Prynne, William (prĭn), 1600–1669, English political figure and Puritan pamphleteer. Beginning his attacks on Arminian doctrine in 1627, he soon earned the enmity of William Laud Laud, William, 1573–1645, archbishop of Canterbury (1633–45). He studied at St. John's College, Oxford, and was ordained a priest in 1601. From the beginning Laud showed his hostility to Puritanism. He became president of St.
..... Click the link for more information. . When Prynne's strictures on the theater in his book, Historiomastix (1632), were interpreted as an attack on Charles I and his queen, he was fined, imprisoned (1633), pilloried (1634), and partly shorn of his ears. He continued his pamphleteering in jail and in 1637 was again fined, sentenced to life imprisonment, deprived of the remainder of his ears, and branded with the letters S.L. (for seditious libeler). He was released from prison by the Long Parliament in 1640 and was voted financial reparation. During the English civil war English civil war, 1642–48, the conflict between King Charles I of England and a large body of his subjects, generally called the "parliamentarians," that culminated in the defeat and execution of the king and the establishment of a republican commonwealth .
..... Click the link for more information. , Prynne strongly supported the parliamentary cause in his writings and took a vindictive part in prosecuting his old enemy, Laud. In defending his moderate theological position, however, he found himself opposing both Presbyterians and Independents. He also came into conflict with John Milton over Milton's advocacy of divorce. Prynne entered Parliament in 1648; but he opposed the demand of the army for the execution of Charles I and so was expelled in Pride's Purge. He wrote attacks against the Commonwealth, for which he was imprisoned (1650–53), and against the Protectorate, and later supported the Restoration of Charles II. In 1660 he became keeper of the records of the Tower of London.

Bibliography

See biography by E. W. Kirby (1931, repr. 1972); W. M. Lamont, Marginal Prynne, 1600–1669 (1963).

Prynne, William

(born 1600, Swainswick, Somerset, Eng.—died Oct. 24, 1669, London) English Puritan pamphleteer. Trained as a lawyer, he published Puritan tracts from 1627 and assailed Anglican ceremonialism. He attacked popular amusements, especially plays, in his book Histrio Mastix: The Players Scourge (1633). Archbishop William Laud had him imprisoned; after he wrote more pamphlets attacking Laud and other Anglicans, his ears were cut off. Released in 1640, Prynne brought about Laud's conviction and execution (1645). Elected to Parliament in 1648, he was expelled for attacks on radical Puritans and later imprisoned for refusing to pay taxes (1650–53). Disaffected with Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth, he became a supporter of Charles II.