Audio Season 2 12 (New) Series 2 Episode 12 - Escape to the Low Countries: Richard Bernard, Thomas Helwys and the Gainsborough Congregation.

© 20 26 The Rise of the Protestants., Author, Shaughan Holt.

The Picture: Engraving of Richard Bernard by Wenceslas Hollar.

Richard Bernard (1568–1641) was an English Puritan minister, preacher, and author. He worked to reform the Church of England from within rather than leave it.

He briefly supported the Separatist movement around 1606, but ultimately chose not to leave the Church and remained a loyal, though sometimes nonconforming, member.

Bernard was known for his practical and easy-to-read books, which made him one of the most influential Puritan writers of his time. He wrote about topics like pastoral ministry, Christian living, social welfare, and religious reform.

His faith showed strong Protestant beliefs along with compassion, moderation, and care for everyday people.In his later years, he served as rector of Batcombe in Somerset, where he continued preaching, writing, and shaping English religious life until his death in 1641.

The Music: The Coventry Carol. Performed by Seraphic Fire, at All Saints Episcopal Church in Ft. Lauderdale .

The "Coventry Carol" is an English Christmas carol dating from the 16th century. The carol was traditionally performed in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors (1392–3).

The play depicts the Christmas story from chapter two in the Gospel of Matthew: the carol itself refers to the Massacre of the Innocents, in which Herod ordered all male infants under the age of two in Bethlehem to be killed, and takes the form of a lullaby sung by mothers of the doomed children.

The single surviving text of the carol and the pageant containing it was edited by one Robert Croo, who dated his manuscript 14 March 1534.

The music plays during the opening 40 seconds of the episode, then returns at the conclusion of the narration and continues for a further three minutes

Episode Description. In this episode, we witness the Gainsborough and Scrooby congregations standing at a crossroads, confronting a defining moment in their journey. For years, many of these men and women hoped the Church of England could be reformed from within. Yet as the authorities' grip tightened and hope for reform slipped away, some began to see departure as their only remaining option.

We follow how the Gainsborough congregation, led by John Smyth, dealt with the consequences of their decision and prepared for the uncertain journey ahead.

On this path, we encounter Thomas Helwys, a wealthy landowner and masterful organiser whose support became the lifeline for any hope of escape from England.

Meanwhile, a contrasting story unfolds. Richard Bernard, once drawn towards the Separatist cause, ultimately stepped back from the brink. He wrestled with the same doubts as his friends and colleagues, yet ultimately forged his own path. He remained in the Church of England and continued working for change from within.

Together, these stories show the tough choices English Protestants faced in the early 1600s. Some would be forced to abandon their homes, livelihoods, and homeland in pursuit of religious freedom. Others stayed and kept working for reform within the established Church.

The age of separation had begun, and for many, the road now led across the North Sea toward the promise of the Low Countries.

© 20 26 The Rise of the Protestants., Author, Shaughan Holt.

"All rights reserved. No part of this podcast may be reproduced, translated, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law".

Requests regarding translation, licensing, or republication should be directed to: [email protected]

Your feedback matters, send me an email at [email protected], with any comments, suggestions, or criticisms.

© 20 26 The Rise of the Protestants., Author, Shaughan Holt.

"All rights reserved. No part of this podcast may be reproduced, translated, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law".

Requests regarding translation, licensing, or republication should be directed to: [email protected]

Your feedback matters, send me an email at [email protected], with any comments, suggestions, or criticisms.

Series 2.

Episode 12.

Escape to the Low Countries.

Richard Bernard, Thomas Helwys and the Gainsborough Congregation.

The phrase "Low Countries", first emerged during the fifteenth century, under the reign of the powerful Burgundian dukes.

Their territories spanned a patchwork of regions that today form parts of France, Belgium Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

To distinguish their northern territories, from their home lands in France, they referred to them as "the lands over there".

Over time, this phrase would evolve into the French, Les Pays-Bas - and the Dutch, Den Neiderlanden - both meaning "the Low Countries".

