Edwards, Gangraena, and Presbyterian Mobilization
Edwards, Gangraena, and Presbyterian Mobilization
This chapter stresses the importance of Edwards’s Gangraena in the mobilization of zealous Presbyterian campaigns against Parliament’s proposals for church government in 1646-7. It looks especially at Edwards’s links to London petitioning campaigns, to attempts in the city to defend the Solemn League and Covenant, and to the struggles over the Presbyterian City Remonstrance of May 1646. His most important connections with the Westminster Assembly, the Common Council, and the Scots are discussed. The importance of John Goodwin’s congregation to the struggle for religious liberty is stressed, along with the role of the New Model Army and the city radicals highlighted in Part Three of Gangraena. Edwards here attacked the men who were soon to become identified as leaders of the Levellers. The Army’s occupation of London in August 1647 prompted Edwards’s flight to Amsterdam. Finally, the Presbyterian contribution to the parliamentarian public sphere is evaluated.
Keywords: London, Westminster Assembly, Common Council, John Goodwin, New Model Army, Levellers, public sphere, Thomas Edwards
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