1st Edition

Enforcing Reformation in Ireland and Scotland, 1550–1700

    The last few years have witnessed a growing interest in the study of the Reformation period within the three kingdoms of Britain, revolutionizing the way in which scholars think about the relationships between England, Scotland and Ireland. Nevertheless, it is a fact that the story of the British Reformation is still dominated by studies of England, an imbalance that this book will help to right. By adopting an international perspective, the essays in this volume look at the motives, methods and impact of enforcing the Protestant Reformation in Ireland and Scotland. The juxtaposition of these two countries illuminates the similarities and differences of their social and political situations while qualifying many of the conclusions of recent historical work in each country. As well as Investigating what 'reformation' meant in the early modern period, and examining its literal, rhetorical, doctrinal, moral and political implications, the volume also explores what enforcing these various reformations could involve. Taken as a whole, this volume offers a fascinating insight into how the political authorities in Scotland and Ireland attempted, with varying degrees of success, to impose Protestantism on their countries. By comparing the two situations, and placing them in the wider international picture, our understanding of European confessionalization is further enhanced.

    Introduction, ElizabethanneBoran; Chapter 1 Sir Henry Sidney and the Reformation in Ireland, CiaranBrady, JamesMurray; Chapter 2 Printing in Early Seventeenth-Century Dublin, ElizabethanneBoran; Chapter 3 The Problem of ‘Scottish Puritanism’, 1590–1638, JohnCoffey; Chapter 4 ‘Force and Fear of Punishment’, AlanFord; Chapter 5 The Covenanters and the Scottish Parliament, 1639–51, John R.Young; Chapter 6 Robert Leighton, Edinburgh Theology and the Collapse of the Presbyterian Consensus, CrawfordGribben; Chapter 7 Godly Order, RaymondGillespie; Chapter 8 Enforcing the Reformation in Ireland, 1660–1704, TobyBarnard; Chapter 9 Conformity and Security in Scotland and Ireland, 1660–85, Richard L.Greaves;

    Biography

    Elizabethanne Boran is IRCHSS Fellow in the Department of History, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Crawford Gribben Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

    ’This book is welcome because it takes the common theme of the enforcement of the reformation in the two countries and sets a range of different experiences alongside each other... This volume nicely underlines the complexities of policy-making and implementation for the early modern State and Church and is a good and fitting tribute to Professor Richard L Greaves whose scholarship ranged widely over the British Isles and the entire period under survey.’ Journal of Ecclesiastical History ’This is an excellent collection and raises a number of intriguing questions for further consideration.’ Sixteenth Century Journal ’High scholarly standards are apparent in all the essays, to which incisiveness, rigour and freshness are added in varying degrees....The volume not only holds value for those whose primary interests lie with one or other country, which it does, but will be of particular benefit in bringing important work on Ireland and on Scotland to bear on wider questions of Reformation, broadly understood.’ English Historical Review