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The Restoration Bishops and the Royal Supremacy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 July 2009
Extract
Among the defining traits of Restoration politics was a degree of hostility between the royal court and the English episcopate unprecedented since the Reformation. A long pattern of cooperation between the king and bishops was broken after 1660. The issues of religious toleration and of Charles II's Catholic sympathies particularly divided church and court, and at times rendered them overt political opponents. Significant study has been made of the policy disagreements beneath these battles, and of the political maneuverings that resolved them. Less attention has been given the ideas and attitudes that divided the Restoration court and church leadership. This article will argue that certain intellectual shifts were required before the policy disagreements that divided Charles II's court and the bishops could emerge as open political fights.
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References
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