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Edward Fisher and the Defence of Elizabethan Protestantism during the English Revolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2005

Abstract

During the seventeenth century several attempts were made to change fundamentally the character of the Church of England founded by Elizabeth I. The innovations introduced by Laud in the 1630s precipitated a civil war and brought to power godly governments which restructured the Church on a Presbyterian model. The amateur theologian, Edward Fisher, opposed this new godly establishment, arguing for the continued celebration of Christmas, and against sabbatarianism and sacramental examination and suspension. His tracts in support of ‘Elizabethan Protestantism’ proved popular in the 1650s and helped to cement attachment to a more inclusive vision of the English Church.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

This article was proofed and about to appear when the Editors learned with deep regret of Professor Durston's death.
DNB=Dictionary of National Biography; GRO=Gloucestershire Record Office
Professor Durston was grateful to Susan Doran, Jacqueline Eales, Diarmaid MacCulloch, Judith Maltby, those who attended the Nottingham University conference ‘Invention of Anglicanism’, and the anonymous reader for this JOURNAL, for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper.