, that punishment only be enforced by Christ's own institution. Second, they claimed excommunication should not be imposed by lay officials. Third, they asked that men should not be excommunicated for "trifles and twelvepenny matters". Finally, they asked for better restraint in the use of ex officio oath.

Text

The following was claimed as the full content by Thomas Fuller in his Church-History of 1655:

Most gracious and dread sovereign, Seeing it has pleased the Divine majesty, to the great comfort of all good Christians, to advance your highness, according to your just title, to the peaceable government of this Church and Commonwealth of England, we, the ministers of the gospel in this land, neither as factious men affecting a popular parity in the Church, nor as schismatics aiming at the dissolution of the State ecclesiastical, but as the faithful servants of Christ and loyal subjects to your majesty, desiring and longing for the redress of divers abuses of the Church, could do no less in our obedience to God, service to your majesty, love to His Church, than acquaint your princely majesty with our particular griefs; for as your princely pen writeth, 'the king, as a good physician, must first know what peccant humours his patient naturally is most subject unto, before he can begin his cure;' and although divers of us that sue for reformation have formerly, in respect of the times, subscribed to the book--some upon protestation, some upon exposition given them, some with condition rather than the Church should have been deprived of their labour and ministry--yet now we, to the number of more than a thousand of your majesty's subjects and ministers, all groaning as under a common burden of human rites and ceremonies, do with one joint consent humble ourselves at your majesty's feet, to be eased and relieved in this behalf. Our humble suit, then, unto your majesty is that these offences following, some may be removed, some amended, some qualified:

I. In the Church service: that the cross in baptism, interrogatories ministered to infants, confirmation, as superfluous, may be taken away; baptism not to be ministered by women, and so explained; the cap and surplice not urged; that examination may go before the communion; that it be ministered with a sermon; that divers terms of priests, and absolution, and some other used, with the ring in marriage, and other such like in the book, may be corrected; the longsomeness of service abridged, Church songs and music moderated to better edification; that the Lord's Day be not profaned; the rest upon holy days not so strictly urged; that there may be a uniformity of doctrine prescribed; no Roman Catholic opinion to be any more taught or defended; no ministers charged to teach their people to bow at the name of Jesus; that the canonical Scriptures only be read in the Church.

II. Concerning Church ministers: that none hereafter be admitted into the ministry but able and sufficient men, and those to preach diligently and especially upon the Lord's day; that such as be already entered and cannot preach, may either be removed, and some charitable course taken with them for their relief, or else be forced, according to the value of their livings, to maintain preachers; that non-residency be not permitted; that King Edward's statute for the lawfulness of ministers' marriages be revived; that ministers be not urged to subscribe, but according to the law, to the Articles of Religion, and the king's supremacy only.

III. For Church livings and maintenance: that bishops leave their commendams, some holding parsonages, some prebends, some vicarages, with their bishoprics; that double-beneficed men be not suffered to hold some two, some three benefices with cure, and some two, three, or four dignities besides; that impropriations annexed to bishoprics and colleges be demised only to the preachers incumbents, for the old rent; that the impropriations of laymen's fees be charged, with a sixth or seventh part of their worth, to the maintenance of the preaching minister.

IV. For Church discipline: that the discipline and excommunication may be administered according to Christ's own institution, or, at the least, that enormities may be redressed, as namely, that excommunication come not forth under the name of lay persons, chancellors, officials, &c.; that men be not excommunicated for trifles and twelve-penny matters; that none be excommunicated without consent of his pastor; that the officers be not suffered to extort unreasonable fees; that none having jurisdiction or registers' places, put out the same to farm; that divers Roman Catholic canons (as for restraint of marriage at certain times) be reversed; that the longsomeness of suits in ecclesiastical courts (which hang sometimes two, three, four, five, six, or seven years) may be restrained; that the oath Ex Officio, whereby men are forced to accuse themselves, be more sparingly used; that licences for marriages without banns asked, be more cautiously granted:

