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. 

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“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 Christmas Controversy

 As the Plymouth colonists were busy at work with their morning communal tasks, Governor Bradford saw something disturbing. Several young men (new arrivals to the colony) stood about doing nothing. Clearly, they lacked the customary work ethic of the original colonists. When he encouraged them to go work, they refused. They said it went against their conscience to work on Christmas Day. This was December 25, 1621, one year after the Pilgrims began building their community. Governor Bradford reluctantly allowed them to set aside work until they were better informed. 

Later that day, Bradford found those same young men gleefully playing ball in the streets. He confiscated their sporting equipment, saying that, while it may go against their conscience to work on Christmas day, it also went against the whole town’s conscience for them to play as everyone else was working. It was one thing to keep Christmas as a day of devotion in their homes, but quite another to use it as an excuse for laziness and public revelry. 

Puritans and Separatists did not observe holidays like Christmas or Easter because they were not commanded by God, but believed they were from Catholic or pagan origins. They also disapproved of the “dishonorable” theatrical plays, gambling, and dancing associated with Christmas celebrations. 

In 1647, the Puritan dominated English Parliament voted to abolish Christmas, and in 1659 the Puritan colony of Massachusetts Bay did the same, adding a five shilling fine to anyone caught observing the holiday of Christmas. 

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“This man esteemeth one day above another day, and another man counteth every day alike: let every man be fully persuaded in his mind. He that observeth the day, observeth it to the Lord: and he that observeth not the day, observeth it no1t to the Lord.”

(Romans 14:5-6; 1599 Geneva Bible) 

Pastor Smith and the Halloween Bells

The New England Puritans would have condemned the ancient folk religions and Catholic traditions that merged to become “Hallowed Evening” (Halloween). Their attitudes may be illustrated by the militant Puritan pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Hull of East Yorkshire, England. 

When Melchior Smith heard the church bells ring on October 31, 1563, he sent a messenger to demand silence. It was not just a matter of disturbing the peace but proper church practices. Puritan leaders sought to erase the customs of Catholicism, such as Halloween bell-ringing. The practice was meant to remind people to pray for their dead loved ones and was said to comfort those souls suffering in the cleansing fires of purgatory. Such Catholic traditions were reinvigorated under the late Queen Mary, whose religious policies led to the frightful deaths of many Protestants. 

When two more messages failed to stop the clanging, pastor Smith gathered the mayor and several officers into the night to arrest those who rang bells in sympathy for the dead. (Mayor John Smith was uncle to the young William Brewster, future leader of Plymouth Colony.) 

The pastor and his party chased down the noisy culprits in the darkened church. After the scuffle, one captured man dripped blood from his nose and mouth. Some claimed the pastor himself inflicted the injury when he grabbed the man by the beard and slugged him, but Pastor Smith denied responsibility to church officials. However, he said if he did cause the injuries, it only was accidental.  

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“An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.”

(Proverbs 29:22; 1599 Geneva Bible)

“Wherefore my dear brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. For the wrath of man doth not accomplish the righteousness of God.”

(James 1:19-20; 1599 Geneva Bible)