The Ranter of Warwick: Abiezer Coppe’s Fire and Fury in the English Revolution

In the turbulent mid-seventeenth century, England witnessed the collapse of the monarchy, the rise of revolutionary politics, and a surge of radical religious expression. Amidst this upheaval, Warwickshire produced one of the period’s most notorious and enigmatic figures: Abiezer Coppe (1619–1672). A preacher, writer, mystic – and to many, a heretic – Coppe’s life exemplifies the wild, visionary spirit of the English Civil War, with his story beginning right here in Warwick.

Born 20 May 1619, Coppe, eldest son of an artisan, attended The King’s School and later Oxford University. Marked by fervent piety, he left without a degree but returned to Warwick committed to preaching and a ministerial life within the rising tide of Puritan dissent. In June 1644, Coppe was appointed chaplain to the Parliamentarian garrison at Compton Wynyates. Yet even among the Roundheads, his message proved too radical, and in 1646 he was imprisoned in Coventry gaol for controversial preaching – a sign of the deeper spiritual rebellion to come.

A pivotal transformation occurred in 1647, when Coppe experienced a four-day trance he interpreted as a divine revelation. Emerging from it spiritually reborn – freed from sin and anointed as a ‘child of God’ – he joined the ranks of the infamous Ranters, a radical sect that rejected all earthly authority, whether church, scripture, or state, in favour of the ‘divine light’ within. The Ranters were feared for their pantheism (God present in all things), antinomianism (freedom from moral law), and contempt for social hierarchy. For Coppe, God’s truth lay not in Scripture or sermons but within the self – a conviction that provoked condemnation from both Royalists and Parliamentarians.,

In 1649, the year of Charles I’s execution, Coppe published his most notorious work: A Fiery Flying Roll. This prophetic pamphlet was a denunciation of inequality, hypocrisy, and religious cant. Written in a style both poetic and blasphemous, it demanded that ‘Kings, Princes, Lords… must bow to the poorest Peasants,’ scandalising readers. This explosive mixture of political levelling, mystical ecstasy, and moral transgression outraged the Puritan authorities. In January 1650, Coppe was arrested for spreading ‘mad and blasphemous’ writings and imprisoned in Newgate

Even under interrogation, Coppe remained defiant – refusing to remove his hat, muttering to himself, and reportedly throwing fruit and nutshells at officials. Though never tried, this reputation as a dangerous madman and religious extremist may have spared him a show trial. Released in July 1651, he soon drew further suspicion, particularly after attempting to preach at Burford Church, site of the 1649 Leveller mutiny crushed by Cromwell. In later years, however, Coppe’s radical fire dimmed. George Fox, founder of the Quakers, encountered him drinking and smoking with a Cromwellian officer. Eventually he recanted, converted to Baptism, and took the name Abiezer Hiam. Licensed to practise medicine and surgery, he lived quietly until his death in August 1672 – largely forgotten.

Yet, despite his quiet disappearance from the scene of radical religious dissent, Abiezer Coppe remains even to this day, a crucial part of England’s broader revolutionary story. He was a man who challenged every form of power – spiritual, political, and social – in pursuit of a radical vision of divine equality. Dismissed by some as a madman, celebrated by others as a prophet, Coppe stands as a testament to a moment when ordinary men believed they could speak with the voice of God – and be heard. Today, he remains one of Warwick’s most extraordinary – and sadly least remembered – sons.

Bibliography

Coppe, Abiezer, Selected Writings, ed. and introd. by Andrew Hopton (London: Aporia Press, 1987).

Davis, James C., Fear, Myth and History: The Ranters and The Historians (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986; revised edition 2010).

Hessayon, Ariel, ‘The Making of Abiezer Coppe’, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 62.1 (2011), 38–58.

Hessayon, Ariel, ‘Abiezer Coppe and the Ranters’, in The Oxford Handbook of Literature and the English Revolution, ed. by Laura L. Knoppers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012).

Hill, Christopher, The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution (London: Maurice Temple Smith, 1972; reprinted by Penguin).

Kenny, Robert, ‘“In These Last Dayes”: The Strange Work of Abiezer Coppe’, The Seventeenth Century, 13.2 (1998), 156–84.