These, with such other abuses yet remaining and practised in the Church of England, we are able to show not to be agreeable to the Scriptures, if it shall please your highness further to hear us, or more at large by writing to be informed, or by conference among the learned to be resolved; and yet we doubt not but that, without any further process, your majesty (of whose Christian judgment we have received so good a taste already) is able of yourself to judge of the equity of this cause. God, we trust, has appointed your highness our physician to heal these diseases; and we say with Mordecai to Esther, 'Who knoweth whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time?' Thus your majesty shall do that which we are persuaded shall be acceptable to God, honourable to your majesty in all succeeding ages, profitable to His Church, which shall be thereby increased, comfortable to your ministers, which shall be no more suspended, silenced, disgraced, imprisoned for men's traditions, and prejudicial to none but to those that seek their own quiet, credit and profit in the world.

Thus, with all dutiful submission, referring ourselves to your majesty's pleasure for your gracious answer, as God shall direct you, we most humbly recommend your highness to the Divine majesty, whom we beseech, for Christ His sake, to dispose your royal heart to do herein what shall be to His glory, the good of His Church, and your endless comfort.

Your majesty's most humble subjects, the ministers of the Gospel that desire not a disorderly innovation, but a due and godly reformation. [3]

See also

Sources and further reading

Notes

  1. Cummings, Brian, ed. (2011). The Book of Common Prayer: The Texts of 1549, 1559, and 1662. Oxford World's Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  2. Gee, Henry, and William John Hardy, ed., Documents Illustrative of English Church History, New York: Macmillan, 1896, 508-11, The Millenary Petition (1603)
  3. Gee, Henry and William John Hardy, ed., Documents Illustrative of English Church History, (New York: Macmillan, 1896), 508-11.

Related Research Articles

Puritans Subclass of English Reformed Protestants

The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. Puritanism played a significant role in English history, especially during the Protectorate.

Praise-God Barebone English radical puritan preacher (c. 1598–1679)

Praise-God Barebone was an English leather-seller, preacher and Fifth Monarchist. He is best known for giving his name to the Barebone's Parliament of the English Commonwealth of 1653.

Westminster Confession of Faith Presbyterian creedal statement

The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the "subordinate standard" of doctrine in the Church of Scotland and has been influential within Presbyterian churches worldwide.

Andrew Melville Scottish scholar, theologian, poet and religious reformer

Andrew Melville was a Scottish scholar, theologian, poet and religious reformer. His fame encouraged scholars from the European continent to study at Glasgow and St. Andrews.

Donald Cargill Scottish Covenanter, 1619–1681

Donald Cargill was a Scottish Covenanter who worked to uphold the principles of the National Covenant of 1638 and Solemn League and Covenant of 1643 to establish and defend Presbyterianism. He was born around 1619, and was the eldest son of Laurence Cargill of Bonnytoun, Rattray, Perthshire, a notary public, and Marjory Blair. He was educated perhaps at University of Aberdeen and at the University of St Andrews, where he matriculated as a student of St Salvator's College in 1645. He was licensed by the Presbytery of St Andrews on 13 April 1653 and was ordained in 1655. He was later deprived by the Privy Council, on 1 October 1662, for disobeying the Act of Parliament in not keeping a day of thanksgiving for His Majesty's Restoration, and not obtaining presentation and collation from the archbishop before 20 September. He was ordered at the same time to remove beyond the River Tay before 1 November under penalties. Disregarding this sentence, he was charged to appear before the Council on 7 January 1669, and appointed to continue in his confinement, but on petition he was allowed to visit Edinburgh about law affairs. He turned down an offer of a parish at Eaglesham and refused to appear before the privy council to account for his unauthorised preaching. On 16 July 1674 he was affectedly outlawed for holding conventicles and subsequently declared a traitor. In 1679 he joined Richard Cameron in founding the Cameronians, who embodied their principles in a Declaration at Sanquhar, on 22 June 1680, disowning the king's authority. A reward of 3000 merks was offered for his apprehension, dead or alive. For excommunicating at Torwood in September 1680 Charles II., James, Duke of York, and others, the Privy Council increased the reward to 5000 merks. After numerous hair-breadth escapes he was apprehended at Covington Mill, Lanarkshire, during the night of 12 July 1681 by a party of dragoons led by James Irving of Bonshaw. Tried for treason before the High Court of Justiciary, he was found guilty, and executed at the Cross of Edinburgh with four others [Walter Smith, William Cuthil, William Thomson, James Boig], 27 July 1681. His forfeiture was rescinded by Act of Parliament 4 July 1690. He married Margaret, daughter of Nicol Brown, burgess of Edinburgh, widow of Andrew Bethune of Blebo.

