Bernard Capp
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199641789
- eISBN:
- 9780191744228
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199641789.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
Since Elizabethan times puritan reformers had criticized the established church and many of the nation’s social and cultural traditions. This book explores the ‘culture wars’ between reformers and ...
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Since Elizabethan times puritan reformers had criticized the established church and many of the nation’s social and cultural traditions. This book explores the ‘culture wars’ between reformers and traditionalists once the overthrow of monarchy had swept the reformers into power. Part One surveys the reform agenda under the Rump and Cromwell, and how the regime sought to mould local magistrates and ministers into its instruments and partners. It examines too the fierce propaganda wars waged in press and pulpit. Part Two explores the implementation of reform, especially in urban communities where its prospects were best. It assesses campaigns to suppress blasphemy and swearing, enforce the Sabbath, and purify and energize the church. It explores the reformation of manners, through curbs on disorderly alehouses and the harsh punishment of sexual offenders. Further chapters examine music, theatre, dress, and recreations from hunting to football, assessing what the reformers could accept and what they condemned. Part Three focuses on local contexts, with case-studies that range from communities where reformation was barely attempted to those where it achieved substantial successes. A final chapter examines Exeter, where local magistrates, initially hostile, pursued reformation with unparalleled determination. Puritan reformers found allies among others inspired by the vision of a well-ordered civic commonwealth. Overall, the book challenges recent claims that interregnum reformation comprehensively failed, and offers a more positive and nuanced assessment.Less
Since Elizabethan times puritan reformers had criticized the established church and many of the nation’s social and cultural traditions. This book explores the ‘culture wars’ between reformers and traditionalists once the overthrow of monarchy had swept the reformers into power. Part One surveys the reform agenda under the Rump and Cromwell, and how the regime sought to mould local magistrates and ministers into its instruments and partners. It examines too the fierce propaganda wars waged in press and pulpit. Part Two explores the implementation of reform, especially in urban communities where its prospects were best. It assesses campaigns to suppress blasphemy and swearing, enforce the Sabbath, and purify and energize the church. It explores the reformation of manners, through curbs on disorderly alehouses and the harsh punishment of sexual offenders. Further chapters examine music, theatre, dress, and recreations from hunting to football, assessing what the reformers could accept and what they condemned. Part Three focuses on local contexts, with case-studies that range from communities where reformation was barely attempted to those where it achieved substantial successes. A final chapter examines Exeter, where local magistrates, initially hostile, pursued reformation with unparalleled determination. Puritan reformers found allies among others inspired by the vision of a well-ordered civic commonwealth. Overall, the book challenges recent claims that interregnum reformation comprehensively failed, and offers a more positive and nuanced assessment.
