1509 Henry VIII becomes king of England
1526 William Tyndale’s English New Testament published
1534 Henry VIII leads Parliament in break with Roman Catholic Church and becomes ‘supreme head of the Church of England”
1547 Edward VI becomes king and advances Protestantism
1549 First version of Book of Common Prayer published
1553 Mary Tudor becomes queen and labors to reestablish Roman Catholicism; nearly 300 Protestants are martyred during her reign, including Thomas Cranmer
1558 Elizabeth inherits throne and restores Anglicanism
1558 William Perkins is born
1559 Act of Uniformity requires use of Book of Common Prayer for public worship
1567 Controversy over clerical vestments is symptom of Puritans’ desire for further reformation
1570 Puritan leader Thomas Cartwright deprived of teaching post at Cambridge for criticizing Anglican liturgy and government
1571 Parliament approves Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion stating doctrinal beliefs of English church
1583 John Whitgift becomes Archbishop of Canterbury and enforces uniformity in public worship
1588 England’s navy defeats the Spanish Armada
1599 Oliver Cromwell is born
1602 Death of William Perkins
1603 James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England
1604 James I rejects most Puritan requests for reform included in their “Millenary Petition”
1608 John Milton is born
1611 King James Version published
1616 Richard Baxter and john Owen are born; William Shakespeare dies
1618 James I advocates Sunday recreation in opposition to Puritan Sabbatarianism
1618 Thirty Years War begins in central Europe
1620 The “Pilgrims,” Puritan Separatists who had fled to the Netherlands, sail to America and found colony at Plymouth, Massachusetts
1625 Charles I becomes king
1628 Oliver Cromwell becomes Member of Parliament
1628 John Bunyan is born
1633 William Laud appointed Archbishop of Canterbury; “Great Migration” of Puritans to New England
1641 The House of Commons presents Charles I with Grand Remonstrance
1641 Richard Baxter becomes pastor in Kidderminster
1642 English Civil War begins; most Puritans side with Parliament against King Charles I
1643 Parliament calls assembly of Puritan leaders, who produce Westminster Confession of Faith, Larger and Shorter Catechisms, and Directory of Worship
1645 Archbishop William Laud executed by Puritan-run Parliament
1645 Charles I defeated by Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentary army
1646 George Fox founds the Quaker movement
1647 John Owen’s The Death of Death in the Death of Christ espouses limited atonement
1649 Charles I is beheaded by Parliament; Commonwealth begins under leadership of Oliver Cromwell
1649 Cromwell massacres 3,500 Irishmen at Drogheda
1653 Cromwell becomes England’s “Lord Protector,” dissolves Parliament, and advances Puritan objectives
1656 Richard Baxter publishes The Reformed Pastor
1658 Death of Oliver Cromwell on September 3
1660 Parliament restores the monarchy; Charles II becomes king
1660 Richard Baxter moves to London and is appointed chaplain to Charles II
1662 Act of Uniformity passed and 2,000 clergy, including Richard Baxter, ejected from parishes
1662 Richard Baxter marries Margaret Charlton
1665 Great Plague kills nearly 70,000 in London
1665 Five Mile Act forbids nonconformists from coming within five miles of former parishes or corporate towns
1667 John Milton’s Paradise Lost published
1672 Declaration of Indulgence pardons some imprisoned nonconformists
1674 Death of John Milton
1678 John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress published
1681 Death of Margaret Baxter, wife of Richard Baxter
1683 Death of John Owen
1685 Charles’s Catholic brother James II takes throne; persecution of nonconformists intensifies
1685 Richard Baxter imprisoned until November 1686
1688 Glorious Revolution: William and Mary become king and queen of England
1688 Death of John Bunyan
1689 Puritans regain freedom of worship through Act of Toleration
1691 Death of Richard Baxter on December 8
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