Chaplains in Early Modern England : Patronage, Literature and Religion

A pioneering collaboration between leading early modern historians and literary scholars. Chapters by Kenneth Fincham, David Crankshaw and Mary Morrissey analyse the legal structures governing the appointment and remit of chaplains and map their roles and functions within early modern England. Who were early modern chaplains and what did they do? Chaplains are well known to have been pivotal figures within early modern England, their activities ranging from more conventionally religious roles (conducting church services, offering spiritual advice and instruction) to a surprisingly wide array of literary functions (writing poetry, or acting as scribes and editors). Chaplains in early modern England: Patronage, literature and religion explores the important, but often neglected, contributions made by chaplains of different kinds – royal, episcopal, noble, gentry, diplomatic – to early modern English culture. Addressing a period from the late sixteenth to the early eighteenth centuries, it focuses on chaplains from the Church of England, examining their roles in church and politics, and within both domestic and cultural life. It also shows how understanding the significance of chaplains can illuminate wider cultural practices – patronage, religious life and institutions, and literary production – in the early modern period. Front matter Contents List of illustrations Notes on contributors Acknowledgements Note on conventions and list of abbreviations Introduction The roles and influence of household chaplains, c.1600–c.1660 Chaplains to the Elizabethan nobility: activities, categories and patterns Episcopal chaplains and control of the media, 1586–1642 Chaplains to embassies: Daniel Featley, anti-Catholic controversialist abroad Poetry, patronage and cultural agency: the career of William Lewis ‘His Lordships First, and Last, CHAPLEINE’ Richard Corbett and William Strode: chaplaincy and verse in early seventeenth-century Oxford The Isham family and their clergy A chaplain and his patron: Samuel Willes and the 7th Earl of Huntingdon The reluctant chaplain: William Sancroft and the later Stuart Church Select bibliography Index of names