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

Merritt, J.F.

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
• 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.
• Contract Date: Jan 17, 2018