page_title: History of the Puritans from 1649
section_title: Religious controversies of the Interregnum
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Puritans from 1649 / English Interregnum, 1649–1660 / Religious controversies of the Interregnum
caption_attribution_description: English: John Owen (1616-1683)
context_page_description: From 1649 to 1660, Puritans in the Commonwealth of England were allied to the state power held by the military regime, headed by Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell until his death in 1658. They broke into numerous sects, of which the Presbyterian group comprised most of the clergy, but was deficient in political power since Cromwell's sympathies were with the Independents. During this period the term "Puritan" becomes largely moot, therefore, in British terms, though the situation in New England was very different. After the English Restoration the Savoy Conference and Uniformity Act 1662 drove most of the Puritan ministers from the Church of England, and the outlines of the Puritan movement changed over a few decades into the collections of Presbyterian and Congregational churches, operating as they could as Dissenters under changing regimes.
context_section_description: The Puritan movement split over issues of ecclesiology in the course of the Westminster Assembly.  In the course of the 1650s, the movement became further split in the course of a number of controversies.  With no means to enforce uniformity in the church and with freedom of the press, these disputes were largely played out in pamphlet warfare throughout the decade.
caption: John Owen (1616-1683), whom Cromwell named vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford in 1651 and who was considered by many to be the leader of the Independents in the 1650s.
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