Richard Bancroft and Elizabethan Anti-Puritanism

252 Pages·2013·1.24 MB·English

by  Patrick Collinson

more information – www.cambridge.org/9781107023345

RICHARD BANCROFT AND ELIZABETHAN
ANTI-PURITANISM
This major new study is an exploration of the Elizabethan Puritan
movement through the eyes of its most determined and relentless
opponent, Richard Bancroft, later Archbishop of Canterbury. It
analyses his obsession with the perceived threat to the stability of
the church and state presented by the advocates of radical presby-
terianreform.ThebookforensicallyexaminesBancroft’spolemical
tracts and archive of documents and letters, casting important new
lightonreligiouspoliticsandculture.Focusingonthewaysinwhich
Anti-Puritanism interacted with Puritanism, it also illuminates the
processbywhichreligiousidentitieswereforgedintheearlymodern
era.ThefinalbookofPatrickCollinson,thepre-eminenthistorian
ofsixteenth-centuryEngland,thisistheculminationofalifetimeof
seminalworkontheEnglishReformationanditsramifications.
patrick collinson cbe (1929–2011) was Regius Professor of
Modern History at the University of Cambridge (1988–96) and a
Fellow of Trinity College and the British Academy. The leading
historian of sixteenth-century religion and politics of his generation,
hewastheauthorofmanyimportantbooks,notablyTheElizabethan
Puritan Movement (1967), The Religion of Protestants: The Church in
English Society 1559–1625 (1982) and The Birthpangs of Protestant
England (1988). He also published several collections of his essays,
including Godly People (1983), Elizabethan Essays (1994), From
CranmertoSancroft(2006)andThisEngland(2011).
CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN EARLY MODERN
BRITISH HISTORY
series editors
john morrill, ProfessorofBritishandIrishHistory,
UniversityofCambridge,andFellowofSelwynCollege
ethan shagan, ProfessorofHistory,
UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley
alexandra walsham, ProfessorofModernHistory,
UniversityofCambridge,andFellowofTrinityCollege
Thisisaseriesofmonographsandstudiescoveringmanyaspectsofthehistoryof
theBritishIslesbetweenthelatefifteenthcenturyandtheearlyeighteenthcentury.
Itincludestheworkofestablishedscholarsandpioneeringworkbyanew
generationofscholars.Itincludesbothreviewsandrevisionsofmajortopicsand
bookswhichopenupnewhistoricalterrainorwhichrevealstartlingnew
perspectivesonfamiliarsubjects.Allthevolumessetdetailedresearchwithin
broaderperspectives,andthebooksareintendedfortheuseofstudentsaswellasof
theirteachers.
Foralistoftitlesintheseries,goto:
www.cambridge.org/earlymodernbritishhistory
RICHARD BANCROFT
AND ELIZABETHAN
ANTI-PURITANISM
PATRICK COLLINSON
cambridge university press
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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107023345
©PatrickCollinson2013
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andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2013
PrintedandboundintheUnitedKingdombytheMPGBooksGroup
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Collinson,Patrick.
RichardBancroftandElizabethananti-Puritanism/PatrickCollinson.
p. cm.–(CambridgestudiesinearlymodernBritishhistory)
isbn978-1-107-02334-5(hardback)
1. Puritans–England–History–16thcentury. 2. England–Churchhistory–16th
century. 3. GreatBritain–Politicsandgovernment–1558-1603. 4. ElizabethI,QueenofEngland,
1533–1603–RelationswithPuritans. I. Title.
bx9333.c62 2012
274.2006–dc23
2012023250
isbn978-1-107-02334-5Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor
accuracyofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredto
inthispublication,anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuch
websitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
The author of this book wishes to thank the three series editors for their
exceptional pains in making this volume possible.

Contents
Preface(byAlexandraWalshamandJohnMorrill) page ix
Abbreviations xvii
1 Introduction 1
2 Beginnings 13
3 Battlecommences 28
4 The1580s:Whitgift,HattonandtheHighCommission 39
5 MartinMarprelate 60
6 WhatBancroftfound,anddidn’tfind,inthegodlyministers’
studies 83
7 Outofthefryingpan,intothefireandoutagain 103
8 Prayer,fastingandtheworldofspirits:theotherface 129
9 Possession,dispossession,fraudandpolemics 148
10 RichardBancroft,RobertCecilandtheJesuits:thebishopand
hisCatholicfriends 173
11 ArchbishopofCanterbury 193
Index 224
vii