Beyond Bradford's journal: the Scrooby Puritans in context

This dissertation explores the claims, put forth by William Bradford in his journal Of Plimoth Plantation, that persecution was the primary motivation for removal from England to Holland by the Scrooby Puritans in 1608, and challenges the historiographical acceptance of those claims. The dissertation examines monarchical, ecclesiastical and historical records from 1590-1620 to determine if there was any evidence to support Bradford’s claims of persecution. Finding scant evidence of physical persecution at the hands of royal, civil, or ecclesiastical authorities, the dissertation turns to the socioeconomic factors which may have contributed to the Scrooby Puritans decision to leave England and take up residence in Holland for twelve years. Finding no significant socioeconomic push factors, attention is then turned to the theological underpinnings of the group to determine if theology may have driven their persecution narrative. It concludes that the Scrooby Puritans may not have been fleeing from authorities trying to confine them for their religious beliefs, but from the corruption of their very souls, had they remained in England and under the theological influences of the Church of England.