Proceedings against the 'scandalous ministers' of Essex, 1644-1645

The 1640s purge of the parish clergy in Essex resulted in over 2000 ministers being ejected from their livings, with two manuscripts recording the proceedings. These manuscripts illustrate the pressures within the Church at parish level during the 1630s and the first Civil War, and show that a significant number of victims were able to retain their livings.

Format: Hardback
Length: 208 pages
Publication date: 30 July 2024
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd

During the 1640s, Parliament undertook a purge of the parish clergy, expelling over 2000 ministers from their livings. The proceedings of the purge in Essex in 1644-45 are documented in two manuscripts: the British Library's Additional MS 5829, a well-known but previously unpublished document, and the University of Leicester Library's MS 31, a recently recognized contemporary record of the purge of the clergy of Essex that was believed to have been lost in the eighteenth century. These manuscripts provide valuable insights into the pressures that had built up within the Church at the parish level during the 1630s and during the first Civil War in a county where puritanism was particularly strong. A comparison of the content of the two MSS allows for a study of the purge's conduct and its outcomes. It reveals that a significant number of the victims were able to retain their livings, and suggests how this was achieved.

Weight: 1g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781837651863