The name, reflects the region’s famously flat landscape, and its low-lying position beside the North Sea.

By the early seventeenth century, as the English Separatists started to arrive, the term had become widely used for the provinces, that today, form the Netherlands and Belgium.

In early 16 06, a significant meeting was held at Lady Isobel Bowes’s home in Coventry, about fifty miles south of Broxtowe.

John Smyth had organised the gathering, to address, what he called, the urgent need, “to withdraw from those churches, whose ministers and worship are corrupted”.

Those present included Sir William Bowes and his wife Lady Isobel, Arthur Hildersham, John Dodd, Richard Clyfton, and younger members such as John Smyth, John Robinson, Richard Bernard, and the layman Thomas Helwys.

It is likely that other ministers, who had already lost their positions, also attended the meeting.

Another main aim of the meeting, was to keep the reform movement united, as it had already been shaken by the events that continued after the Hampton Court Conference.

As a result of that gathering, many clerics lost their positions, leaving reformers with greater uncertainty and division.

The group discussed several urgent issues, such as the failure of the Hampton Court Conference, the new church canons, Bancroft’s appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury, and the High Commission’s, ongoing silencing of ministers.

Influenced by the separatist leader Francis Johnson, Smyth argued, that the Church of England, could no longer be seen as a true church.

He believed the only faithful option, was to follow Johnson’s example, and fully separate from the national church, even if it meant fleeing to Holland to avoid further persecution.

However, others did not agree.

Arthur Hildersham, who helped organise the Millenary Petition with William Bradshaw, stayed committed to reforming the church from within.

Richard Bernard generally agreed with Hildersham and Bradshaw.

Although he was unsure, he was still not convinced by Smyth’s arguments for separation.

As expected, the meeting revealed deep divisions, not just over the issues facing the reform movement but also over how to address them.

Following this meeting and several subsequent discussions, the group agreed to establish two distinct congregations.

Richard Clyfton would lead the new one in Scrooby, with John Robinson as his assistant, while John Smyth would continue to lead the congregation in Gainsborough, with Thomas Helwys, appointed its Elder.

And so, in 16 06, a small group of Separatists began meeting informally at Scrooby Manor.

The manor belonged to the Bishop, and was also where William Brewster lived.

Clyfton and his larger group, which included some former members of his Babworth parish, soon made Scrooby Manor their permanent meeting place.

The congregation typically met on Sundays, with Brewster’s family often providing food, refreshments, and occasionally lodging for attendees.

John Robinson, a former lecturer and curate, joined the Scrooby congregation, and quickly became an influential member.

As the two groups grew, differences began to emerge between Robinson and Smyth, especially regarding the authority of elders.

At first, these disagreements were relatively minor, but distance and circumstance, gradually shaped the Scrooby and Gainsborough groups, into two clearly separate congregations.

Over time, they would grow even further apart, differing not only in organisation, but in outlook.

Following on from the Coventry meeting, concerns arose regarding Smyth’s health.

He suffered from tuberculosis, a widespread and often fatal illness in the early seventeenth century.

Thomas Helwys invited Smyth to stay at his home, where Smyth remained for several months.

During this period, they developed a close friendship that would last for many years.

Thankfully, with rest and attentive care, Smyth gradually regained enough strength to return to his father’s home.

Thomas Helwys was a well-known layman, Puritan activist, and landowner who emerged as one of the key figures in the early Separatist movement.

Unlike many around him, Helwys was not a minister or preacher.

Still, his influence was very important.

Thanks to his education, financial means, and strong local ties, he became both an organiser and a key supporter of John Smyth and the Gainsborough congregation.

It is important to note that Helwys did not act alone.

He was part of a large network of Puritan landowners, lawyers, and influential families from several counties, all connected by family ties and shared religious beliefs.

One of these connections was his relative, Gervaise Helwys, a justice of the peace, who had significant influence in the Saundby and Gainsborough areas.

