Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T22:55:49.680Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2024

Edited by
Get access

Summary

The story of the Church of England over the course of the seventeenth century is complicated and multifaceted, and the most complex period, both at the national and local level, is from 1660 to 1700. The latter period has had the sometimes doubtful privilege of being endowed with a heavy burden of historical opinion. Charles II was restored to his kingdom in 1660 and the Church of England was re-established by law in 1662, but it was a fractious kingdom and the church was not universally accepted. The period from 1660 to 1663 was characterized by small rebellions, many executions for treason, large-scale movements of parish incumbents and the persistence of dissent. This Introduction is intended to assist in the understanding of a single document which is itself devoted to a comparatively small number of parishes located, in the main, within the confines of a small area of England. Attention is therefore directed at what the document says and whether any revelations of shortcomings should or could have been remedied in the years immediately following the Restoration, rather than attempting to discuss national issues. Many historians have explicated the national political and religious problems and a few have examined local communities, but this document reveals the problems facing the re-established local church hierarchy, at the parish level.

The Church of England had been officially banned for nearly twenty years and while some of the Canterbury diocesan parishes clung on to their ministers or individuals continued to use the old rites clandestinely, the majority of the parishes, if they had a pastor at all, were subjected to an ever changing mélange of presbyterians, congregationalists, baptists, quakers and itinerant preachers. By 1663, it was apparent that church attendance was alarmingly low and nonconformists survived in numbers and influence, despite the national laws enacted between 1660 and 1663 designed to control matters. The machinery of the church courts was not yet fully operational, making local control more difficult, and support from county leaders was not always guaranteed. Adding to these challenges were the structural problems caused by pluralism, non-residence, low clerical incomes, ruined churches, dilapidated clerical residences and vacant livings.

The document popularly referred to as the ‘Sheldon survey’ presents a blurred and flawed view but assists our understanding of the state of the church, by the end of 1663, in the diocese of Canterbury and the archbishop’s peculiars.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Restoration of the Church of England
Canterbury Diocese and the Archbishop's Peculiars
, pp. xxxvii - lxxi
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Tom Reid
  • Book: The Restoration of the Church of England
  • Online publication: 14 May 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781805433170.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Tom Reid
  • Book: The Restoration of the Church of England
  • Online publication: 14 May 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781805433170.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Tom Reid
  • Book: The Restoration of the Church of England
  • Online publication: 14 May 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781805433170.001
Available formats
×