As a young man Cotton showed a natural ability for scholarship. In 1597, when he was only thirteen, Cotton began attending Trinity College at Cambridge University. He received a bachelor of arts degree in 1603, and a master of arts degree in 1606.
After mastering Hebrew, Cotton was awarded a fellowship to Emmanuel College at Cambridge University in 1603. Founded by a Puritan, Emmanuel College was the most Puritan of any college in the Cambridge system. At Emmanuel, Cotton served as a dean and head lecturer, and became an influential preacher at St. Mary's Church. During the six years he spent at Emmanuel College, he claimed to have experienced a religious conversion to Puritanism after witnessing thepreaching of Richard Sibbes. On July 13, 1610, Cotton became a priest in Lincoln, England, and in 1613 he received a bachelor of divinity degree. In July of the same year, Cotton married Elizabeth Horrocks.
Alters Liturgy to Favor Puritanism
On June 24, 1612, Cotton was elected vicar (a Church of England official) of St. Botolph's Church in Boston, a port city in Lincolnshire. Although he was only twenty-seven at the time, he had already gained a reputation as an inspiring preacher.
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