English historiography of the Crusades, 1550-1660
This thesis explores English writings about the crusades from 1550 to 1660. It focuses particularly on the political and religious contexts in which matiyrologist John Foxe, schoolmaster Richard Knolles, and Anglican divine Thomas Fuller wrote about the Holy War to comprehend the emergence of three distinct strands of crusade representation in English historiography. These approaches demonstrate that the crusades were repeatedly remoulded and reimagined in early modem England as part of intra-Protestant polemics fought to define the Anglican Church, and to determine how the nation would position herself politically within an increasingly fractured Christendom. Crusade scepticism, coloured by diverse agendas, competed with a conservative vision of the movement that stylistically owed most to medieval historiography, but that was often driven by a growing featÂ· of radical religious reform. This balanced perspective on attitudes is reinforced by consideration of key crusading themes in plays, sermons, and other 'non-historical' genres. Taking these texts into account acknowledges that early modem readers absorbed lessons about the past from a broad spectrum of sources, while demonstrating the complex relationship
Mower, Andrew James
English historiography of the Crusades, 1550-1660. This thesis explores English writings about the crusades from 1550 to 1660. It focuses particularly on the political and religious contexts in which matiyrologist John Foxe, schoolmaster Richard Knolles, and Anglican divine Thomas Fuller wrote about the Holy War to comprehend the emergence of three distinct strands of crusade representation in English historiography. These approaches demonstrate that the crusades were repeatedly remoulded and reimagined in early modem England as part of intra-Protestant polemics fought to define the Anglican Church, and to determine how the nation would position herself politically within an increasingly fractured Christendom. Crusade scepticism, coloured by diverse agendas, competed with a conservative vision of the movement that stylistically owed most to medieval historiography, but that was often driven by a growing featÂ· of radical religious reform. This balanced perspective on attitudes is reinforced by consideration of key crusading themes in plays, sermons, and other 'non-historical' genres. Taking these texts into account acknowledges that early modem readers absorbed lessons about the past from a broad spectrum of sources, while demonstrating the complex relationship
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