When German friar Martin Luther nailed his protests against Catholic doctrines he was beginning to pave a road of reformation. This movement spread throughout Europe and was know as the "Protestant Reformation". John Calvin of Geneva, a lawyer of logic and reason, followed this road and in 1536 viewed his opinions in his basic doctrine, Institutes of Christian Religion, which established Calvinism. As these doctrines were being introduced into England, King Henry VIII was terminating ties with the Roman Catholic Church. This proceeded with King Henry VIII becoming the head of the Church of England. English reformers then undertook a role to purify English Christianity, and were known as "Puritans". These Puritans had many aspirations that they tried to fulfill to create a model society in New England's 17th century.
Puritans had very strong beliefs and ideas and their aspirations for a better life was important in New England. Aspirations of the Puritans began with their wanting to fully de-Catholicize England and the Separatists, who were a group of extreme Puritans, vowed to break away from the Church of England. Their reasons for this was because of the slow process of the Protestant Reformation and the fact that "saints" had to share pews and communion rails with "the damned." After leaving England to go to Holland, they once again left. This time Puritans sailed to New England where lived as purified Protestant Englishman and women. In New England these Pilgrims settled in Massachusetts Bay and under the leadership of John Winthrop, a well-to-do pillar of English society, Massachusetts became the biggest and most influential of the New England outposts. "A successful attorney and manor lord in England, Winthrop eagerly accepted the offer to become governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, believing that he had a calling from God to lead a new religious experiment." (Bailey, p.
