Publisher's Synopsis
This study provides a systematic treatment of professionalization within the church in terms of identity, ideology, institutional definition, and personnel. It covers church polity in its totality from the parish through the archiepiscopal levels, encompassing theology, pastoral responsibilities, judicial activity, low politics from the parish context, and high politics relative to the Court and Parliament. It follows through with an analysis of the impact of the 1640 Revolution and Restoration. While dealing with current issues in Tudor-Stuart historiography relative to the relationship between religious beliefs and institutions in church and state, it also addresses the broader issues in the humanities involving relationships between ideology, professionalization, and politics/social structures.
