The Church in an age of danger
Subtitle: parsons and parishioners, 1660-1740
By: Donald A. Spaeth.
Series: Cambridge studies in early modern British history
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2000
Place of publication: Cambridge, U.K; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 279
Subjects: Church of England -- History -- 17th century.; Church of England -- History -- 18th century.; England -- Church history -- 18th century.; England -- Church history -- 17th century.
Description: "This book explores popular support for the Church of England during a critical period, from the Stuart Restoration to the mid eighteenth century, when Churchmen perceived themselves to be under attack from all sides." "In many provincial parishes, the clergy also found themselves in dispute with their congregations. These incidents of dispute are the focus of a series of detailed case studies, drawn from the diocese of Salisbury, which help to bring the religion of the ordinary people to life, while placing local tensions in their broader national context. The period 1660-1740 provides important clues to the long-term decline in the popularity of the Church. Paradoxically, conflicts revealed not anticlericalism but a widely shared social consensus supporting the Anglican liturgy and clergy: the early eighteenth century witnessed a revival. Nevertheless, a defensive clergy turned inwards and proved too inflexible to respond to lay wishes for fuller participation in worship."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 260-269) and index.