Spring Lecture 2025
About the Event
This lecture explores the experiences of a group of Norfolk puritans who, seeking religious freedom, fled to the Low Countries in the late 1630s, were exposed to congregationalism in the English Reformed Church in Rotterdam, and then returned to their former homes at the start of the English civil wars to oversee the foundation of the congregational church movement in East Anglia. The experience of exile formed a strong bond among these Norfolk puritans, one attached to their newfound congregationalism. The cultures of dispute resolution and toleration of adult baptism found in the Rotterdam church would have a profound effect on the later churches of East Anglia.
Speaker Biography
Dr Joel Halcomb
Joel’s research focuses on religious practice, culture, and politics in Britain and Ireland during the British Civil Wars. He is a founding member of the Dissenting Experience project, which promotes scholarship on the history, literature, and culture of early modern religious nonconformity. He is an Assistant Editor for The Minutes and Papers of the Westminster Assembly, 1643–1653 (2012, with Chad Van Dixhoorn, Mark Garcia, and Inga Jones) and co-editor of volume three of The Writing and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell (2015, with Patrick Little and David Smith). He is currently working on various aspects of interregnum religion and is preparing a monograph on the Congregational movement during the Civil Wars.
Ticket Information
Members: £0.00 (Free)
Non‑Members: £5.00
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Further Information
Related volume(s) and a recording of the lecture, where available.