Persuasion and Conversion: Essays on Religion, Politics, and the Public Sphere in Early Modern England

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BRILL, Aug 22, 2013 - History - 240 pages
The early modern ‘public sphere’ emerges out of a popular ‘culture of persuasion’ fostered by the Protestant Reformation. By 1600, religious identity could no longer be assumed as ‘given’ within the hierarchical institutions and elaborate apparatus of late-medieval ‘sacramental culture’. Reformers insisted on a sharp demarcation between the inner, subjective space of the individual and the external, public space of institutional life. Gradual displacement of sacramental culture was achieved by means of argument, textual interpretation, exhortation, reasoned opinion, and moral advice exercised through both pulpit and press. This alternative culture of persuasion presupposes a radically distinct notion of mediation. The common focus of the essays collected here is the dynamic interaction of religion and politics which provided a crucible for the emerging modern ‘public sphere’.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
Thomas Cromwells use of Antoine de Marcourts Livre des Marchans
9
John Calvins Groundwork of the Modern Public Sphere
36
Tudor Reform of the Canon Law of England
51
Pauls Cross and the Culture of Persuasion
72
Richard Smyths Retractation Sermon at Pauls Cross 1547
99
John Jewels Challenge Sermon at Pauls Cross 1559
114
John Foxe Richard Hooker and the Nascent Public Sphere
144
Public and Private in Hookers Apologetics
161
The Hermeneutics of Common Prayer
186
Bibliography
205
Index
219
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