<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Puritans were a group of English Reformed Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to "purify" the Church of England from its "Catholic" practices, maintaining that the Church of England was only partially reformed . </P> <P> Puritanism in this sense was founded as an activist movement within the Church of England . The founders, clergy exiled under Mary I, returned to England shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558 . </P>

Who were the puritans and what were their beliefs and practices