Beheading of an Authoritarian Archbishop

On a cold winter morning Archbishop William Laud climbed the scaffold on Tower Hill to the executioner's block. The short man who once wielded near-absolute power over England's church now faced the blade, condemned by the movement he spent years trying to crush. 

William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (painted 1636)

Twelve years earlier, in 1633, King Charles I appointed Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury, and he soon became England's most feared religious authority. He demanded strict adherence to all church practices—dictating the attire ministers wore, the sermons they preached, the worship they led, and even the exact position of every altar. Defiant ministers were ousted and had their ears cut off. Critics were imprisoned.

He saved his strongest hatred for the Puritans—the reformers who sought a simpler church with less Catholic influence. Laud considered their plain services and rejection of ceremony as an appalling insult to God. He hunted them down, driving thousands to flee across the Atlantic. When William Prynne, the influential Puritan leader, dared criticize his policies, Laud had him branded, his ears cropped, and thrown into prison.

But Laud's authoritarian grip and his alliance with the arrogant King Charles I helped ignite his own downfall and the English Civil War. When the Puritan Parliament gained the upper hand, Laud was among their first targets.

At age 71, after four years imprisoned in the Tower, Archbishop Laud forgave his executioner and knelt. The axe fell once, then again to completely sever the head. On January 10, 1645 the crowd watched in silence as England's most authoritarian archbishop was carried away, his dream of absolute religious conformity dying with him. 

*****

“Thus saith the Lord God, I will take away the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall be no more the same: I will exalt the humble, and will abase him that is high.”

(Ezekiel 21:26; 1599 Geneva Bible)

Puritan Parliament Defies King Charles I

King Charles I’s relationship with the Puritans in Parliament deteriorated as they pressed relentlessly for religious reform. His marriage to the French Catholic Queen, Henrietta Maria, further aggravated his rift with the radical Protestants. When he heard rumors that Parliament members encouraged Scotland to rebel against his religious authority, Charles was incensed. On January 3, 1642, his Attorney General, Sir John Bankes, read articles of impeachment against five elected officials: John Pym, John Hampden, Denzil Holles, Arthur Haselrig, and William Strode. Since no one in Parliament supported the charges, the King himself marched to the House of Commons the following day with dozens of armed guards to arrest the five men. 

Taking over the speaker’s chair, the King called out the suspects’ names, one by one, but no one responded. Charles looked to Speaker William Lenthall for help, but Lenthall merely bowed and said he could only reply as directed by the House of Commons, and he "cannot give any other answer than this."

Realizing his enemies had slipped away, the King said, "I see the birds have flown," and he stomped out. London's officials also refused to help the King hunt down the wanted men. When rumors circulated that Charles was sending soldiers into the city to force cooperation, men poured in to defend London against the King's army, fueling the fire for an approaching civil war and royal execution. 

Charles' actions triggered an unrest that rippled across the Atlantic to the American colonies, triggering a desire for greater economic and political autonomy, and ultimately an independence from the English crown. 

*****

“He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.”

(Luke 1:52; 1599 Geneva Bible)

The Deadly Ambush of John Sassamon

When John Sassamon heard rumors of impending danger for Plymouth Colony, he had to warn them. Sassamon was pivotal in the complicated relationship between colonists and Native Americans. Born in the Massachusett tribe around 1620 when the Pilgrims arrived, Sassamon became a living symbol of the collision of European and ancient American cultures.

Sassamon was mentored in the English language and Christian religion, becoming an interpreter and intermediary between settlers and native people. As an intelligent and eager learner, he was sent to Harvard College. He worked closely with missionary John Eliot to establish communities for Native American Christians and helped translate the Bible into native languages. 

The aging Massasoit, the Wampanoag leader who first formed the alliance with Plymouth Colony, relied on Sassamon as an interpreter and advisor. When Massasoit died, his son Metacom (known as King Phillip) eventually became chief, and the bridge of peace between the two communities fractured even more, with Sassamon caught in the middle. 

In the cold of winter, Sassamon went to warn Plymouth leaders of an impending attack by Metacom, but his warning was dismissed and he was sent home unprotected. On January 29, 1675, John Sassamon was found dead in an icy pond, his neck twisted. A native American said he witnessed three of Metacom's men kill Sassamon. The men were put on trial, and a jury of six colonists and six Wampanoags found them guilty. Their execution ignited one of the bloodiest conflicts on American soil – King Philip's War. 

