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Reinventing Westminster Abbey 1642-1660: a house of kings from revolution to restoration

Merritt, J.F.

Authors



Abstract

While historians are familiar with the destruction wrought on the nation's cathedrals during the Civil War, the rather different fate experienced by Westminster Abbey--an important symbolic building that tied together royal and religious authority--has been strangely neglected. This article argues that the Abbey played an important and distinctive role in the religious and cultural politics of the nation during the 1640s and 1650s. It uncovers the Abbey’s role in helping to legitimise successive non-monarchical regimes and ultimately explains how efforts to ‘reclaim’ the Abbey at the Restoration formed part of broader efforts to renegotiate and reinterpret the nation’s past.

Citation

Merritt, J. (2016). Reinventing Westminster Abbey 1642-1660: a house of kings from revolution to restoration. Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 67(1), 122-138. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022046914002000

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 1, 2015
Online Publication Date Dec 18, 2015
Publication Date Jan 1, 2016
Deposit Date Dec 15, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of Ecclesiastical History
Print ISSN 0022-0469
Electronic ISSN 1469-7637
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 67
Issue 1
Pages 122-138
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022046914002000
Keywords Westminster Abbey, Civil War, Interregnum, Restoration, cathedrals, regicides, funeral monuments, military funerals, parliament
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/979041
Publisher URL https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-ecclesiastical-history/article/reinventing-westminster-abbey-16421660-a-house-of-kings-from-revolution-to-restoration/C9C7A93592C5D4783283348D3B961B48
Additional Information Acceptance date is estimated.