Brownists

The Brownists were English Dissenters or early Separatists from the Church of England. They were named after Robert Browne, who was born at Tolethorpe Hall in Rutland, England, about the middle of the 16th century. A majority of the Mayflower passengers in 1620 were Brownists, and indeed the Pilgrims were known for 200 years as the Brownist Emigration.

There had been early advocates of a congregational form of organization for the Church of England in the time of Henry VIII. It became clear that the English government had other plans on the re-establishment of the Anglican Church, after the Catholic Mary's reign, and these dissenters looked towards setting up a separate church.

Robert Browne (d. 1633) was a student who became an Anglican priest late in life. At Cambridge University, he was influenced by Puritan theologians, including Thomas Cartwright (1535-1603).

Browne became a Lecturer at St Mary's Church, Islington where his dissident preaching against the doctrines and disciplines of the Church of England began to attract attention. During 1578, Browne returned to Cambridge University and came under the influence of Richard Greenham, puritan rector of Dry Drayton. He encouraged Browne to complete his ordination and serve at a parish church. Browne was offered a lecturer position at St Bene't's Church, Cambridge possibly through Greenham, but his tenure there was short. Browne came to reject the puritan view of reform from within the Church, and started to look outside the established Church.

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