*****

“The wicked watched the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.”

(Psalms 37:32; 1599 Geneva Bible)

Compulsory Military Service Begins

Security was an issue for the Plymouth Pilgrims since the day they landed in 1620, but over time they strengthened their defenses for any unexpected dangers. 

A visitor from New Amsterdam colony visited Plymouth in 1627. Isaack de Rasieres noticed how their homes were arranged within a "stockade against sudden attack," and in the center of the village were four small swivel cannons. Their meetinghouse overlooking the village held six larger cannons on the upper floor, able to fire toward any inland attacks. According to de Rasieres, they were "constantly on their guard night and day." 

As the population grew, security became more challenging. Colonists spread deeper into Native American territory, making it difficult to retreat within the barricaded village. Tensions grew as native populations competed for trading rights with the colonies. Then war broke out between the Pequot nation and English colonists, ending with a fiery massacre of hundreds of Pequots, horrifying both colonists and Native Americans. The English colonies later created a defensive alliance in case of further clashes. 

While Plymouth had little trouble gathering volunteers for defense, on January 2, 1634 colony leaders demanded that every man be involved in the militia. Without exception for ministers or government officials, the law required “every person within the colony be subject to such military order for training and exercise of arms as shall be thought suitable, agreed on, and prescribed by the governor and assistants." The peace the Pilgrims enjoyed in those earliest years just could not last. 

*****

“And ye shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”

(Matthew 24:6; 1599 Geneva Bible)

Governor Eaton’s Final “Goodnight”

Anne had often expressed her desire to leave the colonies and go back to England, but her husband would always dismiss the idea. Theophilus Eaton, the wealthy and influential merchant, had invested far too much in their New England colony to abandon it. Eaton was one of the original investors and organizers of the Massachusetts Bay project, even before John Winthrop set sail from England with 800 colonists packed into eleven ships.

In 1637, Eaton and his lifelong friend, Reverend John Davenport, left England with two shiploads of colonists, driven by their dreams of a Puritan haven and financial opportunity. When they arrived in Boston, they found that Winthrop's conservative Puritan community was not conservative enough. Months later, they led hundreds of their people south along the coast to finally establish their well-financed religious utopia of New Haven. Eaton's stern and opinionated leadership sometimes caused controversy, but he was still elected governor every year for the rest of his life.

On the evening of January 7, 1658, Eaton felt unwell. After a meal, prayers, and Bible reading with the family, he said goodnight to his wife. Anne thought he looked sad. When he told her he was troubled by the conflicts in their community, she suggested once again that they return to England. "You may,” he said, “but I will die here." And that very night, he did. Shortly thereafter, Anne Eaton, long weary of life in the colonies, sailed back to spend her final days at home—in England.

*****

“But Moses’ father-in-law said unto him, The thing which thou doest, is not well. Thou both weariest thyself greatly, and this people that is with thee: for the thing is too heavy for thee: thou art not able to do it thyself alone.”

(Exodus 18:17-18; 1599 Geneva Bible)

The Consequences of Virginia's Tobacco Victory

Soon after the days of Columbus, tobacco was embedded in European culture, with Spain and Portugal leading the way in cultivating and shipping it. Meanwhile, in Virginia, the struggling colony of Jamestown stopped their futile search for precious metals when they found another kind of gold in the thriving tobacco fields of the Powhatan people on Virginia's fertile coastal plains. And when John Rolfe began growing a sweeter variety of tobacco, England's share in the market surged. 

To secure England's new source of revenue, King Charles I issued his Tobacco Proclamation on January 6, 1630. The proclamation granted the Virginia colonists exclusive rights to grow and export tobacco for the English market and regulated the quality of imported tobacco through inspections.

American-grown tobacco became a lucrative cash crop as Europe's rising demand propelled the colony's thriving industry, boosting England's economy. Virginia tobacco was so in demand that it soon became used as currency, even into the early days of the newly established American States.  

However, soon the unintended and unexpected impacts came to light. The expansion of tobacco cultivation led to an elimination of forests, and land erosion, and exacerbated existing conflicts between European colonies and displaced Native Americans. Tobacco's overproduction depleted the soil nutrients and devastated Virginia's economy, widening the gap between social classes in the colony. Worst of all, the tobacco industry's heavy demand for laborers outpaced the supply of European servants, which soon led to the brutal nightmare of the African slave trade. 

