This book examines the Church of England between its re-establishment in 1660-2 and the dawn of the Hanoverian age. All nine of the essays have been written by leading scholars in the field in order both to summarise current understandings of key themes and to advance arguments based on the most recent research. Together, these accounts offer new insights into the place of the Church of England within the volatile Restoration era, complementing recent research into political and intellectual culture under the later Stuarts.
Sections on ideas and people include essays covering the royal supremacy, the theology of the later Stuart Church and clerical and lay interests. Attention is also given to how the Church of England interacted with the Churches of Scotland and Ireland, Protestant Churches in continental Europe, and the complex religious make-up of the North American colonies. A concluding section examines the difficult relationships and creative tensions between the established Church in England, Protestant dissenters, and Roman Catholics.
The later Stuart Church is intended to be both accessible for students and thought-provoking for scholars within the broad early modern field. It will be vital reading for all those interested in the aftermath of the civil wars, the creation of the modern Church of England, and the role of religious ideas and institutions in transnational contexts.
Preface
Introduction: the later Stuart church in context - Grant Tapsell
PART I: IDEAS
1. By law established: the Church of England and the royal supremacy - Jacqueline Rose
2. From Laudians to Latitudinarians: a shifting balance of theological forces - Nicholas Tyacke
PART II: PEOPLE
3. Pastors, preachers, and politicians: the clergy of the later Stuart Church - Grant Tapsell
4. The lay Church of England - John Spurr
PART III: PLACES
5. The later Stuart Church as 'national church' in Scotland and Ireland - Clare Jackson
6. The later Stuart Church and North America - Jeremy Gregory
7. The Church of England and the churches of Europe, 1660-1714 - Tony Claydon
PART IV:RIVALS
8. Dissent and the Restoration Church of England - George Southcombe
9. The Church and the Catholic community 1660-1714 - Gabriel Glickman
Index
Grant Tapsell is Fellow and Tutor in History at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford