Originally published on May 6, 2019 (Episode 113)
Introduction
John Hooper’s journey captures the volatility of early modern religion. In 1535 he was a Cistercian monk, and kicked out of his monastery by a King who had not long before been proclaimed “Defender of the Faith” by the Pope; by 1555 he was burned at the stake by Queen Mary as a Protestant heretic, enduring an unusually gruesome death. In between, he had become a Protestant convert, an intellectual refugee in Switzerland, a married man, and eventually the Bishop of Gloucester.
Hooper’s life is a fitting entry point into Puritanism, the “warmer sort of Protestants” as one contemporary called them. My guest Michael Winship, one of the foremost historians of Puritanism, explores this movement on both sides of the Atlantic in his book Hot Protestants: A History of Puritanism in England and America (Yale University Press, 2018). In this conversation, we consider Puritan spirituality, political radicalism, and the complex legacy of those who sought to build a godly society.
About the Guest
Michael P. Winship is the E. Merton Coulter Professor of History at the University of Georgia and an eminent historian of Protestantism and Puritanism in early modern Europe and America. His scholarship bridges the Atlantic world and reshapes how we understand religious dissent.
For Further Investigation
Michael P. Winship, Hot Protestants: A History of Puritanism in England and America (Yale University Press, 2018)
—, Godly Republicanism: Puritans, Pilgrims, and a City on a Hill (Harvard, 2012)
—, Seers of God: Puritan Providentialism in the Restoration and Early Enlightenment (Hopkins, 2000)
Listen & Discuss
How does John Hooper’s life encapsulate the religious transformations of the sixteenth century?
Why does Puritanism matter for understanding the origins of both American democracy and intolerance?
Do we still live with Puritan legacies today?
Share this episode with someone who thinks Puritans were only joyless witch-burners.