These connections offered protection, influence and financial help, to those in need.

They linked reform-minded ministers, with powerful local allies, who were willing to provide shelter and support, during dangerous times.

Their support would later become vital, for the newcomers arriving in Amsterdam, offering not only shelter and practical help, but also a sense of belonging, within the growing English exile community.

Following the gathering in Coventry, Richard Bernard continued to wrestle with doubts about the Separatist movement.

He understood and respected, their wish to reform the Church, but worried, that breaking away, could be a serious mistake.

Unsure which path was right, Bernard continued to ponder the question, seeking advice from trusted friends, while carefully weighing the arguments, on both sides of the debate.

Richard Bernard was well known in his time, though few remember him now.

He was born in Epworth Lincolnshire, in 15 68, and studied at Christ’s College Cambridge, with other important thinkers like William Perkins and William Ames.

After entering the ministry of the Church of England, Bernard became known for his practical and accessible writings, which were designed to help ordinary Christians in their daily lives.

Although Bernard strongly believed in Calvinism, he always spoke in a calm and balanced way, believing that faith did not have to be harsh or strict, - it could also include joy.

In 16 01, with the support of the influential "Wray family", he was instituted as Vicar of Worksop Priory.

However, Bernard's ministry soon ran into trouble.

Unwilling to fully embrace every Anglican ceremony, especially the use of the sign of the cross during baptism, he found himself, increasingly at odds with the authorities.

In 16 04, Bernard's refusal to conform finally caught up with him.

He lost his position, his income, and the security that came with them.

Almost overnight, he found himself struggling to support his wife and two young children.

The future seemed uncertain.

Concerned for his family and unsure where to turn next, Bernard sought the counsel of his friend Thomas Helwys, a decision that would draw him closer, to the circle of men and women, who were beginning to question, whether reform within the Church of England was even, still possible.

They decided together, that Bernard should move to Gainsborough, where a group of people with similar beliefs was coming together.

When Bernard arrived in Gainsborough, he met people such as William Brewster, John Robinson, Richard Clyfton, and John Smyth.

Bernard grew more interested in their new ideas, as he spent time with people, who questioned the role of the Church of England.

This experience marked a turning point for Bernard.

However, he still wondered, whether it was enough to reform the Church from within, or if true faith meant leaving it completely.

For a while, it looked like Bernard, might join the Separatists.

Yet in 16 06, he would choose, a different path.

Bernard, gathered about 100 people from Worksop and nearby parishes, to form a covenanted congregation, but he ensured it remained within the Church of England.

This was a careful compromise by him.

Unlike the Separatists, Bernard allowed more than just covenant members, into his congregation.

He ensured that the sacraments and church activities, were still open to everyone in the parish.

Later on, Bernard explained why he made this choice.

He simply wanted to stop the region’s “godly” believers, from joining the more radical Separatist group, led by John Smyth.

In effect, Bernard tried to preserve the discipline and closeness of a gathered church, without breaking away from the national church itself.

But compromises like this, rarely kept everyone happy for long.

Bernard kept preaching with renewed confidence, travelling to many places and speaking to packed churches wherever he went.

But behind the scenes, church leaders were growing more uneasy.

As the church pushed harder for conformity, Bernard’s approach seemed risky and out of step.

For those determined to keep order in the Church of England, this was not reform.

Instead, they saw it as disorder, and it soon became clear, that the situation could not be ignored.

Local church leaders started to take action against him, and it was not long before Tobias Matthew, the Archbishop of York, heard about Bernard’s covenant, and worryingly his growing influence.

Bernard’s efforts, to balance reform and separation, were now entering a much harder and riskier stage.

Some time during 16 07, news of the private conference held at the home of Lady Isobel Bowes in Coventry, reached the High Commission Court.

Deeply concerned by this, the authorities moved quickly to contain its influence.

Many of the Puritans, who had attended, were summoned before the court, excommunicated and in many cases, deprived of their positions within the Church.

