The Caroline captivity of the church

"This is a scholarly and original study of the Church of England in the reign of Charles I. Julian Davies's detailed analysis of policy, practice, and personality offers a bold new interpretation of the Caroline Church, firmly based on the documentary evidence." "Dr. Davies examines the measures which brought to an end the consensus of the post-Reformation Church, and which moulded and sharpened divisions in the years before the Civil War. He reinterprets the roles of key actors, and uncovers the tensions that existed between Archbishop Laud's essential conservatism and Charles I's attempts to realize his highly personal notion of sacral kingship through his prerogative as Supreme Governor of the Church. As a vital arm in the political apparatus of the state and as the vehicle for Caroline ideology, the established Church under Charles I became more politicized than ever before." "The author reassesses the significance of doctrinal arminianism in the seventeenth-century Church, taking issue with a number of scholars. He brings to the forefront of the debate constitutional issues which have recently been underplayed. His book makes an important contribution to a highly controversial area of historical study."--BOOK JACKET.