Richard Norwood’s life was extraordinary. He travelled as far as most Englishmen ever had done, made major contributions to science and mathematics, and interacted on equal terms with individuals from the widest mix of cultural and economic backgrounds. His spiritual autobiography charts his soteriological progress, but it also reveals a great deal more about Norwood the individual and the culture in which he existed.
Norwood wrote a spiritual autobiography that departed from many of the idiosyncrasies that came to define the genre. His Confessions (1640) is a far more generous text in terms of biographical material than John Bunyan’s later, more widely read, Grace Abounding (1666), and is certainly less single-minded with regard to its thematic purpose. Perhaps because Norwood had experienced far more of the world beyond the confines of nonconformist sects than most...Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.
1140 words
Citation: Hall, Barry. "Richard Norwood". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 July 2015 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13010, accessed 09 June 2026.]
