# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/roger-williams
# Generated: 2026-08-31T17:34:37.200Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/roger-williams"
name: "Roger Williams"
slug: "roger-williams"
description: "He was kicked out of Puritan Massachusetts for insisting the state had no business enforcing belief. So in 1636 he founded Rhode Island as the first government in the Western world to guarantee religious freedom — a principle that became the spine of the First Amendment."
tagline: "English Baptist theologian and author (1603–1683)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Religious_denominations_of_the_world_-_comprising_a_general_view_of_the_origin%2C_history%2C_and_condition_of_the_various_sects_of_Christians%2C_the_Jews%2C_and_Mahometans%2C_as_well_as_the_pagan_forms_of_(14598189978).jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United Kingdom"
  isoCode: "GB"
category:
  name: "Academics"
  slug: "academics"
profileType:
  name: "Academic"
  slug: "academic"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1603-12-21"
deathDate: "1683-04-01"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           54.97
  momentum:             0
  historical:           23.629624
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "TV Personality"
    slug: "tv-personality"
  - name: "News Broadcasting"
    slug: "news-broadcasting"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "Literature"
    slug: "literature"
  - name: "Founders"
    slug: "founders"
  - name: "United Kingdom"
    slug: "united-kingdom"
  - name: "Europe"
    slug: "europe"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q391591"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Roger%20Williams"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B6%D1%8A%D1%80_%D0%A3%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%BC%D1%81"
    title: "Роджър Уилямс"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams"
    title: "Roger Williams"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams"
    title: "Roger Williams"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams"
    title: "Roger Williams"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams"
    title: "Roger Williams"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams"
    title: "Roger Williams"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams_(th%C3%A9ologien)"
    title: "Roger Williams (théologien)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams"
    title: "Roger Williams"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams_(teolog)"
    title: "Roger Williams (teolog)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams"
    title: "Roger Williams"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AD%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A3%E3%83%AA%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A0%E3%82%BA"
    title: "ロジャー・ウィリアムズ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogerius_Williams"
    title: "Rogerius Williams"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams_(kolonist)"
    title: "Roger Williams (kolonist)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams"
    title: "Roger Williams"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams"
    title: "Roger Williams"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ps.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%B1_%D9%88%DB%90%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%85%D8%B2"
    title: "راجر وېلیمز"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams"
    title: "Roger Williams"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams"
    title: "Roger Williams"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A3%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%8F%D0%BC%D1%81%2C_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B6%D0%B5%D1%80_(%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B3)"
    title: "Уильямс, Роджер (теолог)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams_(theologian)"
    title: "Roger Williams (theologian)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams_(teolog)"
    title: "Roger Williams (teolog)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B6%D1%8A%D1%80_%D0%A3%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%BC%D1%81"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://cy.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Williams"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Williams_(theologian)"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://eo.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Williams"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Williams"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EB%A1%9C%EC%A0%80_%EC%9C%8C%EB%A6%AC%EC%97%84%EC%8A%A4"
    title: "로저 윌리엄스"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born around 1603 in England, Williams arrived in New England as a Puritan minister but soon questioned whether civil authorities could compel religious conformity. The Massachusetts Bay Colony expelled him for it. In 1636 he established Providence Plantations as a refuge offering "liberty of conscience," codifying religious freedom in its charter before any other Western government had done so. He briefly joined the Baptists, founding the First Baptist Church in America in 1638, then left organized religion altogether to become a "seeker." He studied Native American languages and published the first book-length English treatment of them. He died in March 1683, leaving a body of thought that courts still cite when weighing where the line between church and state ought to fall.