All Souls College, Oxford in the Early Eighteenth Century : Piety, Political Imposition, and Legacy of the Glorious Revolution

A history of All Souls College under the Wardenship of Bernard Gardiner, that focuses on the ways in which the college and Gardiner were caught between competing visions of what England would look like in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution. In the first detailed history of All Souls College under the Wardenship of Bernard Gardiner, Jeffrey R. Wigelsworth offers a character driven story that addresses scheming, duplicity, and self-righteousness projected against some of the most important political and religious episodes of the early eighteenth century and the people who animated them. Throughout this book, Wigelsworth illuminates the ways in which All Souls and its warden were caught between competing visions of what England, and consequently Oxford, would look like in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Introduction -- Gardiner and the House of Commons bill -- Gardiner, Matthew Tindal, and the rights of the Christian Church asserted -- Gardiner and the trouble with medicine -- Gardiner and the case of William Blencowe -- John Stead's marriage and Gardiner's final loss of authority -- Gardiner and the attempted reform of universities -- Conclusion