(Latin: latus, broad)
A school of thought in the Church of England arising in the 17th century. At this time the Puritan controversy was at its height and the Elizabethan standard of "one Church and one Realm," which had become ingrained in English thought as a necessity, seemed in danger. The Latitudinarians sought to reconcile the "Churchly" and the Puritan elements by disregarding differences of doctrine and by emphasizing the "broad" principles of Christianity.