This study examines both the theological aesthetics of George Herbert (1593-1633), English priest and poet, and those of his friends, the Ferrar family of Little Gidding, who founded a quasi-monastic religious community near Cambridge from 1624-1646. In their writings, Herbert and the Ferrars negotiated two traditional but usually competing aesthetic stances: the "beauty of holiness"; on the one hand, and austere plainness, on the other. They skillfully navigated between conflicting theological positions during the years leading up to the English Civil War. Chapter 1 reviews the historical connection between Herbert and Nicholas Ferrar (1592/3-1637) in light of recent revisionist biographies. It describes and contextualizes the anomalous and controversial devotional life at Little Gidding within the complex religio-political landscape of the 1620s and 1630s; it also argues for a shared theological aesthetic between Herbert and the Ferrars as evident in their collaboration on various projects. (Herbert also designated the Ferrars his literary executors.) Chapter 2 revisits the question of Herbert's paradoxical "plain style," a topic that has engaged scholars for decades, by exploring his poetic use of clothing images in conjunction with the Renaissance commonplace of the "garment of style." Chapter 3 examines in detail liturgical practice at Little Gidding, both the family's public and private worship life, as well as their extensive renovation of two churches. Here I argue that the community did not fit easily within any single category in the "worship wars" of the early seventeenth century, but instead drew upon influences across the liturgical spectrum, from Laudianism to puritanism. Chapters 4 and 5 explore how Herbert (in his poetry) and the Ferrars (in their religious dialogues called the Story Books) use narrative of various kinds, but especially parable and exempla, for catechetical ends, and emphasize the centrality of "true stories" to Christian belief. The conclusion argues that these texts present a theological aesthetic that is deeply connected to a lived, practiced ethics. This project fills in a major gap in Herbert studies while recovering important primary sources for the understanding of religion, literature and culture in early modern England. / 2018-04-30T00:00:00Z

This thesis examines the book and archival holdings of the Cottonian Collection – a national designated eighteenth-century collection of fine art and books – between 1791 and 1816, the period of William Cotton II’s custodianship. Prior to this thesis, the Cottonian Collection has not been the subject of a full-length academic study. Whilst the art holdings have received some attention, the book and archival contents have not been examined. This thesis addresses this imbalance by conducting a thorough examination of the archival holdings and the history of the book collection. Taking the actions of the collection’s penultimate private owner, William Cotton II, as its primary focus this thesis examines the curatorial practices of acquisition, preservation and disposal through three key lenses: the presentation of the collection as a symbol of gentlemanly status, the evolution of Enlightenment cosmopolitanism thought, and the rise of Anglican Evangelicalism during this period. In doing so, this thesis considers the effects of the broader societal, political and religion changes on a national designated collection during a period defined by ideological threat and revolutionary warfare. In the process, it seeks to embed the history of the Cottonian Collection within the broader context of late-eighteenth-century book collecting practices.

