Godly Kingship in Restoration England: The Politics of the Royal Supremacy, 1660-1688

Research output: Book/ReportBook

Abstract

The position of English monarchs as supreme governors of the Church of England profoundly affected early modern politics and religion. This innovative book explores how tensions in church-state relations created by Henry VIII's Reformation continued to influence relationships between the crown, parliament, and common law during the Restoration, a distinct phase in England's 'Long Reformation'. Debates about the powers of kings and parliaments, the treatment of Dissenters, and emerging concepts of toleration were viewed through a Reformation prism where legitimacy depended on godly status. This book discusses how the institutional, legal, and ideological framework of supremacy perpetuated the language of godly kingship after 1660, and how supremacy was complicated by an ambivalent Tudor legacy. This was manipulated not only by Anglicans, but also tolerant kings andintolerant parliaments, Catholics, Dissenters, and radicals like Thomas Hobbes. Invented to uphold the religious and political establishments, supremacy paradoxically ended up subverting them.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationCambridge
PublisherCambridge University Press
Number of pages320
ISBN (Print)978-1-107-01142-7
Publication statusPublished - 2011

Publication series

NameStudies in Early Modern British History

Keywords

  • Supremacy
  • Restoration
  • Church of England
  • Hobbism
  • Charles II
  • James II and VII
  • Episcopacy
  • Dissent
  • parliament
  • convocation
  • Reformation

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