Parliamentary army chaplains, 1642-51
The intention of this thesis is to examine the careers of chaplains in the parliamentary armies and, more widely, the subject of religion in the parliamentary forces in the light of generalisations that have been made by historians about them. To this end, some 280 chaplains have been identified and their biographies have been summarised in the biographical index (Appendix II). The main text of the thesis, however, is devoted to a general discussion of chaplains' careers and of what has been said about them by seventeenth-century commentators and by later historians. The details of chaplains' employment, the circumstances of their service in the different parliamentary armies and their relationship with the clerical profession as a whole are assessed. In Chapter I consideration is given to the fact that most seventeenth-century commentators confined their remarks to either the armies of Essex and Manchester or the New Model army. Few said anything about service in the provincial forces, which, until l647, out-numbered the New Model army, or about the parliamentary forces which served in Ireland and Scotland. Hence this contemporary description cannot be considered to be representative of the majority of the
Laurence, Anne
Chaplains ; History ; Military chaplains ; Great Britain ; 17th century ; Civil War, 1642-1649
Parliamentary army chaplains, 1642-51. The intention of this thesis is to examine the careers of chaplains in the parliamentary armies and, more widely, the subject of religion in the parliamentary forces in the light of generalisations that have been made by historians about them. To this end, some 280 chaplains have been identified and their biographies have been summarised in the biographical index (Appendix II). The main text of the thesis, however, is devoted to a general discussion of chaplains' careers and of what has been said about them by seventeenth-century commentators and by later historians. The details of chaplains' employment, the circumstances of their service in the different parliamentary armies and their relationship with the clerical profession as a whole are assessed. In Chapter I consideration is given to the fact that most seventeenth-century commentators confined their remarks to either the armies of Essex and Manchester or the New Model army. Few said anything about service in the provincial forces, which, until l647, out-numbered the New Model army, or about the parliamentary forces which served in Ireland and Scotland. Hence this contemporary description cannot be considered to be representative of the majority of the
parliamentary army chaplain intention_examine career chaplains parliamentary army widely subject religion parliamentary force light generalisation make historian them end chaplain identify biography summarise biographical index appendix main_text however devote general_discussion chaplain career say seventeenth_century commentator later historian detail chaplain employment circumstance service different parliamentary army relationship clerical profession whole assess consideration_give fact seventeenth_century commentator confine remark either army essex manchester new_model army say anything service provincial force out new_model army parliamentary force serve ireland_scotland hence contemporary description consider representative majority