The document discusses John Bunyan and his famous work The Pilgrim's Progress. It provides background on Bunyan's life in Bedford, England where he was imprisoned for his non-conformist religious views. It details how The Pilgrim's Progress became one of the most widely published books in history and how Bedford had a culture of religious non-conformity in the 17th century that likely influenced Bunyan and his work.

1. John Bunyan’s Bedford

2. The Pilgrim’s Progress
Probably the most
widely read book
ever written in
English, composed
while Bunyan was
imprisoned in
Bedford Gaol for
non-conformism

3. The Pilgrim’s Progress
The Pilgrim’s
Progress has been
translated into
more than 200
languages, mostly
by missionaries
--more than any
other book except
the Bible

4. The Pilgrim’s Progress
The John Bunyan
Museum in Bedford
has more than 170
translations of The
Pilgrim’s Progress
in its library,
including African,
Asian and Oceanic
languages

5. The Pilgrim’s Progress
When The Pilgrim’s
Progress was
published in 1678,
it became an
immediate success
in England and New
England, with even
the King speaking
of John Bunyan

6. The Pilgrim’s Progress
Unusual in modern
English literature,
since it speaks in
the voice of the
common people, its
author obviously
not rich, not
powerful and not
well educated

7. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
Bunyan lived in
turbulent times,
born the year
before Charles I
became king and
died two months
before the
Glorious
Revolution, with
James II in exile

8. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
Bunyans had lived in
Bedfordshire since
at least the 12th
century, but it was
a family in decline,
with each
generation selling
more and more
land in Elstow, just
south of Bedford

9. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
Bunyan’s father had
inherited a cottage
and nine acres of
land in Elstow, an
illiterate and not
terribly religious
man who walked
around
Bedfordshire
working as a tinker

10. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
Although most poor
children were not
educated at this
time, Bunyan was
taught to read and
write, possibly at
the Harpur Trust
School,
established in
1566

11. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
At the age of 16,
Bunyan joined the
New Model Army,
stationed at
Newport Pagnell
for three years,
though too late to
take part in any
battles of the
English Civil War

12. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
After the army, Bunyan
walked around
Bedfordshire working
as a tinker, just as his
father had done
And, like his father,
Bunyan was not
terribly religious, later
portraying himself as
the chief of sinners

13. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
Walking down the road
between Bedford and
Elstow one day, Bunyan
overheard some women
talking about the
happiness they had
found since salvation
and Bunyan decided he
wanted some of that
happiness, too

14. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
In 1653, a non-
conformist sect had
taken over St John’s
Church, just south of
Bedford Bridge on the
road to Elstow, with
John Gifford as its
chosen leader, now
living in the rectory
beside the church

15. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
Before joining this sect
himself, Gifford had
been a major in the
Royalist Army and a
well-known wag
Bunyan began to visit
Gifford to discuss the
Bible, with the rectory
the model for the
Interpreter’s House

16. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
Bunyan moved his family
to St Cuthbert’s
Street in Bedford in
1655 to be closer to
the sect and, the
following year, Bunyan
began to preach,
almost always on the
theme of the lost lamb
who now was found

17. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
With the Restoration
in 1660, the Church
of England became
the official church
once again -- with
Sunday attendance
required by law --
and non-conformist
meetings were
banned

18. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
St John’s Church and
its rectory were
taken away from
Bunyan’s sect and
returned to the
Church of England
Bunyan refused to
attend church and
continued to meet
and preach

19. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
Bunyan was arrested
and held for twelve
years, an unusually
long term for non-
conformism
But almost definitely
not in the old town
gaol on Bedford
Bridge

20. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
Bunyan spent a third
of his adult life in
the county gaol on
the corner of High
Street and Silver
Street, with six
cells and two
dungeons, holding
half a dozen
prisoners each

21. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
Bunyan’s young
second wife and
his four children
from his first
marriage lived only
five minutes away,
his blind, eldest
daughter, Mary,
bringing him soup
and ale every day

22. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
Bunyan was also
occasionally
allowed to leave
gaol, meeting
regularly with his
sect, preaching as
far away as London
and even fathering
two children by his
second wife

23. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
When he was not
making shoestrings
to help support his
struggling family,
Bunyan wrote,
probably beginning
The Pilgrim’s
Progress during
this first
imprisonment

24. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
Bunyan was released
in 1672, following
the so-called
Quaker Pardon,
which allowed non-
conformist
meetings, now
chosen as leader
of his sect in
Bedford

25. Bunyan’s Life in Bedford
However, Bunyan was
imprisoned again
for almost a year
in 1677, for not
attending church,
when he probably
finished The
Pilgrim’s Progress,
publishing it in
London in 1678

26. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
Like much of the
East Midlands,
Bedfordshire had a
reputation in the
17th century for
being anti-Royalist
and pro-Puritan,
with no doubt
which side it would
support in the war

27. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
When Charles II was
back on the throne
and eleven men
were executed for
beheading Charles
I in 1649, two of
those eleven men
were, not
surprisingly, from
Bedfordshire

28. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
In the mid-17th
century, Bedford
had a population of
about 2000, with
Bunyan’s cottage
on St Cuthbert’s
Street actually on
the edge of town,
not in the centre
as it is today

29. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
Roughly before 1640
and after 1660, all
Englishmen and
Englishwomen were
members of the
Church of England,
whether they
wanted to be
members or not

30. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
Failure to attend
church was a crime
and all church
members were
required to donate
10% of their
income to their
parish priest, in
whose selection
they had no say

31. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
In opposition to this,
non-conformist
sects began to
gather in
Bedfordshire,
reading and
discussing the
Geneva Bible and
choosing their own
leaders

32. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
These sects began to
grow and gain
confidence in the
1640s and, by the
early 1650s, one
sect became so
open that the town
council invited it to
take over St
John’s Church

33. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
Other sects also
became more open,
including the
Quakers, who held
the first national
meetings of
Quakers from all
over England in
Bedfordshire in
1657 and 1658

34. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
Following the
Restoration and
Bunyan’s arrest,
these sects
became secretive
once again, with
Bunyan’s sect
meeting illegally in
members’ private
homes

35. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
In 1670, one of
these meetings
was raided and 29
non-conformists
were arrested, but
the local
community quickly
came to the sect’s
rescue and almost
resulted in a riot

36. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
Of the 29 arrested,
only 12 were
members of the
sect, the others
simply “friends”,
suggesting that
this sect was really
much larger than
its 40-some
members

37. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
Following the Quaker
Pardon in 1672,
non-conformist
sects were allowed
to meet, as long as
they applied for a
licence to worship
Ironically, only the
Quakers refused
to do so

38. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
In Bedfordshire, 37
different sects
applied for these
licences to worship
-- more, in
proportion to the
population of the
county, than
anywhere else in
the country

39. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
Between 1660 and
1690, non-
conformists were
recorded in 113 of
the 131 parishes in
Bedfordshire,
roughly 8% of the
population, or
twice the national
average

40. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
Although non-
conformists were
allowed to meet
following the
Quaker Pardon in
1672, they were
still not allowed to
attend university
or to hold public
office

41. Bedford’s Non-Conformists
By the mid-19th
century,
attendance at non-
conformist
meetings in
Bedford was
almost double the
attendance at
Church of England
services

42. John Bunyan’s Bedford?
So, just how much
influence did John
Bunyan have on
Bedford and its
sense of itself?
How much did he help
Bedford become
what it eventually
became?

43. John Bunyan’s Bedford?
Definitely some, as
the chosen leader
of Bedford’s most
popular non-
conformist sect
and, later, as a
preacher and writer
with a national and
even international
reputation

44. Or Bedford’s Bunyan?
And just how much
influence did
Bedford have on
John Bunyan and his
sense of himself?
How much did
Bedford help him
become what he
eventually became?

45. Or Bedford’s Bunyan?
Probably quite a lot,
since it had a
national reputation
as a centre of non-
conformism
decades before
anyone outside
Elstow had ever
heard of a tinker
called John Bunyan