Chaplains in Early Modern England: Patronage, Literature and Religion (Politics, Culture & Society in Early Modern Britain) (Politics, Culture and Society in Early Modern Britain)

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. 'Chaplains in early modern England: Patronage, literature and religion surveys the roles and significance of chaplains between the late sixteenth and early eighteenth centuries. Chaplains, though often neglected in scholarly accounts of the early modern period, were culturally pivotal figures who made important contributions both to the public sphere and to domestic life throughout the nation. Well-educated and often well-connected, chaplains occupied an ambivalent position within early modern culture: socially subordinate to the patrons who employed them, they nonetheless frequently enjoyed high levels of spiritual, cultural and even political authority. This collection explores both the ambiguities and the opportunities involved in early modern chaplaincy, and also shows how appreciating this complex role can illuminate our understanding of early modern English religious, political and literary cultures. This remarkable volume represents 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. Case studies by Hugh Adlington, Tom Lockwood, Angus Vine, Christopher Burlinson, Erica Longfellow, William Gibson and Grant Tapsell examine individual chaplains, including discussion both of their more religiously focused activities - serving and advising their patrons, shaping church policy and theology, participating in interconfessional dialogues - and of their more literary and cultural roles, as poets, scribes and editors. This interdisciplinary volume will be of interest to academics and students working on early modern English history, religion and literature' --Back cover Introduction / Hugh Adlington, Tom Lockwood, Gillian Wright -- The Roles And Influence Of Household Chaplains, C. 1600-c. 60 / Kenneth Fincham -- Chaplains To The Elizabethan Nobility : Activities, Categories And Patterns / David Crankshaw -- Episcopal Chaplains And Control Of The Media, 1586-1642 / Mary Morrissey -- Chaplains To Embassies : Daniel Featley, Anti-catholic Controversialist Abroad / Hugh Adlington -- Poetry, Patronage And Cultural Agency: The Career Of William Lewis / Tom Lockwood -- 'his Lordships First, And Last, Chapleine' : William Rawley And Francis Bacon / Angus Vine -- Richard Corbett And William Strode : Chaplaincy And Verse In Early Seventeenth-century Oxford / Christopher Burlinson -- The Isham Family And Their Clergy / Erica Longfellow -- A Chaplain And His Patron : Samuel Willes And Lord Huntingdon / William Gibson -- The Reluctant Chaplain : William Sancroft And The Later Stuart Church / Grant Tapsell. Edited By Hugh Adlington, Tom Lockwood, Gillian Wright. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Balancing long-overlooked and well-known works from early modern England, Same-sex desire in early modern England, 1550–1735: An anthology of literary texts and contexts is a collection of English texts about homoerotic love, relationships, desires, and sexual acts. The anthology's core texts are selections from works of drama, fiction, romance, poetry, essays and translation. These core texts are carefully introduced and annotated, and supplemented with illuminating contextual material from other early modern disciplines such as law, medicine, and theology. Juxtaposing literary and non-literary representations of same-sex erotic desire, this anthology explores a rich tradition of works both celebrating and condemning same-sex erotic love.