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POPULAR ICONOCLASM AND THE POLITICS OF THE PARISH IN EASTERN ENGLAND, 1640–1642

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 May 2004

JOHN WALTER
Affiliation:
University of Essex

Abstract

This article explores the extent of popular iconoclasm in England in the period immediately before the start of civil war and for a region – eastern England – thought to lie at the heart of these events. It explores systematically the evidence for the extent of destruction (and the problems in its recording and recovery), the nature of the targets attacked, and the identities of the iconoclasts. The article argues that this first phase of iconoclasm was directed largely against Laudian innovations. Claiming an agency to police sacred space, iconoclasts derived legitimation from the public condemnation of Laudianism in parliament, print, and pulpit. Narrowing the focus, the article moves on to explore the occurrence of iconoclasm through a series of case studies of the complex process of conflict and negotiation within the politics of the parish that preceded, accompanied, and sometimes pre-empted popular destruction. The evidence of iconoclasm is used to show how the implementation of the Laudian programme might politicize local churches as sites of conflict and the potential therefore inherent in its aggressive enforcement for a wider political conflict.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2004 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

I am grateful to Margaret Aston, Anthony Milton, and Keith Wrightson for their comments on an earlier draft of this article.