What does it look like?

They are two fairly plain, leather-bound volumes, with the text written in a clear and neat hand. There are no embellishments to the text, and the ink from the reverse side of the page has seeped through, because the paper is fairly thin. In addition, at the top of each page there is an ‘IHS’, which is an abbreviation for ‘Jesus.’

Who, what and where?

These are the story books of the ‘Little Academy’ at Little Gidding led by Nicholas Ferrar. The Academy was a subset of Nicholas Ferrar’s religious community at Little Gidding. The Academy was comprised of Ferrar and several other members of his family, and their primary object was to meet regularly to discuss stories based on historical and current events, that were meant to both instruct and entertain.

The Academy preferred to discuss recent history, particularly the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, (1500-1558), from which they tried to work out God’s plan and look for examples of goodness and piety to prove it was still possible to achieve them. The story books are the written transcriptions of their discussions.

Why is it significant to the study of religion?

These story books provide unique insight into lay piety in early 17^th century England. The early 17^th century was a time of relative religious stability and peace, (after the turmoil of the 16^th century and the change from Catholicism to Protestantism), with Anglicanism being the predominate religion in England. However, things would soon begin to change, as new independent religious groups and churches emerged and doctrinal differences splintered the Protestants.

Nicholas Ferrar and his community at Little Gidding sought to live lives of contemplation, abstinence, and devotion. They were Anglicans and proponents of Arminianism, who rejected the doctrine of predestination, (the doctrine that all events have been willed by God), and believed individuals could attain salvation through free will, (the ability to choose between different possible courses of action). This put them into opposition with the Puritans, who were strict Calvinists, (John Calvin was a Protestant Reformer who lived from 1509-1564), who believed only certain individuals who were chosen by God from birth, the elect, were able to obtain salvation. East Anglia was a Puritan stronghold, so this put the community at Little Gidding in a precarious position. The Puritans looked upon the ‘Protestant nunnery’ at Little Gidding with suspicion. In 1646, when word spread that King Charles I, who favoured Arminianism, had visited the community, Cromwell’s Roundheads raided it.

Remnants of the doctrinal differences between Arminianism and Calvinism still persist today amongst Protestants. Although most modern Anglicans, or Christians in general, do not live austerely like they did at Little Gidding, there are still some groups, such as the Amish, who choose to live a life of austerity and devotion.