This man was one of the sixteenth-century Italian Reformers who were
speedily crushed or dispersed by the vigilance of the Inquisition. Those
who escaped wandered far, and some were at different times members of
the Church for 'Strangers,' or foreigners, to which Edward VI assigned
the nave of the great Augustine Church, still standing at Austin Friars
in the heart of the City of London. It is Interesting to observe here
that a Dutch liberal congregation lineally inherits the place to-day.
Careful investigation has shown that among the refugees here in the
sixteenth century were some whose opinions were unsound on the Trinity;
possibly they affected English opinion in some small degree. _Loelius
Socinus_ (1525-62), uncle of _Faustus_ (1539-1604), was for a short time
in London, but interesting thinker as he was, his nephew who never set
foot in England really exerted much more influence upon English thought.
It was, however, in Poland especially that the influence of Faustus
Socinus first became prominent. That country, then flourishing under its
own princes, early became (as we have seen) the home of an
Anti-trinitarian form of Protestantism. Socinus joined this group, and
during the latter half of the sixteenth century effected much
improvement among them, organizing their congregations, establishing
schools, promoting a Unitarian literature. The educational work thus
begun achieved great success; but in his own lifetime Socinus met with
fierce opposition and even personal violence. He died in 1604; the
Polish Unitarian Church fell under the persecution of both Catholics and
orthodox Protestants, and was finally crushed out in 1660.
Important for our present study is the fact that the literary output of
these Polish Socinians was both large and of high quality. Their
'Racovian Catechism' was translated into different languages, and early
found its way into England. James I promptly had it burned, despite the
fact that the Latin version was dedicated to himself! Other books and
pamphlets followed, and even if we abate something as due to the
exaggerating fears and suspicions of the authorities, there would seem
to have been no time as the seventeenth century went on when Socinian
literature was not widely circulated here, albeit at first in secret.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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