The Clergy in Early Modern Scotland
Title Details

290 Pages

23.4 x 15.6 cm

2 b/w, images illus.

Series: St Andrews Studies in Scottish History

Series Vol. Number: 9

Imprint: Boydell Press

The Clergy in Early Modern Scotland

Edited by Chris R. Langley, Catherine E. McMillan and Russell Newton

  • Description
  • Contents
  • Author
  • Reviews
A nuanced approach to the role played by clerics at a turbulent time for religious affairs.

From the early percolation of Protestant thought in the sixteenth century through to the controversies and upheaval of the civil wars in the seventeenth century, the clergy were at the heart of religious change in Scotland. By exploring their lived experiences, and drawing upon historical, theological, and literary approaches, the essays here paint a fresh and vibrant portrait of ministry during the kingdom's long Reformation. The contributors investigate how clergy, as well as their families and flocks, experienced and negotiated religious, social, and political change; through examination of both wider themes and individual case studies, the chapters emphasise the flexibility of local decision-making and how ministers and their families were enmeshed in parish dynamics, while also highlighting the importance of clerical networks beyond the parish. What emerges is a ministry that, despite the increasing professionalisation of the role, maintained a degree of local autonomy and agency. The volume thus re-focuses attention on the early modern European ministry, offering a multifaceted and historically attuned understanding of those who stood at the forefront of Protestant reform.
Introduction
Chris R. Langley, Catherine E. McMillan and Russell Newton

Part I. Themes
1. Exhortations and Expectations: Preaching about the Ideal Minister in Post-Reformation Scotland
Michelle D. Brock
2. Ministers and the Bible in Early Modern Scotland
Russell Newton
3. The Protestant Clergy and Poor Relief, 1560-1660
John McCallum and Helen Gair
4. Scotland's 'Holy Households': Wives and Children of Reformed ministers
Janay Nugent and L. Rae Stauffer
5. Anticlericalism in Early Modern Scotland?
Chris R. Langley

Part II. Case Studies
6. Pastors in Search of a Congregation: Clerical Calls for Reform Before 1546
Elizabeth Tapscott
7. 'Doctrein' or 'Filthie Speachis'? The St Andrews Ministers and the Politics of the 1590s
Michael F. Graham
8. Clerical Culture and Island Logic in Early Modern Orkney
Peter Marshall
9. 'Gryt Abuse is Found in this Toune': James Sharpe and Moral Reformation in South Leith, 1639-45
Claire McNulty
10. Pastoral Cares, Covenant, and Courtship in John Dury's Personal Correspondence, 1641-5
Felicity Lyn Maxwell
11. 'Wings of the Soul': Moderating Emotion in the Preaching of Hugh Binning (1627-53)
Nathan C. J. Hood

Afterword
Jane Dawson

Bibliography
Index

CHRIS R. LANGLEY is Reader in Early Modern History at Newman University, Birmingham.

CATHERINE E. McMILLAN is a historian of religion and society in early modern Britain.

RUSSELL NEWTON is Lecturer in Church History at the Faith Mission Bible College, Edinburgh.

"These chapters harvest rich details of the everyday lives of the early modern clergy and their collaboration with their parishioners. [...] The introductory historiography, various approaches, and combined bibliography might make this collection serve as a vade mecum to such future studies of the early modern Scottish Church." SEVENTEENTH CENTURY NEWS
"The book is a significant contribution to our understanding of early modern Scottish religious culture." CHURCH HISTORY
"This collection of essays provides a much-needed update to our understanding of the early modern men who answered the "calling of the ministrie" and the families who often supported them." Scottish Historical Review
"An outstanding and agenda-setting volume that puts the experience of Reformed ministers at the centre of the religious history of early modern Scotland." New Books Network
"This collection provides an invaluable contribution to the field of Scottish Reformation studies ... The contributors to both sections in this volume should be commended for their vast use of source material related to Scottish clergymen, especially those source collections previously ignored or underutilised." Journal of Ecclesiastical History
"As well as adding nuance and depth to our understanding of the Reformed church and its ministers, The Clergy in Early Modern Scotland is also a rallying cry for an increased focus on the human aspects to religion." The Innes Review

Hardcover

9781783276196

July 2021

Buy

$125.00 / £85.00

Shipping Options

Buy Ships within 2 business days

Buy

Purchasing options are not available in this country.

Ebook (EPDF)

9781800102293

July 2021

Buy

$29.95 / £24.99

Ebook (EPUB)

9781800102309

July 2021

Buy

$29.95 / £24.99

Title Details

290 Pages

2.34 x 1.56 cm

2 b/w, images illus.

Series: St Andrews Studies in Scottish History

Series Vol. Number: 9

Imprint: Boydell Press