A incident sparked by the publication and distributions of eight tracts by anonymous persons under the fictitious authorship of Martin Marprelate in 1588-89 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I attacking her settlement of the religious question. Obviously puritan in their agenda the tracts poked fun at the bishops and the episcopacy of the English Church using language that bordered on the obscene. The short term effect of the tracts was to cause official alarm concerning the secrecy of their printing (since secret printing press implies other more seditious possibilities). In the longer term, the tracts had the effect of casting an even more dismal view of puritanism than was already the case.
©ALBERITH
180919lch