author
Lodowick Muggleton
1609–1698
A London tailor turned religious visionary, he helped found the small but long-lived movement later called the Muggletonians. His life mixed ordinary work, bold prophetic claims, prison time, and a lasting influence on English religious dissent.
1 Audiobook
A True Interpretation of the Witch of Endor
by Lodowick Muggleton
About the author
Born in London in 1609, Lodowick Muggleton spent much of his working life as a journeyman tailor. In the early 1650s, alongside his cousin John Reeve, he announced that they were the two witnesses described in the Book of Revelation, and their teachings gave rise to the sect known as the Muggletonians.
Muggleton became known for fiercely independent religious ideas and for rejecting learned argument and philosophical speculation in matters of faith. His followers remained a small community, but the movement endured for centuries after its beginnings, which makes him a striking figure in the history of English nonconformity.
He was imprisoned more than once because of his beliefs, yet he continued to write and defend his views. Muggleton died in London on March 14, 1698, leaving behind a body of religious writing and a reputation as one of the more unusual voices of seventeenth-century England.