Public Religious Disputation in England, 1558-1626

252 Pages·2014·2.022 MB·English

by  Joshua Rodda

Public Religious Disputation in England,
1558–1626
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Public Religious Disputation
in England, 1558–1626
Joshua RoDDa
University of Nottingham, UK
© Joshua Rodda 2014
all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission
of the publisher.
Joshua Rodda has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
ashgate Publishing Limited ashgate Publishing Company
Wey Court East 110 Cherry street
union Road suite 3-1
Farnham Burlington, VT 05401-3818
surrey, Gu9 7PT usa
England
www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Rodda, Joshua.
Public religious disputation in England, 1558-1626 / by Joshua Rodda.
pages cm. -- (st. andrews studies in Reformation history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4724-1555-4 (hardcover) -- ISBN 978-1-4724-1556-1 (ebook)
-- IsBN 978-1-4724-1557-8 (epub) 1. Religious disputations--England--
history--16th century. 2. Religious disputations--England--history--17th century.
3. England--Church history--16th century. 4. England--Church history--17th
century. I. Title.
BR756.R63 2014
274.2'06--dc23
2014006146
ISBN 9781472415554 (hbk)
ISBN 9781472415561 (ebk – PDF)
ISBN 9781472415578 (ebk – ePUB)
III
Contents
List of Abbreviations vii
Preface ix
Introduction 1
1 The Culture of Controversy 7
2 The Disputation Process 37
3 Disputation Exploited? 69
4 Disputation Applied 99
5 Disputation Distinguished 131
6 Disputation Opposed 159
Determination 193
Bibliography 205
Index 223
ThIs PAge hAs Been LefT BLAnk InTenTIonALLy
List of Abbreviations
BL British Library
Bodl. Bodleian Library, Oxford
EHR The English Historical Review
HJ The Historical Journal
HMC Historical Manuscripts Commission
JEH The Journal of Ecclesiastical History
LPL Lambeth Palace Library
ODNB The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
RH Recusant History
SCJ The Sixteenth Century Journal
TRHS Transactions of the Royal Historical Society
THiS pagE HaS BEEN lEfT BlaNk iNTENTiONally
Preface
This book is derived from my doctoral thesis, which was completed thanks
to the generous support of the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council.
I remain grateful to it, and hope that this volume fulfils the promise it saw
in my initial proposal. I must also thank my supervisor, Dr Julia Merritt,
for introducing me to Daniel Featley, and for shepherding my research with
the perfect mixture of encouragement, advice, patience and oversight. In
expanding upon that research for publication, I am further indebted to my
examiners – to Professor Alan Ford for urging me towards the theological
content and implications of the events considered here, and thus helping
me turn a narrative exploration of public religious disputation into a
study of its wider significance, and to Professor Alexandra Walsham,
for prompting me to pursue the meaning behind these debates, and thus
guiding my thoughts into the hypothesis for the book. What follows owes
much to their suggestions.
I am also thankful to those who have taken an interest in the various
aspects of this project presented at conferences, seminars and other
gatherings, at Nottingham, Sheffield, Sussex, Oxford and the Institute for
Historical Research, and at the 2012 Reformation Studies Colloquium at
Durham and the Society for Renaissance Studies conference at Manchester.
In particular, I must thank Professor Peter Lake, whose questions on the
1584 Lambeth conference have remained with me, and have at all times
pushed me to consider the wider political significance of the topic. Finally,
it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the continuing interest and
advice of Professor Anthony Milton, who has been kind enough to show
enthusiasm for my work from the beginning.
The postgraduate community at the University of Nottingham is also
due thanks, for creating an academic environment that was both friendly
and encouraging. To pick out a few gems among many, thanks to Marianne
Wilson for reading early chapter drafts, and to Robbie Rudge for some
assistance with source access in the final months.
Thanks to Ashgate for taking an interest in the initial proposal for
this book, and to my commissioning editor, Tom Gray, for guiding me
through the early stages of the process so smoothly, and for being so
supportive throughout. Also to Professor Euan Cameron for his interest
and questions at the Durham Colloquium, and to the rest of the editors on