In this thesis, the dissolution of the monasteries is treated as an event in the history of patronage relationships between the English crown and local patronage groups. In a comparative approach, the regions of East Anglia and Yorkshire are examined in search of patronage-related differences that help to explain the contrasts in regional political responses to the dissolutions. / The first section deals with aspects of patronage in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, exploring through test cases the normal patterns of patronage on monastic estates and the estates of lay landlords and the Crown. Normal durations in tenure, remuneration and networking patterns are explored, in order to show what expectations monastic servants would have held as to the effects of the dissolutions on the duration and value of their positions as well as the creative or destructive impact of the dissolutions on patronage networking. / The second section then analyzes patronage on the monastic estate under the management of the Court of Augmentations, following through in case studies the patronage impact of the sale of major blocks of monastic property to lay landlords in either region. The study finds that the northern region underwent more severe patronage dislocation than was the case in East Anglia, partly on account of long-term structural conditions and partly because of the differences in the more immediate political relations between the crown and elites in either region.

<div> <div> <div> <p>This dissertation examines the preservation of the Church of England in Interregnum England. It incorporates a microhistorical analysis of parish life in four Puritanical counties located in East Anglia, namely Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. In the current historiography on the Church of England, scholars of religious history have traditionally associated both Puritan and sectarian activity with the political upheaval, religious reform, and the collapse of cultural norms that accompanied the English Interregnum. Absent from this scholarship, however, are the voices and actions of those devoted parishioners who refused to abandon their parish church after its disestablishment in 1649. These followers, henceforth called “Conformists,” both fostered and maintained a shared cultural system that stabilized their communal interaction in a period exemplified by politico-religious chaos. In a period characterized by bloody conflicts, their instruments were not swords, but sermons. Thus, this project reveals that the perseverance of Conformists amid the persecution of Cromwellian England was not arbitrary, but a disciplined reaction in which spiritual guidance was actively sought and developed. Central to this response were the actions of sequestered Conformist ministers who guided their displaced congregations by administering forbidden sacraments and emboldening communal engagement. </p> </div> </div> </div>

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The central aim of this thesis is to provide a detailed ethnographic account of the human ecology of the Broads - a protected wetland region in the East of England - focussing upon how working lives shape and are shaped by this reedy landscape. In conversations about the management of the Broads, the concept of "common sense" is a frequent trope; encompassing a wide range of associated meanings. But what are these meanings of "common sense" in English culture, and how do they influence the peoples of England, and landscapes in which they work? This thesis addresses these questions ethnographically; using academic and lay deployments of common sense as a route into the political economy of rural Norfolk. Based on 12 months of fieldwork in the Broads National Park, this thesis draws together interviews and participant observation with land managers of various kinds - including conservationists, farmers, gamekeepers, volunteers, gardeners, and administrators. Chapter 1 dissects the differences between academic and popular understandings of "common sense" as a phrase, and produces an ethnographically-derived, working definition. Chapter 2 examines the attitudes of farmers, establishing "the common" as a root metaphor for social and practical rectitude, actualised through labouring in a shared landscape. Chapter 3 explores how the common is sensed, reflecting upon the diverse sensoria afforded by different degrees of enclosure on a single nature reserve. Chapter 4 explores how the concept of common sense intersects with a prevailing culture of possessive individualism, creating a fragmented society in the Park, wracked by controversies over management. Chapter 5 examines bureaucracy in Broadland - frequently cast as the very antithesis of common sense. In the conclusion, we return to the title, and ask - what do the reeds have to say about land, labour, and human nature?