Bücher der Reihe Politics, Culture and Society in Early Modern Britain

A celebration of Englishness in the sixteenth century. Appeals equally to students of early modern history and its literary culture, presenting a view of 'Tudor England' and offering a firmer historical background to evaluating the English Renaissance.

This is the first complete study of English deists as a group in several decades and it argues for a new interpretation of deism in the English Enlightenment. While there have been many recent studies of the deist John Toland, the writings of other contemporary deists have been forgotten. With extensive analysis of lesser known figures such as Anthony Collins, Matthew Tindal, Thomas Chub, and Thomas Morgan, in addition to unique insights into Toland, Deism in Enlightenment England offers a much broader assessment of what deism entailed in the eighteenth century. Readers will see how previous interpretations of English deists, which place these figures on an irreligious trajectory leading towards modernity, need to be revised. This book uses deists to address a number of topics and themes and theme in English history and will be of particular interest to scholars of Enlightenment history, history of science, theology and politics, and the early modern era.

This book examines the activities of William Blundell, a seventeenth-century Catholic gentleman, and using the approaches of the history of reading provides a detailed analysis of his mindset. The findings of the study challenge a historical determinism which removes Catholics from the mainstream of early-modern society.

Looks at one of the most prolific and controversial polemical authors of the seventeenth century, whose writings lie at the heart of the rule of Charles I, the Civil War, and the restoration of Charles II. In the process, the author presents an important new interpretation of the origins and nature of Anglicanism and royalism.

A full-length modern study of the Diggers, among the most remarkable of the radical groups to emerge during the English Revolution of 1640-60. Provides a reassessment of the Digger leader Gerrard Winstanley, a figure who has attracted great interest in recent years amongst historians, literary scholars, theologians and environmental activists.

This book explores the life, thought and political commitments of the free-thinker John Toland (1670-1722). Studying both his private archive and published works, it illustrates how Toland moved in both subversive and elite political circles in England and abroad. It explores the connections between his republican political thought and his irreligious belief about Christian doctrine, the ecclesiastical establishment and divine revelation, arguing that far from being a marginal and insignificant figure, Toland counted queens, princes and government ministers as his friends and political associates. The book argues that Toland shaped the republican tradition after the Glorious Revolution into a practical and politically viable programme, focused not on destroying the monarchy, but on reforming public religion and the Church of England. It explores the connections between Toland's erudition and print culture, arguing that his intellectual project was aimed at compromising the authority of Christian 'knowledge' as much as the political power of the Church.

Exploring Russia in the Elizabethan Commonwealth tells the story of English relations with Russia, from the 'strange and wonderfull discoverie' of the land and Elizabeth I's correspondence with Ivan the Terrible, to the corruption of the Muscovy Company and the Elizabethan regime's censorship of politically sensitive representations of Russia. Focusing on the life and works of Giles Fletcher, the elder, ambassador to Russia in 1588, this work explores two popular themes in Elizabethan history: exploration, travel and trade and late Elizabethan political culture. By analysing the pervasive languages of commonwealth, corruption and tyranny found in both the Muscovy Company accounts and in Fletcher's writings on Russia, this monograph explores how Russia was a useful tool for Elizabethans to think with when they contemplated the nature of government and the changing face of monarchy in the late Elizabethan regime. It will appeal to academics and students of Elizabethan political culture and literary studies, as well as those of early modern travel and trade.

Looks at one of the most unpopular and criticised thinkers in the history of political thought, to provide an illuminating and innovative picture of Sir Robert Filmer (1588-1653) and patriarchalism. This thoroughly researched work will appeal to all those interested in early modern politics and ideas.

This collection examines political communication in early modern Britain. Leading historians of the period scrutinise relations between centre and locality and how the state interacted with its citizens. They place communication at the heart of both political and social history to provide an impetus for further scholarship. -- .

