Increase Mather

Increase Mather (1639–1723) was a leading New England Puritan minister, theologian, and colonial official. He helped secure the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s new charter and was the father of Cotton Mather.

Cotton Mather: Cotton Mather was a New England Puritan minister, author, and public intellectual. His son became a prominent minister and writer in the next generation.
Massachusetts Bay Colony: The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement founded in New England in the seventeenth century. Mather served its political and religious interests during a struggle over its charter.
Puritanism: Puritanism was a movement seeking to reform the Church of England according to Reformed Protestant principles. Mather’s theology and public life grew from New England Puritan commitments.
Salem witch trials: The Salem witch trials were prosecutions for witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts in 1692 and 1693. Mather commented on the crisis and defended some use of spectral evidence while urging caution.
Samuel Mather: Samuel Mather was a Boston Congregational minister and the eldest son of Richard Mather. Increase’s father, also a Puritan minister, established the family’s clerical prominence.
Dominion of New England: The Dominion of New England was a Crown-administered government that united several New England colonies from 1686 to 1689. Its centralization provoked opposition that Mather organized and represented in England.
Reformed theology: Reformed theology is a Protestant tradition shaped by the teachings of John Calvin and related reformers. Its doctrines supplied the theological framework for Mather’s preaching and writing.
Memorable Providences: Memorable Providences is Cotton Mather’s 1689 account of alleged witchcraft in the Goodwin family. The book’s claims about witchcraft influenced the climate surrounding the later Salem prosecutions.
John Cotton: John Cotton was an influential English and New England Puritan minister and theologian. Cotton’s influence helped shape the religious tradition Increase inherited.
Massachusetts Charter of 1691: The Massachusetts Charter of 1691 established the Province of Massachusetts Bay under royal authority. Mather’s negotiations in England helped obtain this replacement for the revoked colonial charter.

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