The "beauty of holiness," the ceremonialist agenda of the Laudians during the Personal Rule of King Charles I (r.1625-1649), was in many ways a serious shift from and challenge to the devotional and theological ethos that had dominated the Church of England since the 1570s. So stark was this shift that scholars today regularly cite the rigid enforcement of the "beauty of holiness" as one of the precipitating causes of the English Civil Wars that broke out in 1642. The rise of Laudianism, then, and its claim on the character of the nation's established church, the church's devotional life, and England's confessional identity, was no small matter. Perhaps the most understudied aspect of the Laudian movement was the way this circle of clergy argued that their program for the church was neither a challenge nor, for that matter, innovative. Recent historians have described how the Laudians used various rhetorical strategies to present their vision as perfectly orthodox, a mere restatement of old-fashioned principles and practices long enjoyed since the happy reign of Queen Elizabeth (r.1558-1603). Developing arguments from scripture, from the practice of the early church, or simply the more obvious need to worship God with reverence, the Laudians shifted their apologetic strategies depending on the moment. This project considers in detail a particular Laudian strategy - the appeal to precedents from the Elizabethan church. In addition to reflecting on the malleable nature of history in the early modern period and on the character of what one might call the rhetoric of conservatism, this project reveals the power of the image of Elizabeth Tudor in seventeenth century religious polemics. This dissertation is concerned not so much with Puritans, but rather with two groups who both claimed to be conformists and who both based that claim on adherence to Elizabethan principles. Both Laudians and, as one scholar describes them, "old style" conformists both claimed ownership of a legitimating Elizabethan past and thus ownership of a normative identity. At a broad level, my research seeks to understand a moment of religious and social change and how that change was persistently negotiated by recourse to history. My goal is to consider the way the Laudians appropriated the image of Elizabeth for their own designs. This examination does not end with the reign of Charles, however. The Laudian claim of true conformity and denial of innovation did not end when civil war erupted in 1642 or even when the king was executed in 1649. One finds this historical claim in the mouth of Archbishop William Laud at his trial for treason. Likewise, one finds during the Cromwellian Protectorate in the 1650s the rise of full historical enterprises, not simply the invocation of history in polemic. When the monarchy was restored in 1660, works by the Laudian historian Peter Heylyn were ready for Royalist consumption and, as one might suspect, they offer an interpretation of the past that legitimates the Laudian program and brands its opponents as foreign and dangerous. This type of literature was polemic under the form of history. Yet we cannot casually dismiss such arguments as simple propaganda. We must understand them instead as alternative readings of the past, stories that contemporaries told themselves and which worked to confirm a particular vision of the world. My project, in sum, will offer an assessment of the way historical claims functioned within the discourse of religious and political legitimacy at a time of intense religious and political strife. My concluding argument is that the tradition known as Anglicanism, while it had a long gestation, was born not in the reign of Elizabeth or even in the early Stuart period, but rather at the Restoration in 1660 when Charles II came to the throne and a particular vision of what it meant to be a loyal conformist achieved canonical status.

Dorothy Wordsworth’s religious practices continued to evolve throughout her life. She was baptized Anglican, but after her mother’s death she resided with her mother’s cousin, where she practiced Unitarianism. When she later moved in with her uncle, she embraced evangelical Anglicanism. Records of her religious beliefs in her twenties are scarce, as after moving to Racedown with her brother William in 1795 and throughout her years living in Alfoxden, she rarely wrote of her involvement with organized religion. Only in the 1810s while at Grasmere did Dorothy Wordsworth begin to record a gradual return to church attendance. Concerning her religious practices in the years following this return, due to a relative lack of information concerning Dorothy Wordsworth’s spirituality during this period, scholars have concluded that her Anglicanism was unremarkable: groundbreaking biographer Ernest De Sélincourt called her faith a “simple orthodox piety” (267) while Robert Gittings and Jo Manton labeled it “the conventional piety of her middle age” (168). Often, scholars have also concluded that Dorothy Wordsworth’s Anglicanism was relatively orthodox, due to the outspoken High Churchmanship of her brothers William and Christopher. As this thesis demonstrates, however, Dorothy Wordsworth’s previously unpublished Rydal Journals complicate such conclusions. These journals offer a wealth of evidence concerning her religious practices and beliefs between 1825–35, including extensive lists of scripture references, records of her church attendance, logs of her religious reading, assessments of sermons, and expressions of her personal faith. The various findings suggest that Dorothy’s faith was more complex than previously understood, as it was passionate, informed, and, in ways, surprisingly evangelical.

