English Dissenters were dissenters from England who opposed State interference in religious matters and founded their own communities over the 16th to 18th century period. Having hoped for a better and more pure Reformation in the Church of England, many individuals were disappointed by the political decisions made by the Kings in order to control the Established Church.

The Restoration (1660) valued episcopacy and limited the rights of the dissenters. The Act of Uniformity (1662) required episcopal ordination for all ministers, but many clergymen instead withdrew from the Official State Church.

These English Dissenters

Ancient

As of 1660

• Adamites
• Anabaptists (Anabaptists of continental origin are still flourishing.)
• Barrowists
• Behmenists
• Brownists
• Diggers
• Familists
• Fifth Monarchy Men
• Free-will Men
• Gindletonians
• Jacobites
• Levellers
• Lollards
• Muggletonians
• Puritans
• Philadelphians
• Ranters
• Sabbatarians
• Seekers
• Socinians

Present-day

Those ancient Dissenters that survived

• Baptists
• Presbyterians
• Congregationalist
• Methodists
• Moravian Brethren
• Quakers

Some notable dissenters

• Barebone, Praise-God
• Bunyan, John
• Calvin, John
• Coppe, Abiezer
• Defoe, Daniel
• Fox, George
• Knox, John
• Priestley, Joseph
• Watts, Isaac
• Wesley, John
• Winstanley, Gerrard

See also

• Christian anarchism
• Freedom of religion
• Nonconformism
• Religion in the United Kingdom Disidente inglés

Dissidentes ingleses