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Facts:
- Arose out of Church of England around 1560 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth
- The name came from efforts to "purify" the Church of England by those who felt that the Reformation had not yet been completed
- In 1620 founded Plymouth Colony
- Instrumental in formation of the Westminster Catechism

Puritan beliefs:
- Shunned practices based on tradition alone
- Simple clothes for priests
- Simple ceremonies in Church
- Simple decorations(if any) in Churches
- No "superstition" (e.g. rejection of transubstantiation)
- Abolition of Church Hierarchy
- Opposition to the Monarch being head of the Church
- Calvinistic theology

Famous Puritans (or had close ties):
- Richard Baxter
- John Bunyan - Pilgrim's Progress
- Oliver Cromwell
- Cotton Mather
- John Milton - Paradise Lost
- John Owen

Links:
Wikipedia
Puritanism,Puritans
Infoplease
Bartleby
The Major English Puritans
Puritans.net
Puritan Board Forum
The Example of the English Puritans