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L'intensité de la mobilité à l'intérieur du pays merina est illustrée par la première réforme agraire d'Andrianampoinimerina pour assurer les délimitations du royaume et en organiser l'expansion. Des territoires, les lohombitany, sont attribués à certains groupes pour récompenser la fidélité et les services rendus au souverain.Les Ramainandro, faisant partie des Merina, constituent ainsi l'objet par excellence d'une étude sur les apports des migrations. Leur regroupement à l'ouest de l'Ankaratra, suite à l'acquisition d'un lohombitany sous Radama I, leur octroya un statut social distinct, se manifestant par l'émergence de l'intelligentsia et des religieux chrétiens.Deux grandes raisons expliquent leur ascension: d'une part, le rôle catalyseur des missionnaires chrétiens qui ont fait de Ramainandro son terrain de prédilection et d'autre part, la reconnaissance française suite au soutien d'une fraction du groupe qui lutta contre l'insurrection des Menalamba au début de la colonisation.Actuellement, ils continuent de se déplacer un peu partout, sans rompre avec le territoire qui leur a été attribué, conservant leur identité d'une manière remarquable. L'attachement au tombeau ancestral et aux terres ancestrales constitue une preuve irréfutable de l'appartenance territoriale et l'identité du groupe. En outre, les membres du groupe ont constitué une généalogie profonde justifiant leur droit au lohombitany. De puissants réseaux d'associations sont formés pour revendiquer le statut de Ramainandro.L'étude généalogique, l'analyse biographique ainsi que les récits de vie permettent de découvrir le portrait des Ramainandro, comme groupe appartenant anciennement à l'Ambodirano et l'Imerina. / The degree of mobility within the Merina region is showed by the first agrarian reform leaded by the King Andrianampoinimerina in order to ensure the limits of the kingdom and organize its expansion in the 18th century. Territories, called lohombitany are at that time allotted to some groups by way of reward for the loyalty and service towards the sovereign. The Ramainandro, part of the Merina tribe are an excellent topic for a study about the contribution of migration. Their grouping in the west of the Ankaratra massif, due to the acquisition of a lohombitany under Radama I, conferred them a distinct status, confirmed by the emergence of the Christian intelligentsia and monks. Two main reasons can explain the exceptional rise of this tribe: on one hand, the catalyst role of the Christian missionary who chose Ramainandro as one of its favorite field; on the second hand, the French recognition resulting from the support given by a fraction of the group which helped to weaken the anti-French insurrection of the Menalamba, on the beginning of colonization. Currently, they continue to migrate without breaking with the territory assigned to them, retaining their identity in a remarkable way. The attachment to ancestral shrine and ancestral lands is an irrefutable proof of territorial belonging and group identity. In addition, the group carried out a detailed genealogy in order to justify their right to the lohombitany in question. Moreover, powerful networks of associations are founded to claim the status of Ramainandro. The genealogical study, biographical and life stories help to discover the portrait of Ramainandro tribe as formerly belonging to the groups of Ambodirano and Imerina

The theology of empire is a critical theme that dates back many centuries. This research work is inspired by that of Eusebius of Caesarea who was emphatic in his support for the Roman Empire under Constantine during the first part of the fourth century of our common era. It could be said that appealing to such a theme in a colonial context marred by gross injustices yet premised on gospel imperatives as they guide the progress of a given church is not only challenging but interesting as well. By using the Diocese of Mashonaland as our referral case, the idea is to interrogate how the influence of Eusebius’ approach to history could be prevalent even in our time. By putting Anglican missionaries on the spotlight, who worked in the Diocese of Mashonaland, from the early 1890s up to 1979, an attempt is made to analyse their activities and attitudes, the way historians favourable to their venture narrated the Church’s progress and related matters. One major question leading all the analyses made in this context is to what extent could we justify the claim that the spirit of Eusebius is behind the Mashonaland Anglican Church narratives and attitudes? This question naturally leads us to bring in other perspectives that are linked to the socio-economic developments of the country, the political dispensations defining issues of governance, and the overall impact these had on racial matters given the critical reference to Christianity and civilisation. Historians and others who help us to appreciate this context are therefore taken to task as to whether they could be trusted unconditionally. The theology of empire is therefore allowed to dictate the way we could interrogate those who opt to ignore gross injustices that the Church in this context did not challenge in any conclusive manner. The history of the Diocese of Mashonaland from this perspective is therefore an interesting narrative. Our work that looks at the period between 1890 and 1979 leaves us with a lot of curious questions that call for further scholarly investigation within the same Mashonaland Anglican context. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Church History)

