William Penn (1644–1718), son of the admiral Sir William Penn, was expelled from Oxford for nonconformity and joined the Quakers in 1667, to his father's dismay. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1668–1669 for a pamphlet questioning the doctrine of the Trinity, and there wrote No Cross, No Crown. In 1670 his trial with William Mead for preaching in the street led to a landmark case affirming the independence of juries. In 1681 Charles II granted him the territory that became Pennsylvania, which he governed under a frame of government guaranteeing religious liberty. He also wrote Some Fruits of Solitude (1693) and an early plan for a European parliament.
1669 · Renaissance Early Modern · Religious Scripture
No Cross, No Crown is a treatise on Christian self-denial written by William Penn in 1668–1669, while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, and greatly enlarged in 1682. Its title states its theme: there is no crown of eternal life without bearing the daily cross of Christ, understood not as a wooden symbol or ritual but as the inward discipline that puts selfish desires to death.