English dissenters, also called nonconformists, were those Reformers in England that did not accept the State interference in religious matters and founded their own communities.

Hoping to make a pure and better Reformation in the English Church, many individuals became disappointed by the political decisions made by the Kings in order to control the Established Church

The Restoration (1660) valued episcopacy and limited the rights against the dissenters. The Act of Uniformity (1662) required episcopal ordination for all ministers, but many clergymen withdrew from the Official State Church.

Among the several groups, there were:

Ancient

As of 1640

• Adamites
• Anabaptists
• Baptists
• Barrowists
• Behmenists
• Brownists
• Diggers
• Familists
• Fifth Monarchy Men
• Free-will Men
• Gindletonians
• Jacobites
• Levellers
• Lollards
• Muggletonians
• Puritans
• Quakers
• Ranters
• Sabbatarians
• Seekers
• Socinians

Present-Day

Those ancient Dissenters that survived

• Presbyterians
• Congregationalist
• Methodists
• Moravian Brethren

Some notable dissenters

• Praise-God Barebone
• John Bunyan
• Abiezer Coppe
• George Fox
• Thomas Venner
• Gerrard Winstanley

See also

• Freedom of religion
• Religion in the United Kingdom