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / In Australian Aboriginal affairs, the acculturative strand of assimilation developed in large part from Elkin’s religious and Idealist commitment, for which in the years 1928 to 1933 he won social-scientific authority. In competition with both an eliminationist politics of race and a segregationist politics of territory, Elkin drew upon religious experience, apologetics, sociology, and networks to establish a ‘positive policy’ as an enduring ideal in Aboriginal affairs. His leadership of the 1930s reform movement began within the Anglican Church, became national through civic-religious organs of publicity, and gained scientific authority as Elkin made religious themes a central concern in Australian anthropology. But from the 1960s until recently, most scholars have lost sight of the centrality of Idealism and religion in our protagonist’s seminal project of acculturative assimilation. This thesis aims to show how Elkin dealt with problems fundamental to twentieth century Aboriginal affairs and indeed to Australian modernity more generally – problems of faith and science, morality and expediency – in developing his positive policy towards Aborigines.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / In Australian Aboriginal affairs, the acculturative strand of assimilation developed in large part from Elkin’s religious and Idealist commitment, for which in the years 1928 to 1933 he won social-scientific authority. In competition with both an eliminationist politics of race and a segregationist politics of territory, Elkin drew upon religious experience, apologetics, sociology, and networks to establish a ‘positive policy’ as an enduring ideal in Aboriginal affairs. His leadership of the 1930s reform movement began within the Anglican Church, became national through civic-religious organs of publicity, and gained scientific authority as Elkin made religious themes a central concern in Australian anthropology. But from the 1960s until recently, most scholars have lost sight of the centrality of Idealism and religion in our protagonist’s seminal project of acculturative assimilation. This thesis aims to show how Elkin dealt with problems fundamental to twentieth century Aboriginal affairs and indeed to Australian modernity more generally – problems of faith and science, morality and expediency – in developing his positive policy towards Aborigines.

This thesis attempts to clarify how the authors incorporated their theological beliefs in their writing to more clearly discover, although modern audiences often enjoy both authors, why Charlotte Bronte was unimpressed with Jane Austen. The thesis is an examination of the ways in which Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte interact with the Evangelical Reformation within the Anglican Church in their novels Mansfield Park and Jane Eyre, respectively. Both authors, as daughters of Anglican clergymen, were aware of and influenced by the movement, but at varying degrees. This project begins with a brief explanation of the state of the Anglian Church and beginnings of the Evangelical Reformation. The thesis then examines George Austen's influence on his daughter and the characters and text of Mansfield Park to observe the ways in which traditional Anglicanism and tenets of Evangelicalism are discussed in the novel, revealing more clearly where Austen's personal beliefs aligned. Similarly, the project then analyzes Patrick Bronte's influence on Charlotte Bronte and evaluates the characters and text of Jane Eyre to mark the significance of the Evangelical movement on Charlotte Bronte. After studying these works and religious components of their lives, the thesis argues that Austen's traditionally Anglican subtlety with the subject of religion did not appeal to Bronte's passion for the subject, clearly inspired by the Evangelical Reformation. / Master of Arts / Charlotte Brontë was unimpressed with the writing of Jane Austen, which is surprising as the audience for one author usually also enjoys the other author as well. Although the specific reason for Brontë’s distaste for Austen is unknown, this thesis proposes that Brontë disagreed with how Austen portrayed Evangelicalism. Both Brontë and Austen were Anglican clergymen’s daughters, and they both grew up with an awareness of the Evangelical Reformation occurring in the Anglican Church. Brontë was influenced by the movement more, which this thesis shows after first outlining the Evangelical Reformation, exploring Austen’s relationship with it and how it appears in Mansfield Park, and then examining Brontë’s relationship with the Reformation and how it appears in Jane Eyre as well. This thesis contains brief historical and biographical sketches of the authors and their families, literary examinations of the novels Mansfield Park and Jane Eyre to study how the authors interacted with the Evangelical ideals, and an analysis that looks at faith in these two novels in a comparative way to explain why Brontë might have disagreed with and therefore disliked Austen’s writing.