England's Second Reformation
The Battle for the Church of England 1625–1662

This compelling new history situates the religious upheavals of the civil war years within the broader history of the Church of England.

Anthony Milton (Author)

9781316647295, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 21 September 2023

542 pages
27 x 18 x 3.4 cm, 0.886 kg

'… This is a nuanced and subtly textured book … it is a deeply rewarding read that will challenge both new students and longtime scholars of the period to reimagine their past approaches.' D. Alan Orr, H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online

England's Second Reformation reassesses the religious upheavals of mid-seventeenth-century England, situating them within the broader history of the Church of England and its earlier Reformations. Rather than seeing the Civil War years as a destructive aberration, Anthony Milton demonstrates how they were integral to (and indeed the climax of) the Church of England's early history. All religious groups – parliamentarian and royalist alike – envisaged changes to the pre-war church, and all were forced to adapt their religious ideas and practices in response to the tumultuous events. Similarly, all saw themselves and their preferred reforms as standing in continuity with the Church's earlier history. By viewing this as a revolutionary 'second Reformation', which necessarily involved everyone and forced them to reconsider what the established church was and how its past should be understood, Milton presents a compelling case for rethinking England's religious history.

Introduction
1. An Unresolved Reformation
2. Situating the Laudian Reformation
3. Responses to the Laudian Reformation
4. The Abortive Reformation 1640–42
5. The End of Episcopalian Reformation
6. Reformation by Negotiation
7. The Westminster Reformation and the Parliamentarian Church of England 1642–49
8. The Royalist Church of England 1642–49
9. Alternative Reformations 1649–53
10. The Cromwellian Church
11. Episcopalian Royalism in the 1650s
12. Failed Reformations 1659–61
13. The End of Comprehensive Reformation and the Caroline Settlement.

Subject Areas: Church history [HRCC2], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], British & Irish history [HBJD1]