For those who still hoped to reform the Church of England from within, it was a stark warning, that the authorities were becoming increasingly determined, to suppress all religious dissent.

As a result, Richard Bernard's future within the Church, suddenly appeared far less certain.

His brief association with Separatist ideas had already attracted unwanted attention, and the fate of those involved in the Coventry gathering, demonstrated just how costly nonconformity could become.

Tobias Matthew, was part of the first generation of Elizabethan Puritans, and served during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth, King James and Charles I.

He studied at Oxford, where he was significantly influenced by Protestant exiles, who returned following the Marian persecutions.

This experience contributed to the development of his strong Puritan beliefs.

However, unlike the Separatists, Matthew stayed committed to changing the Church of England, from within.

Thanks to the support of influential figures like William Cecil and Robert Dudley, he rose quickly, in both church, and public positions, and was eventually named Archbishop of York.

In the politically unstable North of England, Matthew wielded both religious and political authority.

He went after recusants, enforced conformity, and helped the government by gathering intelligence.

He would become one of the Crown's most trusted servants, in a region where loyalty and religion were closely connected.

But the Church was changing.

During the reign of King Charles I and Archbishop William Laud, greater emphasis was placed on ceremony, order and what Laud called, the "beauty of holiness".

As this new vision spread, Matthew grew more uneasy, feeling out of step, with the way the Church was changing.

He died in 16 28, after a life, shaped by the struggle between reform and conformity, as well as between personal beliefs, and church authority.

Tobias Matthew, owned one of the largest private libraries in England, with more than 3,000 books.

After he died, his wife Frances, gave the collection to York Minster, which helped make its library, one of the main centres of learning, in Stuart England.

As pressure on the Separatists intensified, the authorities, acting under the direction of Tobias Matthew, summoned Thomas Helwys and several members of the Scrooby congregation, to appear before the courts.

The threat could not be ignored, for the danger was real.

The recent execution of Henry Barrow, remained a stark reminder, of just how far the Crown was prepared to go, to suppress religious dissent.

For Helwys and his companions, being summoned by the authorities was not a simple inconvenience, but a moment that could alter the course of their lives.

Faced with this threat, Helwys and the others went into hiding, to avoid arrest and protect themselves.

Since the authorities could not find Helwys, they decided to target his family, friends, and associates.

Joan Helwys was arrested, together with Gervaise Neville, John Drew and Thomas Jessop, and brought before the High Commission Court in York.

This experience was especially difficult for Joan.

She had little time to prepare, having to quickly arrange, for her seven children to stay with relatives or close friends, before she was taken away.

Accused of refusing to take the required religious oath, and declining to answer the court's questions, Joan Helwys, Gervase Neville, John Drew, and Thomas Jessop were committed to prison by the High Commission.

They were taken to York Castle, locked away in its cold, forbidding walls, separated from families, friends and the outside world.

There, they would spend several months, unsure whether they would be released, or what other punishment they might face.

Their imprisonment, showed how determined the authorities were, to stop religious dissent, and the high personal cost, for those who followed their conscience.

Weeks became months, as the prisoners lived with uncertainty, isolation and the constant fear about what might happen next.

Eventually, relief would come.

The prisoners were released one by one, and after almost three months in captivity, Joan Helwys was finally set free.

Gervase Neville of Scrooby, who later joined John Smyth's Amsterdam congregation, had also been charged with "disobedience and obstinacy".

On 10 November 16 07, he appeared before the Archbishop and the High Commission Court at York, accused of being a Brownist Separatist.

He was found guilty of being, "a dangerous, separatist Brownist," and was also imprisoned in York Castle.

In March 16 08, after being further questioned, Neville disappears from the English records, reappearing some time later among the English exiles in Amsterdam, suggesting he was forced to leave England.

His story reflects the growing pressure faced by those involved in the Separatist movement.

The records say little about what happened to John Drew and Thomas Jessop after they were released.

