John Greenwood (1556 – 6 April 1593) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

Separatist Puritan Historians have produced and worked with a number of definitions of Puritanism, in an unresolved debate on the nature of the Puritan movement of the 16th and 17th century. There are some historians who are prepared to reject the term for historical ...

, or

Brownist The Brownists were a group of 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, in the 1550s. A majority of the Separatists aboard the ' ...

, minister and was executed for his faith. He led the London Underground Church from 1587 to 1593 and wrote several works of Brownist apologetics, working closely with

Henry Barrow Henry Barrow (or Barrowe) ( – 6 April 1593) was an English Separatist Puritan, or Brownist, executed for his views. He led the London Underground Church from 1587 to 1593, spending most of that time in prison, and wrote numerous works of Bro ...

Life

John Greenwood was born in 1556 in

Heptonstall Heptonstall is a small village and civil parish within the Calderdale borough of West Yorkshire, England, historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The population of Heptonstall, including the hamlets of Colden and Slack Top, is 1,448 ...

, West Riding, Yorkshire, England. He entered as a

sizar At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined jo ...

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th centur ...

, on 18 March 1577 – 1578, and commenced B.A. 1581. Whether he was directly influenced by the teaching of Robert Browne, a graduate of the same college, is uncertain; in any case he held strong Puritan opinions, which ultimately led him to

Separatism Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

of the most rigid type. In 1581 he was chaplain to Lord Rich, at Rochford, Essex. He had been made deacon by John Aylmer,

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, and priest by Thomas Cooper,

Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...

. He was appointed Vicar of All Saints, Rackheath, in Norfolk, just five miles from the surviving Brownist church of Norwich. Around September 1585, Greenwood embraced Brownism, renounced this ordination as "wholly unlawful," resigned from All Saints, and travelled to London to join the underground church. Details of the next few years are lacking; but by 1586 he was the recognized leader of the London Separatists, of whom a considerable number had been imprisoned at various times since 1567. Greenwood was arrested on 8 October 1586, along with 20 others, when their service was raided in the house of Henry Martin in the parish of St Andrew-by- the Wardrobe, and held in the Clink prison. Greenwood was interrogated at the Newgate Sessions under the 1581 Recusancy Act, fined £260 and moved to the Fleet prison. During his imprisonment he wrote some controversial tracts in conjunction with his fellow-prisoner

, Mrs Greenwood smuggling the pages out of prison and their maid Cycely smuggling the books back in. He was formerly thought to have been at liberty in the autumn of 1588; but this was probably merely "the liberty of the prison." However, Greenwood was released in July 1592, after four years in the Fleet, and he was elected "teacher" of the underground church. Meanwhile, in 1590, Greenwood wrote "An Answer to George Gifford's pretended Defence of Read Prayers", which like much of his writing argued that prayer must be spontaneous, and even the Lord's Prayer should not be used in worship. On 5 December 1592 he was again arrested; and in March 1593 he was tried, together with Barrowe, and condemned to death on a charge of "devising and circulating seditious books." After two respites, one at the foot of the gallows, he was hanged on May 23, 1593, in Tyburn, Middlesex.

Authorities

* H. M. Dexter, ''Congregationalism during the last three hundred years; The England and Holland of the Pilgrims''; * F. J. Powicke, ''Henry Barrowe and the Exiled Church of Amsterdam''; * Benjamin Brook, ''Lives of the Puritans''; * C. H. Cooper, ''Athenae Cantabrigienses'', vol. ii. *Stephen Tomkins, ''The Journey to the Mayflower'' *BR White ''The English Separatist Tradition''

References

;Attribution *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, John 1593 deaths English separatists People executed under Elizabeth I Executed English people 16th-century Protestant martyrs Year of birth unknown Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge 16th-century Puritans English religious writers 16th-century English writers 16th-century male writers Inmates of Fleet Prison People executed by the Kingdom of England by hanging 16th-century executions by England Protestant martyrs of England 16th-century English Puritan ministers 1556 births