Francis Rous, also spelled Rouse (c. 1581 to 1659), was an English politician and Puritan religious author, who was Provost of Eton from 1644 to 1659, and briefly Speaker of the House of Commons in 1653. Stepbrother of Parliamentary leader John Pym, he joined him in opposing Arminianism in the Church of England, and played a leading role in the impeachment of Archbishop Laud. When the First English Civil War began in 1642, he supported the 1643 Solemn League and Covenant, and was appointed to the Westminster Assembly. Under the Protectorate, he moved away from his Presbyterian colleagues, becoming closer to the religious Independents, and Oliver Cromwell. He died in January 1659, and was buried in Eton College Chapel. Biography Francis Rous was born at Dittisham in Devon around 1581, fourth son of Sir Anthony Rous (ca 1555-1620), and his first wife, Elizabeth Southcote (1547-1585). His father remarried Philippa Colles (died 1620), mother of John Pym; his stepbrother became a close friend and political ally. At some point after 1601, he married Philippa, 1575 to 1657; their son Francis, (1615–1643), became a distinguished classicist and doctor, but was disinherited by his father for marrying without his approval. Career Sir Anthony Rous was a devout Puritan, who instilled the same values in his children. Francis was educated at Pembroke College, Oxford, then known as Broadgates, and known for its "advanced Protestantism". In 1598, he moved to the University of Leiden, an important centre of study for Scots and English Calvinists. As legal training was then considered part of an education, he attended the Middle Temple for a short period in 1601, but moved to Landrake, in Cornwall. There are few details of his life prior to 1626, although he produced several books, and Rous claimed in 1641 that he spent some of 1609 travelling in Europe with Sir Thomas Overbury, victim in one of the most famous murder cases of the period. Understanding individuals from this period requires an appreciation of the centrality of religious belief in daily life, and politics. With the exception of Independents, who opposed any state church, most people believed in a 'universal' church, where everyone belonged to the same structure, and used the same practices; where Charles I, William Laud, Rous and others disagreed was the form it took, particularly within the Church of England. It was taken for granted good government depended on 'true religion',