*****

“For they that will be rich, fall into tentation and snares, and into many foolish and noisome lusts, which drown men in perdition and destruction.”

(1 Timothy 6:9; 1599 Geneva Bible)

Sparks and Straw: Plymouth's Roof Law

The charming thatched roofs in today's English countryside have a history going back over 4000 years. English colonists of the 1600s had no reason to doubt the durability of thatch for their homes along America's eastern coastline. 

Traditional thatching uses materials like straw and water reed over a base of sticks or woven mats. The meticulous layering process, tying down bundles of straw, offers surprising insulation, waterproofing, and protection against wind and hail. Fire, however, was their greatest hazard. 

Within each one-room Pilgrim home was a place on their dirt floor for a fire for cooking and warmth. Their earliest homes, including their chimneys, were all made of wood and mud. The Mayflower passengers were not unfamiliar with stone construction, but wood was abundant, easy to shape, and ideal for creating fast structures with a brutal winter looming. 

A dozen years before Plymouth was founded, the Jamestown settlement to the south suffered a fire that burned many buildings in 1608, including their church and much of the supplies that had just arrived from England. The vulnerability of Plymouth's structures soon came to light as their main building burned to the ground weeks after they finished it. Two years later more Plymouth homes were set aflame from a fire likely caused by drunken sailors. 

In view of this, it is no surprise that on January 6, 1627, Plymouth leaders made a law that "from henceforth, no dwelling house was to be covered with any kind of thatch." 

*****

“The fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.... If any man’s work burn, he shall lose, but he shall be saved himself: nevertheless yet as it were by the fire.”

(1 Corinthians 3:13 & 15; 1599 Geneva Bible)

Anne Clarke’s Heartbreaking Victory

In the heart of Puritan New England, where piety clashes with humanity, Anne Clarke stood before the stern faces of Boston's magistrates asking for divorce. None had ever been granted before in the rapidly growing colony of Massachusetts Bay. Her fate, and that of her children, would be in the hands of the court, but she was more than prepared to make her case. 

Anne Clarke makes her case in court

Anne filed for divorce from her husband on the grounds of marital abandonment and adultery. Given his calloused nature toward his wife and children, Mr. Clark gave Anne a surprising gift that would make the process easy. He wrote out a signed affidavit in which he clearly explained that he had knowingly and purposefully abandoned his wife, he had no desire to return to her, and he was now living with another woman. 

Divorce among Puritan communities was not illegal, but strongly discouraged. Adultery was the most common grounds for divorce, but desertion and cruelty were also accepted as legal cause. However, women had the greater challenge obtaining a divorce, requiring higher standards of proof for their spouse’s offences. 

Fortunately for Anne, the facts were clear. Not only was her husband open and unrepentant about his ongoing affair, but he had also fathered two children with the other woman. 

In a ruling recorded on January 5, 1643, the court noted that Denis Clarke had indeed deserted his wife, refused to return, and confessed to living in adultery, so therefore Anne Clarke “is granted to be divorced."

*****

“If there be any that provideth not for his own, and namely for them of his household, he denieth the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”

(1 Timothy 5:8; 1599 Geneva Bible)

King Charles and the Five Fugitive Birds

King Charles I's relationship with the Puritans in Parliament fragmented as they unceasingly demanded religious reform. His marriage to the French Catholic Queen further aggravated his rift with the radical Protestants. When he heard rumors that Parliament members encouraged Scotland to rebel against his religious authority, Charles was incensed. On January 3, 1642, the king’s Attorney General read articles of impeachment against five elected officials. Since no one in Parliament supported the charges, the king himself marched to the House of Commons the following day with dozens of armed guards to arrest the five men. 

Taking over the speaker’s chair, the king called out the names of the suspects, one by one, but no one responded. Charles looked to Speaker William Lenthall for help, but Lenthall merely bowed and said he could only reply as directed by the House of Commons, and he "cannot give any other answer than this."

Realizing his enemies had slipped away, the King said, "I see the birds have flown," and he stomped out. London's officials also refused to help the King hunt down the wanted men. When rumors circulated that Charles was sending soldiers into the city to force cooperation, men poured in to defend London against the King's army, fueling the fire for an approaching civil war and royal execution. 

Charles' actions triggered a wave of unrest that rippled across the Atlantic to the American colonies, spurring greater economic and political autonomy, and a thirst for independence from the English crown. 

*****

“He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.”

(Luke 1:52; 1599 Geneva Bible)