John Clarke (Baptist minister) American politician and physician (1609–1676)

John Clarke was a physician, Baptist minister, co-founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, author of its influential charter, and a leading advocate of religious freedom in America.

Elizabethan Religious Settlement Part of Englands switch to Protestantism

The Elizabethan Religious Settlement is the name given to the religious and political arrangements made for England during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Implemented between 1559 and 1563, the settlement is considered the end of the English Reformation, permanently shaping the theology and liturgy of the Church of England and laying the foundations of Anglicanism's unique identity.

Hampton Court Conference

The Hampton Court Conference was a meeting in January 1604, convened at Hampton Court Palace, for discussion between King James I of England and representatives of the Church of England, including leading English Puritans.

Vestments controversy

The vestments controversy or vestarian controversy arose in the English Reformation, ostensibly concerning vestments or clerical dress. It was initiated by John Hooper's rejection of clerical vestiments in the Church of England under Edward VI, and was later revived under Elizabeth I. It revealed concerns within the Church of England over ecclesiastical identity, doctrine and church practices.

Arthur Dent was an English Puritan cleric, known as an author and preacher.

James VI and I and religious issues

James VI and I, King of Scots, King of England, and King of Ireland, faced many complicated religious challenges during his reigns in Scotland and England.

Cornelius Burges or Burgess, DD, was an English minister. He was active in religious controversy prior to and around the time of the Commonwealth of England and The Protectorate, following the English Civil War. In the years from 1640 he was a particularly influential preacher.

In the Catholic Church, the Precepts of the Church, sometimes called Commandments of the Church, are certain laws considered binding on the faithful. As usually understood, they are moral and ecclesiastical, broad in character and limited in number. In modern times there are five. These specifically Catholic commandments flow from and lead to the Ten Commandments which are common to all the Abrahamic religions(except Islam).

History of the Puritans under King James I

The reign of King James I of England (1603-25) saw the continued rise of the Puritan movement in England, that began during reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603), and the continued clash with the authorities of the Church of England. This eventually led to the further alienation of Anglicans and Puritans from one another in the 17th century during the reign of King Charles I (1625-49), that eventually brought about the English Civil War (1642-51), the brief rule of the Puritan Lord Protector of England Oliver Cromwell (1653-58), the English Commonwealth (1649-60), and as a result the political, religious, and civil liberty that is celebrated today in all English speaking countries.

History of the Puritans under King Charles I

Under Charles I, the Puritans became a political force as well as a religious tendency in the country. Opponents of the royal prerogative became allies of Puritan reformers, who saw the Church of England moving in a direction opposite to what they wanted, and objected to increased Catholic influence both at Court and within the Church.

In the canon law of the Catholic Church, excommunication, the principal and severest censure, is a penalty that excludes the guilty Catholic of all participation in church life. Being a penalty, it presupposes guilt and being the most serious penalty that the Catholic Church can nowadays inflict, it supposes a grave offense. The excommunicated person is basically considered as an exile from the Church, for a time at least, in the sight of ecclesiastical authority.

Trial of Archbishop Laud 1640s treason trial in the House of Lords

The trial of William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, took place in stages in the first half of the 1640s, and resulted in his execution on treason charges. At first an impeachment, the parliamentary legal proceedings became an act of attainder.

Thomas Paget was an English Puritan clergyman, controversialist and theologian, committed to a Presbyterian church order. As a minister in Manchester, he was an early opponent of Laudian ceremonies in the Church of England. He served the English Reformed Church, Amsterdam, and later at Shrewsbury was a strong supporter of the regicide and of the republican Commonwealth of England. He spent his final year as rector of Stockport.