Laudian and Royalist polemic in seventeenth-century England : the career and writings of Peter Heylyn / Anthony Milton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Milton, Anthony.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Heylyn, Peter, 1600-1662--Influence.

Heylyn, Peter.

Heylyn, Peter, 1600-1662.

Polemics--History--17th century.

Polemics.

Religious disputations--England--History--17th century.

Religious disputations.

Royalists--England--17th century.

Royalists.

History.

England.

Physical Description:

xii, 255 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press ; New York : distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave, 2007.

Summary:

This is the first full-length study of one of the most prolific and controversial polemical authors of the seventeenth century. It provides for the first time a detailed analysis of the ways in which Laudian and royalist polemical literature was created, tracing continuities and changes in a single corpus of writings from 1621 through to 1662. In the process, the author presents important new perspectives on the origins and development of Laudianism and 'Anglicanism' and on the tensions within royalist thought.

Milton's book is neither a conventional biography nor simply a study of printed works, but instead constructs an integrated account of Peter Heylyn's career and writings in order to provide the key to understanding a profoundly polemical author. Early chapters trace Heylyn's career in the 1620s when his Laudian credentials were far from evident, and his years as the main official spokesman for the religious policies of Charles I's personal rule. Further chapters trace his actions in the 1640s as the target of a vengeful parliament, editor of the main royalist newsbook and an increasingly disillusioned pamphleteer; his remarkable attempted rapprochement with Cromwell in the 1650s; and his attempts to shape the Restoration settlement and his posthumous celebrity as a spokesman of the Anglican royalist position. Throughout the book, Heylyn's shifting views and fortunes prompt an important reassessment of the relative coherence and stability of royalism and Laudianism. Historians of early modern English politics and religion and literary scholars will find this book essential reading.

Contents:

1 The making of a Laudian polemicist? 8

Heylyn's background 8

Heylyn's ideological position, 1621-1625 14

New directions and opportunities, 1627-1632 19

2 'Civill warres amongst the Clergy', 1632-1640 42

Heylyn unleashed: attacks on opponents, 1631-1635 44

Writing for the government, 1635-1637 53

Heylyn's fortunes and the impact of his works 63

Changing agendas, 1637-1640 65

3 The voice of Laudianism? Polemic and ideology in Heylyn's 1630s writings 81

The Church of England and the Reformation 83

The Church of Rome 88

The foreign Reformed churches 91

Puritanism 93

Heylyn and Laudian orthodoxy 98

4 Prosecution, royalism and newsbooks: Heylyn and the Civil War 106

On the defensive: Heylyn and the Long Parliament, 1640-1642 106

Heylyn as royalist propagandist, 1642-1645 122

In retreat, 1645-1648 133

5 Dealing with the Interregnum 146

Heylyn and the Church of England in the 1650s 146

Retreat from the fray? Cosmographie and Theologia Veterum 152

The inconstant royalist: Heylyn, Cromwell and the Stuarts 162

Return to controversy, 1656-1660 174

6 Ecclesia Restaurata? Heylyn and the Restoration church, 1660-1688 190

Shaping the new settlement, 1660-1662 190

The Restoration histories 197

Heylyn Redivivus? 1662-1700 213

7 Conclusion: religion and politics in Heylyn's career and writings 223

King, church and parliament 224

The identity of the Church of England 228

'The pragmatical Heylyn': reputation and influence 233.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 240-246) and index.

ISBN:

9780719064449

0719064449

OCLC:

154789060