Separatists

Separatists, dissenters who withdrew from the Church of England during the 16th and 17th centuries because of their dissatisfaction with the ritual used in worship and with the state control of religion in England. The English clergyman Robert Browne was influential among them, and his followers came to be known as Brownists. His writings contain perhaps the earliest statement of Congregational principles (see Congregationalism). In the 17th century the Separatists became known as Independents; their congregational system was brought to America by the Pilgrims. See also Dissenters; Nonconformists.