1 Yates, Frances, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment (London, 1972), pp. 72–73 Google Scholar, 216; Dorsten, Jan van, The Radical Arts (London, 1970)Google Scholar, and ‘Garter Knights and Familists,’ Journal of European Studies, 4 (1974), 178-188.

2 Thomas, Keith, Religion and the Decline of Magic (New York, 1971), pp. 270, 271, 375-377Google Scholar; Hill, Christopher, The World Turned Upside Down (New York, 1972), pp. 21–23, 65-69Google Scholar.

3 Friedrich Nippold has made the most detailed study of the origins of Familism. His 1862 monograph treats the life of the founder, Hendrik Niclaes, and the early Familists in the Low Countries in particular, relying on Niclaes’ writings and on the only known Familist manuscripts which describe their history: Acta HN, Chronika des Husgesinnes der Lieften, Ordo Sacerdotis. His study ‘Heinrich Niclaes und das Haus der Liebe’ appears in Zeitschrift für die historische Theologie, 36 (1862), 323-402, 473-563. A twentieth-century scholar, Herman de la Fontaine Verwey, has also published some valuable essays on Familism in the Low Countries and an extensive bibliography; see his ‘De geshriften van Hendrik Niclaes,’ Het Boek, 27 (1940-42). He provides more light on the subject and additional bibliographical data in ‘The Family of Love,’ Quaerendo, 6 (Summer 1976), 222-271. He states in this article that he plans to publish a revision of his 1940-42 bibliography in the near future. Commenting on the need for future studies of English Familism, he voices the hope that ‘one day a more detailed monograph will be devoted to this remarkable chapter in English church history’ (p. 262). A list of the many works of Niclaes which were translated into English appears in A Short-Title Catalog of Books Printed in England … 1475-1640, ed. A. W. Pollard and G. R. Redgrave, 2nd ed. (London, 1976). Older general accounts in English are Rufus Jones’ chapter on the Familists in Studies in Mystical Religion (London, 1909), and Allen C. Thomas’ monograph ‘The Family of Love or the Familists,’ Haverford College Studies, 12 (May 1893). Neither of these is devoted to English Familism. Robert Barclay's 1876 work, The Inner Life of the Religious Societies of the Commonwealth, focuses on Niclaes and Continental Familists and is based mainly on Nippold. Unaccountably, Champlin Burrage in Early English Dissenters (Cambridge, 1912) states that after the work of Barclay and Nippold there is little else to say (p. 210). Fortunately, some recent studies of English Familists have appeared: Felicity Heal's account of East Anglian Familists, “The Family of Love and the Diocese of Ely,’ Schism, Heresy and Religious Protest, Studies in Church History series (Cambridge, 1972); Jean Dietz Moss, “The Family of Love and English Critics,’ The Sixteenth Century Journal, 6 (April 1975), 33-52; Julia Ebel's bibliographical essay ‘The Family of Love: Sources of Its History in England,’ The Huntington Library Quarterly, 30 (1966-67), 331-343; and a recent literary study, William C. Johnson, “The Family of Love in Stuart literature: A Chronology of Name-Crossed Lovers,’ The Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 7 (Spring 1977), 95-112.

4 Disagreements among earlier commentators abound and the controversy persists even into recent years. Dickens, A. G. sees them as antinomians and pantheists, The English Reformation (New York, 1964), p. 238 Google Scholar; Rufus Jones denies they were either Anabaptists or antinomians, op. cit., pp. 447-448; Williams, G. H. calls them both Anabaptists and pantheists, The Radical Reformation (Philadelphia, 1962), pp. 788–789 Google Scholar.

5 The White Wolfe (London, 1627), pp. 39, 46. Of course ‘Familist’ was a term (much as ‘Puritan’ was in later years) applied indiscriminately to all sorts of unorthodox opinions; however, Dennison distinguishes some characteristics of these groups which do indeed seem to be Familistic.

