Birth, Marriage, and Death : Ritual, Religion, and the Life-Cycle in Tudor and Stuart England

Birth, Marriage, and Death : Ritual, Religion, and the Life-Cycle in Tudor and Stuart England
Author: David Cressy
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 662
Release: 1997-05-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 0191570761

From childbirth and baptism through to courtship, weddings, and funerals, every stage in the life-cycle of Tudor and Stuart England was accompanied by ritual. Even under the protestantism of the reformed Church, the spiritual and social dramas of birth, marriage, and death were graced with elaborate ceremony. Powerful and controversial protocols were in operation, shaped and altered by the influences of the Reformation, the Revolution, and the Restoration. Each of the major rituals was potentially an arena for argument, ambiguity, and dissent. Ideally, as classic rites of passage, these ceremonies worked to bring people together. But they also set up traps into which people could stumble, and tests which not everybody could pass. In practice, ritual performance revealed frictions and fractures that everyday local discourse attempted to hide or to heal. Using fascinating first-hand evidence, David Cressy shows how the making and remaking of ritual formed part of a continuing debate, sometimes strained and occasionally acrimonious, which exposed the raw nerves of society in the midst of great historical events. In doing so, he vividly brings to life the common experiences of living and dying in Tudor and Stuart England.

The Doctor’s World

The Doctor’s World
Author: Paul Hyland
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 339
Release: 2022-11-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000790215

This is the story of the extraordinary life of Claver Morris and the society in which he lived. After his marriage at Chelsea in 1685, Claver Morris moved to Somerset where he established an outstanding reputation for his work as a physician. His diaries show us how he worked with apothecaries and surgeons, and travelled widely to treat all kind of patients, from the children of the poor to those of the landed gentry. The diaries also tell us about the joys and pains of Claver’s personal and family life, and of his various intrigues. Claver Morris was a man of many talents: immensely enterprising, knowledgeable, sociable and loving. His house was always filled with music, guests and entertainments. Yet he was often faced with disputes and troubles partly of his own making — as when he courted a bishop’s daughter, or stole some land to build his Queen Anne house. The Doctor’s World provides a unique portrait of a physician living and working through the political and religious turmoils that beset the nation at the turn of the eighteenth century. Tales of medical treatments, clandestine marriages and self-serving priests are entwined with famous acts of treason and rebellion, and the pleasures and tragedies of daily life. This meticulously researched book will appeal to all readers of social, political, medical and family history.

Puritan Gentry Besieged 1650-1700

Puritan Gentry Besieged 1650-1700
Author: Trevor Cliffe
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2002-09-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 1134918151

The latter half of the seventeenth century saw the Puritan families of England struggle to preserve the old values in an era of tremendous political and religious upheaval. Even non-conformist ministers were inclined to be pessimistic about the endurance of `godliness' - Puritan attitudes and practices - among the upper classes. Based on a study of family papers and other primary resources, Trevor Cliffe's study reveals that in many cases, Puritan county families were playing a double game: outwardly in communion with the Church, they often employed non-conformist chaplains, and attended nonconformist meetings.

The Sick Child in Early Modern England, 1580-1720

The Sick Child in Early Modern England, 1580-1720
Author: Hannah Newton
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2012-04-19
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 0199650497

Illness in childhood was common in early modern England. Hannah Newton asks how sick children were perceived and treated by doctors and laypeople, examines the family's experience, and takes the original perspective of sick children themselves. She provides rare and intimate insights into the experiences of sickness, pain, and death.

Richard Cumberland and Natural Law

Richard Cumberland and Natural Law
Author: Linda Kirk
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2022-01-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0227176782

Richard Cumberland and Natural Law represents the first major biographical sketch of Cumberland to appear in English. A critic and antagonist of Thomas Hobbes, a proto-Utilitarian and a man of the cloth, Richard Cumberland may be England’s least recognised seventeenth century polymath, often overshadowed by the likes of John Bramhall and John Wallis. His magnum opus, De Legibus Naturae (On Natural Laws) stands in quality amongst the greatest works of natural philosophy and ethics of his time period. Here Kirk outlines Cumberland’s significant philosophical contributions as well as situating him in his intellectual and historical context. She describes his life, his work as Bishop of Peterborough, and his pioneering contributions to natural law theory. Kirk also includes a chapter on the various editions of Cumberland’s masterwork and the praise it received from his contemporaries. Richard Cumberland and Natural Law remains the foremost collection of biographical information of Richard Cumberland, as well as offering a comprehensive discussion of his theories.

William III and the Godly Revolution

William III and the Godly Revolution
Author: Tony Claydon
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 296
Release: 1996
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780521544016

This is the first extensive account of royal propaganda in England between 1689 and 1702. It demonstrates that the regime of William III did not rely upon legal or constitutional rhetoric as it attempted to legitimate itself after the Glorious Revolution, but rather used a protestant, providential and biblically-based language of 'courtly reformation'. This language presented the king as a divinely-protected godly magistrate who could both defend the true church against its popish enemies, and restore the original piety and virtue of the elect English nation. Concentrating upon a range of hitherto understudied sources - especially sermons and public prayers - the book demonstrates the vigour with which these ideas were broadcast by an imaginative group of propagandists enabling the king to cope with central political difficulties - the need to attract support for wars with France and the need to work with Parliament.