Sermons at Court
Politics and Religion in Elizabethan and Jacobean Preaching

A 1998 literary and historical analysis of preaching at the English court, 1558–1625, with additional web resources.

Peter McCullough (Author)

9780521022057, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 April 2011

258 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.38 kg

Review of the hardback: '… rich book, full of intriguing details about court preaching. The book skilfully combines institutional history with an informed reading of sermon texts and mixes social and political with literary analysis. The book is very well written while maintaining the highest standards of scholarship in terms of references to original sources as well as to secondary literature. It is a compact study which historians about English court culture around 1600 will use for a long time to come … One could only wish that other historians would take up this lead to examine other European courts in this perspective.' D'Histoire Ecclèsiastique

This 1998 study describes the most neglected site of political, religious and literary culture in early modern England: the court pulpits of Elizabeth I and James I. It unites the most fertile strains in early modern British history - the court and religion. Dr McCullough shows work previous to his own underestimated the place of religion in courtly culture, and presents evidence of the competing religious patronage not only of Elizabeth and James but also of Queen Anne, Prince Henry and Prince Charles. The book contextualises the political, religious and literary careers of court preachers such as Lancelot Andrewes, John Donne and William Laud, and presents evidence of the tensions between sermon- and sacrament-centred piety in the established Church period. Additional web resources provide the reader with a definitive calendar of court sermons for the period.

List of figures
Introduction and note on texts and sources
1. The architectural settings of Elizabethan and Jacobean court preaching
2. Tudor court preaching and Elizabeth I
3. James I and the apotheosis of court preaching
4. Denmark House and St James's: sermons for the Jacobean queen and princes of Wales
Appendix
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], British & Irish history [HBJD1]