ABSTRACT
This chapter explains central paradox of the Puritan Revolution, the paradox of its bigotry and tolerance. The Revolution saw the beginning of England's great toleration debate. In early November of 1641, news reached England of a Catholic rebellion in Ireland which had resulted in terrible massacres of Protestants. The dominance of militant Protestants in English and Scottish politics had fuelled Irish Catholic fears of persecution and the rising was also a protest against an oppressive colonial power. Persecution of Catholics died down after the anti-popery campaign of the early 1640s. As Conrad Russell has written, the English Civil War 'was not fought for religious liberty, but between rival groups of persecutors'. The relative openness of the Cromwellian regime is illustrated by the informal readmission of the Jews to England in the mid-1650s. The Church of England after 1689 was to follow in the footsteps of the national church of the 1650s.
