The Puritans were sixteenth to eighteenth century British and Anglo-American Calvinists, and their esteems mirrored those of sixteenth-century Swiss scholar John Calvin and his ideological successors. Together they were a piece of the Reformed convention. Beside their philosophical convictions, they were known for having a solid hard working attitude and a solid faith in instruction. American Puritans established Harvard, Yale and Princeton colleges, foundations that many years after the fact are as yet considered the chief schools of advanced education.