The Nonconformist Clergy and the London Plague of 1665

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Nonconformist ministers ejected from London parish churches in 1662 gained a reputation three years later, during the plague, for being heroes, whereas the Church of England clergy were accused of deserting the city. Nonconformists took over the churches to preach to the population but were poorly rewarded for their pains by the Five-Mile Act. This article contends that the Nonconformists’ reputation for heroism rested on the activities of a handful of preachers whose sermons were publicised by clerical figures such as Richard Baxter, eclipsing a more nuanced discourse of pastoral responsibility. The aim is to shed light on the identity and activities of those writers and on the way the epidemic affected the future of Nonconformity. More broadly, the article argues that an appraisal of the religious context of the mid-1660s can supplement existing plague studies, which have primarily focused on social history and the history of medicine.