Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Religion, Political Thought and the English Civil War

Prior, Charles W.A.

Authors

Profile Image

Dr Charles Prior C.Prior@hull.ac.uk
Head of the School of Humanities & Reader in History



Abstract

Religion has always been central to explanations of the political and ideological causes and course of the English civil war. Where historians once privileged aspects of the conflict that associated it with a broader narrative about the historic development of religious toleration and parliamentary democracy, the 1980s witnessed a shift whereby it was more firmly contained within local and European contexts. More recently, there has been an effort to place the civil war within another broad context, yet one that traces its roots in the Reformation rather than its legacies in the 18th and 19th centuries. However, a question remains as to what the English Reformation meant for the relationship of civil and ecclesiastical power: in many ways this was the key issue that shaped the politics of religion in the English civil war. This essay suggests that we understand the politics of religion more effectively by situating the conflict within the wider contexts opened up by Atlantic and imperial history.

Citation

Prior, C. W. (2013). Religion, Political Thought and the English Civil War. History compass, 11(1), 24-42. https://doi.org/10.1111/hic3.12025

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Jan 11, 2013
Publication Date 2013-01
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal History Compass
Print ISSN 1478-0542
Electronic ISSN 1478-0542
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 11
Issue 1
Pages 24-42
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/hic3.12025
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/418018