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This volume examines the effects of religious change on the English way of death between 1480 and 1750. It discusses relatively neglected aspects of the subject such as the death-bed, will-making and the last rites.
The history of the family has become the source of lively controversy and Ralph Houlbrooke's study has made a major contribution to the debate. Thorough investigations reveal the attitudes and aspirations of all levels of society set within economic, political and religious contexts and developments within the period.
Originally published in 1989, Death, Ritual and Bereavement examines the social history of death and dying from 1500 to the 1930s. This edited collection focuses on the death-bed, funerals, burials, mourning customs, and the expression of grief. The essays throw fresh light on developments which lie at the roots of present-day tendencies to minimize or conceal the most unpleasant aspects of death, among them the growing participation of doctors in the management of death-beds in the eighteenth century and the creation of extra-mural cemeteries, followed by the introduction of cremation in the nineteenth century. The volume also underlines the importance of religious belief, in helping the bereaved in past times. The book will appeal to students and academics of family and social history as well as history of medicine, religion and anthropology.
James VI and I was the first king to rule both England and Scotland. He was unique among British monarchs in his determination to communicate his ideas by means of print, pen, and spoken word. James's own work as an author is one of the themes of this volume. One essay also sheds new light on his role as a patron and protector of plays and players. A second theme is the king's response to the problems posed by religious divisions in the British Isles and Europe as a whole. Various contributors to this collection elucidate James's own religious beliefs and their expression, his efforts before 1603 to counter a potential Catholic claim to the English throne, his attempted appropriation of scripture in support of his own authority, and his distinctive vision of imperial kingship in Britain. Some different reactions to the king, to his expression of his ideas and to the implementation of his policies form this book's third theme. They include the vigorous resistance to his attempt to change Scottish religious practice, and the sharply contrasting assessments of his life and reign written after James's death.
This 2001 book concerns the history of the family in eighteenth-century England. Naomi Tadmor provides an interpretation of concepts of household, family and kinship starting from her analysis of contemporary language (in the diaries of Thomas Turner; in conduct treatises by Samuel Richardson and Eliza Haywood; in three novels, Richardson's Pamela and Clarissa and Haywood's The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless and a variety of other sources). Naomi Tadmor emphasises the importance of the household in constructing notions of the family in the eighteenth century. She uncovers a vibrant language of kinship which recasts our understanding of kinship ties in the period. She also shows how strong ties of 'friendship' formed vital social, economic and political networks among kin and non-kin. Family and Friends in Eighteenth-Century England makes a substantial contribution to eighteenth-century history, and will be of value to all historians and literary scholars of the period.
Uses excerpts from private diaries to depict seventeenth century life in England, and covers infancy, adolescence, courtship, marriage, old age, and death
"This volume contains the edited proceedings from the 1990 symposium "Attending to Women in Early Modern England," which was sponsored by the Center for Renaissance and Baroque Studies and the University of Maryland at College Park. Edited by Betty S. Travitsky and Adele F. Seeff in collaboration with a national committee of scholars, the book focuses on the interdisciplinary study of women in early modern England, addressing such areas of scholarly concern as what new research concepts can guide scholarship on early modern women? How were the public and private identities of these women constructed? What were the similarities between visible and invisible women in early modern England? How can - and should - studies on early modern women transform the classroom?"--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The comprehensive 2005 study of rituals in early modern Europe argues that between about 1400 and 1700 a revolution in ritual theory took place that utterly transformed concepts about time, the body, and the presence of spiritual forces in the world. Edward Muir draws on extensive historical research to emphasize the persistence of traditional Christian ritual practices even as educated elites attempted to privilege reason over passion, textual interpretation over ritual action, and moral rectitude over gaining access to supernatural powers. Edward Muir discusses wide ranging themes such as rites of passage, carnivalesque festivity, the rise of manners, Protestant and Catholic Reformations, the alleged anti-Christian rituals of Jews and witches. This edition examines the impact on the European understanding of ritual from the discoveries of new civilizations in the Americas and missionary efforts in China and adds more material about rituals peculiar to women.
What is meant by the Puritan literary tradition, and when did the idea of Puritan literature, as distinct from Puritan beliefs and practices, come into being? The answer is not straightforward. This volume addresses these questions by bringing together new research on a wide range of established and emerging literary subjects that help to articulate the Puritan literary tradition, including: political polemic and the performing arts; conversion and New-World narratives; individual and corporate life-writings; histories of exile and womens history; book history and the translation and circulation of Puritan literature abroad; Puritan epistolary networks; discourses of Puritan friendship; the ...