Still, their imprisonment reminds us, that the campaign against the Separatists affected not just ministers and leaders, but also ordinary people, whose only crime was refusing to conform.

Their imprisonment shows, how determined the authorities were, to stop Separatist activity, and the personal cost for those who refused to conform.

Thomas Helwys’s original intent, was likely to return to England, and resume his life, as before, running his Broxtowe estate, whilst assisting further separatist groups.

However, the authorities, having obtained evidence regarding his activities, were determined to charge and likely imprison him, and so, like the others, he would need to make his home in a foreign land.

Thomas Helwys and his family, would pay a heavy price for their commitment to the Separatist cause.

As punishment for their unauthorised journeys abroad, and their involvement in the movement, the Crown confiscated Broxtowe Hall, the family estate and all their assets.

Facing financial ruin, this was a severe blow, stripping them not only of property and status, but also of the home that had long been at the centre of their lives.

Such penalties, were intended to serve as a warning to others, but for Helwys and his family, they became another sacrifice, made in the pursuit of religious conviction.

The year is 16 07.

On 19 February 16 07, John Smyth once again, found himself in trouble with the church authorities.

This was not Smyth’s first conflict with the church, as earlier, he had been fined for preaching without a license in Basford, which is just 4 miles east of Thomas Helwys's home.

Earlier, in 16 04, Richard Bancroft’s Canons, had introduced stricter rules for the Church of England, especially regarding Holy Communion.

The reforms were designed to counter, what church leaders saw, as growing neglect of the sacrament.

While the Canons encouraged regular communion, they also made it a rule, that every church member must receive the Eucharist, at least once a year, at Easter.

Anyone who did not follow this rule, could face punishment or other disciplinary action.

On 5 April 16 07, John Smyth and his congregation were ordered to receive the Eucharist, in accordance with church law—but they refused.

Their refusal strongly suggests, that by this point, the group had already decided to seperate permanently from the Church of England.

Regardless of any ruling from the Church authorities, John Smyth, had already crossed the Rubicon.

He renounced his ordination, and formally entered into a covenant, with a group of like-minded believers, forming what he described as, “a visible church, of the Lord’s free people”.

The phrase, “crossing the Rubicon” means reaching a point of no return, or making a decision that cannot be easily undone.

The saying, goes back to 49 BCE, when Julius Caesar, led his army across the Rubicon River.

By doing this, he defied the Roman Senate, and started a civil war.

According to tradition, Caesar said, “The die is cast”.

Today, people use the phrase to describe any big decision, which changes the course of events and leaves no easy way to turn back.

The Rubicon River, flows through the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, between the modern towns of Rimini and Cesena.

William Bradford, preserved the original wording, giving us a rare insight, into the convictions that lay behind Smyth's decision, and the hopes of those who chose to follow him.

The language reveals, how deeply, Smyth’s congregation believed they were creating a new covenant community, completely separate, from the authority of the established Church.

Bradford recorded that:

“They shook off the yoke of anti-Christian bondage, and as the Lord’s free people, joined themselves by a covenant of the Lord, into a Church estate in the fellowship of the gospel”.

With those words, they made it clear, that their separation was permanent.

What had started as a push for reform, had turned into a movement for separation.

John Smyth and his followers, no longer saw themselves as members of the Church of England, seeking to make changes from within.

They now believed they were a gathered church, united by a covenant and responsible only to God.

And so, in 16 07, the small congregation in Gainsborough, made the choice that would change their lives forever.

Joined by covenant, conviction and conscience, they believed they had found the path God wanted them to take.

But conviction alone could not keep them safe.

Soon, their faith would require even greater sacrifices.

The path ahead, would take them far from home, across dangerous seas, into new and strange lands.

For this, first Separatist congregation in the East Midlands, the time of agitating for reform was drawing to a close, and the age of exile was about to begin; and that is where our story goes next.

In the following episodes, we follow John Smyth, Thomas Helwys, the Gainsborough congregation and others, as they try to leave England for Amsterdam.