The Marprelate Controversy

A late-1580s Puritan campaign used the pseudonym Martin Marprelate to publish illegal pamphlets attacking the bishops of the Church of England for being too Catholic in structure and practice, demanding further Protestant reforms.
Secret mobile printing presses were used to distribute satirical, insulting, and provocative pamphlets that mocked church leaders and spread Puritan ideas widely.
Elizabeth I’s government viewed the campaign as a threat to religious and political stability, hunted down the presses, arrested those involved, and tightened censorship.

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