This collection offers bold reappraisals of the history of freedom of speech in the pre-modern Anglophone world. It addresses the aims and effectiveness of official policies, the thorny issues with which contemporaries grappled and the claims that were and were not made about freedom of expression. -- .

Battle-scarred examines mortality, medical care and military welfare during the British Civil Wars. Its focus on the victims of war and their means of survival provides a series of case studies to demonstrate how these visceral conflicts drove developments in medical care and military welfare for servicemen and their families. -- .

Battle-scarred examines mortality, medical care and military welfare during the British Civil Wars. Its focus on the victims of war and their means of survival provides a series of case studies to demonstrate how these visceral conflicts drove developments in medical care and military welfare for servicemen and their families. -- .

Historians and literary scholars explore the rise of parliament in the historical imagination of Tudor and early Stuart England. Collectively the essays demonstrate that the evolution of historical conceptions of parliament was central to the ecclesiological and political thinking and culture of the period before the English Revolution. -- .

This is a study of the rule of Cromwell's major-generals over England and Wales during the 1655 and 1656, a period which had a dramatic impact upon contemporaries and has remained a powerful symbol of military rule down to the 21st century.

How were cultural, political and social identities formed in the early modern period? This book looks at community and networks, the importance of place and the value of rhetoric in generating "community".

Examines the pivotal influence of the succession question on the politics, religion and culture of the post-Armada years of Queen Elizabeth's reign -- .

A collection of sixteen essays by Simon Adams on Elizabethan history, centring around Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. -- .

This collection of original essays combines the interests of leading 'Catholic historians' and leading historians of early modern English culture to pull Catholicism back into the mainstream of English historiography -- .

In an age when even the humblest marriage was influenced by material calculation, O'Hara maintains that courtship still played a vital role in securing marriages. Here, the structured nature of Tudor courtship is examined using both historical and anthropological perspectives.

In this history of early modern London, the essays range widely, covering the themes of polis and the police, gender and sexuality, space and place, and material culture and consumption.

Discussing the transition from a largely oral to a fundamentally literate society in the Early Modern period, this text examines English, Scottish and Welsh oral culture to provide a pan-British study, covering tradition, memories of the civil war, mechanics for settling debts and more.

This book features nine essays written by leading scholars in the field to offer new insights into the place of the Church of England within the volatile Restoration era. Sections on ideas and people include essays covering the royal supremacy, the theology of the later Stuart Church and clerical and lay interests. -- .

Examines the pivotal influence of the succession question on the politics, religion and culture of the post-Armada years of Queen Elizabeth's reign -- .

A pioneering collaboration between leading early modern historians and literary scholars. Chapters by Kenneth Fincham, David Crankshaw and Mary Morrissey analyse the legal structures governing the appointment and remit of chaplains and map their roles and functions within early modern England. -- .

A study of the republican Henry Neville in his many facets as country gentleman, politician, political thinker, rebel and libeller. It traces the development of Neville's political thought from the English Civil Wars to the Exclusion Crisis. It is suitable for students and academics of Early Modern studies.

This volume offers a variety of fresh and exciting perspectives on Royalist politics, religion and culture during the Interregnum. Between them, these essays are an important milestone in the recovery of the Royalist experience of the 1650s. -- .

This collection of original essays combines the interests of leading 'Catholic historians' and leading historians of early modern English culture to pull Catholicism back into the mainstream of English historiography -- .

This focused collection of essays on the alternative establishments which both Presbyterians and Catholics attempted to create in Britain and Ireland offers a dynamic new perspective on the evolution of post-reformation religious communities within Britain and Ireland. -- .

An exciting collection of essays on the 'personal rule' of Charles I, whose inept and dangerous rule many historians feel put the country on the road to civil war -- .

This pioneering and unprecedented study shows how portraits of civic officials (mayors, aldremen, college and school masters and civic benefactors) articulated civic values in post-Reformation England. It also explores English portraiture, patrons and painters before the full reception of new-classical styles associated with the Renaissance. -- .