6 “The Family of Love,’ p. 224. This article is his most detailed treatment of Familism in the Low Countries to date. See also his ‘Trois heresiarques dans les Pays-Bas du XVI^e siècle,’ Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance, 16 (1954), 312-330.

7 The Displaying of an horrible sect of grosse and wicked Heretiques (London, 1578). The Preface contains the 1561 confession which also appears in St. Hyland, George Kieran, A Century of Persecution (New York, 1920), pp. 103–112 Google Scholar. The manuscript itself is in the Loseley collection, Folger Shakespeare Library. Mr. Joseph Martin has discovered that the manuscript does contain evidence conclusively proving it to be of Familist origin, a fact not clear in Rogers or in Hyland. His findings are to appear in the Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, 51 (May 1978).

8 The proclamation is reprinted in Hughes, Paul L. and Larkin, James F., eds., Tudor Royal Proclamations (New Haven, 1969), II, 474–475 Google Scholar.

9 (Cologne, 1575); bearing the imprint of 1575 this confession also appears in An Apology for the Service of Love (London, 1656), a play supposedly written by a courtier.

10 PRO SP 12 cxxxiii, 55. Romsey was one of a group of Familists led by John Bourne who is mentioned in the confession. Bourne and other members of the group were apprehended by the local authorities and made confessions of their errors sometime before Romsey made his. Their statements are brief but in accord with Romsey's testimony. These earlier confessions are in Cambridge, Gonville Caius College, MS.53/30, fols. 126^v-129. See Felicity Heal's discussion of the dating of Romsey's confession, op. cit., p. 220. She identifies the Familists in Wisbech as mainly tradesmen and artisans who followed Bourne's lead in their encounters with the authorities. Romsey seems to be an exception, pp. 219-221.

11 This is one of Niches’ major works. (Amsterdam? 1574?), STC 18557, reprinted in 1656. It contains prayers for Familist use, an exegesis of the Aposdes’ Creed, and the Ten Commandments as well as instructions for the management of a Familist household.

12 Possibly a reference to The Prophetie of the Spirit of Loue (Amsterdam? 1574), STC 18560, a work by Niclaes that describes his, and the Family's, mission to aid in the judgment of the world.

13 A constant theme in Niclaes works. The words ‘Now goeth the Judgment over the “World. Now becometh the Prince of the World Cast out’ are frequendy used above an engraving of the lamb triumphing over sin which attempts to swallow up the world. The inscription and engraving often precede the text of Niclaes’ works or follow it.

14 Zeale, or Seal, is specifically mentioned as one of the guardsmen discovered at court. See discussion below.

15 Evangelium Regni (Amsterdam? 1575?), STC 18556, fol. 78^v.

16 First Exhortation, 1656 edition, pp. 318, 223.

17 Wilkinson, William, A Confutation of Certaine Articles deliuered vnto the Familye of Loue (London, 1579)Google Scholar, fols. 61^v-62, quoting Niclaes* Eleventh Epistle, VI, sen. 3.

18 Rogers, Preface. See also Felicity Heal's discussion, op. cit, p. 216.

19 APC, x 332, xii. 231, 232. See the discussion of the case by Hitchcock, James, ‘A Confession of the Family of Love, 1580,’ Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, 43 (1970), 85–86 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Moss, Jean Dietz, ‘Additional Light on the Family of Love,’ BIHR, 47 (1974), 103–105 Google Scholar.

20 (1656), pp. 130-131.

21 Fol. 6^v

22 Fol. 12.

23 Christian Mortalism from Tyndale to Milton (Cambridge, Mass., 1972), pp. 61-62.

24 Martin, Lynnewood F., “The Family of Love in England: Conforming Millenarians,’ The Sixteenth Century Journal, 3 (October 1972), 99–108 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

25 Nippold, x, 552, based on passages in Ordo.

26 Evangel., fols. 72^v-73.

27 Ibid., fols. 73-76.