Stuart Period:
Historical Overview
1603-1688
Stuart England: Religion
• Religious divisions
– Traditionalists (High Church)
– Puritans (Low Church)
– Non-Conformists (anyone not associated with
Anglicanism)
• Religious Tensions
– Religious reformers challenged the king’s authority.
– Growing acceptance of Catholicism by the Stuart kings
caused anger and apprehension in much of England.
Stuart England:
Religion
• The Westminster
Confession
– Official creed of Scottish
Presbyterian church
– Temporary replacement
of Thirty-nine Articles
– Consists of a Longer and
Shorter Catechism
• Religious
latitudinarianism: a
broadening of Christian
identity that limits
doctrinal essentials
Stuart England: Political Clashes
• James I
– Catholic leanings: alliances
– Absolute monarch: divine right of
kings
• Supreme authority over government and
church
• Suppressed religious/political nonconformity
• “I shall make them conform themselves
or I will harry them out of the land, or
else do worse.”
Stuart England: Political Clashes
• Charles I
– Political autocracy
– Religious restructuring
• Archbishop Laud Catholicizes
Anglican worship.
– Civil War
• Roundheads: Puritan forces
• Cavaliers: Royalists
Stuart England: Political Clashes
• Oliver Cromwell
– Lord Protector
– Parliamentary problems
– Protectorate ends under rule
of Richard.
Stuart England: Political Clashes
• The Restoration: 1660
– Charles II comes to the throne.
– James II rules as a Catholic.
• The Glorious Revolution: 1688
– Deposes James II without bloodshed
– Establishes a Protestant monarchy
– Ensures a limited, constitutional monarchy
– Lifts religious restrictions
Stuart England: Culture
• Language
• Learning
• Literature: two styles
– Metaphysical poets: John Donne
– Cavalier poets: Ben Johnson
Characteristics of Stuart Literature
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Personal quality
Reveals personality of the writer
Didactic purpose
Clear and concise writing
Reflects human struggle
Main Themes of Stuart Literature
• Necessity of proper subordination for human
happiness
• Stuart authors will resolve personal struggles by
turning and submitting to authority—religious,
political, or domestic.
Masterpieces of Stuart Literature
• Poetry: Milton’s Paradise Lost
• Prose: Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress
• Non-fiction prose: King James Version of the
Scriptures