John Bunyan

John Bunyan was born in 1628 in Elstow, south of Bedford. From a very poor family, he had little formal education, but he learned to read and devoured medieval romances, in which brave knights faced dragons and monsters. In his youth, he was known for the many profanities he uttered and for dedicating his Sundays to dancing and sports, which was frowned upon by the Puritans. At the age of 16, at the height of the Civil War, he joined the army. On one occasion, he was "removed" from his post, and the soldier who replaced him was shot dead, which Bunyan saw as a divine intervention that would change his life – he gave new meaning to his faith, becoming an excellent preacher whom everyone wanted to hear. However, he ended up imprisoned for preaching without permission, spending more than 12 years in jail – one of the longest periods recorded for the same reason. Despite the miserable conditions of the prisons
At the time, it was there that Bunyan wrote a large part of his work. After regaining his freedom, he dedicated himself to writing and preaching. He died in 1688, having left behind more than 60 written works, among which... The Pilgrim's Progress, considered the second most important book in the history of Christianity.