7 ‘If the king will not comply’
-
William White
Abstract
This chapter covers the period between the death of Oliver Cromwell and the implementation of the Act of Uniformity in August 1662. It shows that after September 1658 clergymen began to express their royalism with much greater openness in the pulpit and the press. Hence, the months prior to Charles II’s return saw the emergence of a practice that would persist well into the next decade: the publication of trenchant royalist sermons preached – supposedly, at least – earlier in the English Revolution, which preachers only now felt able to put through the press. These sermons served personal as well as polemical purposes, with clergymen eager to endear themselves to the Crown and secure ecclesiastical preferment. However, crucially, episcopalian reaction to the reinstitution of monarchy was not uniformly one of celebration. Relief at the demise of the Republic was from the very beginning tempered by doubts about the new king and his lay councillors. While some episcopalian clergy clearly shared Charles II’s willingness to make significant concessions to presbyterians, hardliners expecting nothing less than the full restitution of the pre-war religious order were perturbed. Both court divines and more obscure provincial clergymen thus applied pressure on the monarch by preaching and – more importantly – publishing sermons.
Abstract
This chapter covers the period between the death of Oliver Cromwell and the implementation of the Act of Uniformity in August 1662. It shows that after September 1658 clergymen began to express their royalism with much greater openness in the pulpit and the press. Hence, the months prior to Charles II’s return saw the emergence of a practice that would persist well into the next decade: the publication of trenchant royalist sermons preached – supposedly, at least – earlier in the English Revolution, which preachers only now felt able to put through the press. These sermons served personal as well as polemical purposes, with clergymen eager to endear themselves to the Crown and secure ecclesiastical preferment. However, crucially, episcopalian reaction to the reinstitution of monarchy was not uniformly one of celebration. Relief at the demise of the Republic was from the very beginning tempered by doubts about the new king and his lay councillors. While some episcopalian clergy clearly shared Charles II’s willingness to make significant concessions to presbyterians, hardliners expecting nothing less than the full restitution of the pre-war religious order were perturbed. Both court divines and more obscure provincial clergymen thus applied pressure on the monarch by preaching and – more importantly – publishing sermons.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Acknowledgements viii
- Abbreviations x
- Introduction 1
- 1 The pulpit and public politics, 1640–2 16
- 2 Royalist preachers and the First Civil War 47
- 3 Preaching, peace and providence at royalist Oxford 72
- 4 Sermons and the politics of counsel, 1646–51 98
- 5 Resisting the republican regime 134
- 6 Apostacy, loyalty and the Interregnum pulpit 160
- 7 ‘If the king will not comply’ 186
- 8 Hearing and reading royalist sermons 211
- Conclusion 242
- Bibliography of manuscript sources 247
- Index 250
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Acknowledgements viii
- Abbreviations x
- Introduction 1
- 1 The pulpit and public politics, 1640–2 16
- 2 Royalist preachers and the First Civil War 47
- 3 Preaching, peace and providence at royalist Oxford 72
- 4 Sermons and the politics of counsel, 1646–51 98
- 5 Resisting the republican regime 134
- 6 Apostacy, loyalty and the Interregnum pulpit 160
- 7 ‘If the king will not comply’ 186
- 8 Hearing and reading royalist sermons 211
- Conclusion 242
- Bibliography of manuscript sources 247
- Index 250
