Independents
The Independents (in German: independents ) refers to the followers of a religious movement in England from the 17th century. They postulated a move away from the centralized, hierarchical Anglican Church . Another name for this movement is congregationalism .
Emergence
In England the Reformation had a particularly serious impact on the Catholic Church . In 1534 Henry VIII separated the English Church from the Roman Catholic Church because the Pope refused to divorce him from his wife and to marry Anne Boleyn . After establishing its own Anglican Church , England was officially Protestant.
At that time, many Protestants regarded the state church as still shaped by Catholic influences. The church retained many Roman Catholic rituals, there was still a bishop- led clergy , and services were held in Latin.
Those Protestants who the Church of England of all Catholic elements "clean" (Engl .: purify wanted) were as Puritans called. They appeared in non-organized structures from around 1560. 1582 appeared the " Brownists ", which separated completely from the Anglican Church (hence "Separatists"). According to their understanding, the individual municipalities by the state were independent (ger .: independent ). The term Independents was used from 1653. The Independents turned against a centralized church and rejected the Anglican Church and its clergy. This direction was shaped by the theology of Johannes Calvin , which emphasized the autonomy of the individual parishes (English: congregation ), in German: Congregationalism .
wedding
The marriage of the Independents was from 1640 to 1660. During the English Civil War (1642–46), Oliver Cromwell was the leader of this creed. The ideas of the Independents found favor with people with little wealth, including the Yeomen (passed farmers). The Independents therefore found most of the support in England's industrially developed south and the economically strong port cities. Cromwell belonged to this class of society. In the Second Civil War (1648–49) his independentist peasant army, the New Model Army , fought against and defeated the Scottish Presbyterians .
Modern times
The members of the Protestant churches emerging from England are no longer referred to as Independents , Dissenters or Puritans . They don't see themselves as radical or revolutionary. The current name is Free Churches ( Free Churches ).
literature
- Benjamin Hanbury: Historical memorials relating to the Independents or Congregationalists . London 1839-1844.
- John Kennedy: The people called Independents: with relation to their doctrinal history and beliefs. London 1878.
- George Yule: The Independents in the English civil war. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1958.
Individual evidence
- ^ R. Nürnberger: Cromwell, Oliver . In Religion in Past and Present , 3rd edition, Volume I, Tübingen 1957, column 1884–1885.