
Laudianism, also called Old High Churchmanship, or Orthodox Anglicanism as they styled themselves when debating the
Tractarians, was an early seventeenth-century reform movement within the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
that tried to avoid the extremes of
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and
Puritanism
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should ...
by building on the work of
Richard Hooker, and
John Jewel and was promulgated by
Archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
William Laud
William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I of England, Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Caroline era#Religion, Charles I's religious re ...
and his supporters. It rejected the
predestination
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby Go ...
upheld by
Calvinism
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...
in favour of
free will
Free will is generally understood as the capacity or ability of people to (a) choice, choose between different possible courses of Action (philosophy), action, (b) exercise control over their actions in a way that is necessary for moral respon ...
, and hence the possibility of salvation for all men through objective work of the sacraments. Laudianism had a significant impact on the Anglican
high church
A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...
movement and its emphasis on the sacraments, personal holiness, beautiful liturgy, and the
episcopate. Laudianism was the culmination of the move to
Arminianism in the Church of England, and led directly to the
Caroline Divines, of which Laud was one of the first. The expression of this since the
Oxford movement is often called
Central churchmanship.
Theology
The
Elizabethan Settlement of 1559, which set the tone for English religious policy until the rise of Laudianism, was theologically a mixture of
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
, some pre-
council of Trent
The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...
Catholic doctrines, and some minor elements from
Calvinism
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...
. The doctrine of predestination was to be handled with care at a parish level in order to offset despair and the ensuing disobedience, the seventeenth of the
Thirty-Nine Articles sets out a doctrine of predestination to life, ''in Christ'', as one of the founding principles of the English Church and omits reference to
reprobation. “Furthermore we must receive God’s promises in such wise as they be generally set forth in holy Scripture; and in our doings that will of God is to be followed, which we have expressly declared to us in the word of God.” The word generally is in the Latin ''generaliter'', which means not usually, but universally and Article 31 says "Christ once made is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction, for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual"
Building on this, Laudianism is based in the universality and objectivity of God's grace through the Sacraments, the
universal atonement and the free will of all men to obtain salvation in Christ's Church through the Sacraments as means of grace thus, various Reformed theories of
predestination
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby Go ...
were rejected, and predestination was based on God's promise to the Church as the Ark of Salvation in
Ecclesiastical Election.
Salvation was conditioned on entering the
Church through Baptism and
remaining in the church and not
departing
''Departing'' is the second full-length album by Canadian indie rock band The Rural Alberta Advantage, released March 1, 2011 on Paper Bag Records in Canada and Saddle Creek Records in the United States.
In a review of their December 2010 con ...
from it, as well as being nourished and strengthened by
Communion.
This is significant since one of the main points of
Calvinism
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...
is the replacement of the teaching that salvation necessarily came from the Church through the Sacraments, but rather instead came through the individual, and
Unconditional election
Unconditional election (also called sovereign election or unconditional grace) is a Calvinist doctrine relating to predestination that describes the actions and motives of God prior to his creation of the world, when he predestined some people t ...
of God, which could not be
forfeited.
However Roman Catholic practices condemned in the
39 Articles like, the
Intercession of saints
The intercession of saints is a Catholic doctrine that maintains that saints can intercession, intercede for others. To intercede is to go or come between two parties, to plead before one of them on behalf of the other. In ecclesiastical usage bo ...
,
Eucharistic adoration, and prayers for the dead were rejected, as were the Roman doctrines concerning the Sacrifice of the Mass. Laudianism was as opposed to the "Papists" as the Puritans.
The Sacraments are emphasized as means of Grace open to all who confess their sins and truly repent, and Baptism and Communion were raised over the preaching of sermons. Personal holiness and the necessity of good works are emphasized and taught, and the Daily Office was encouraged and the "Beauty of Holiness" in aesthetics was emphasized against the
low church practice of the Calvinists. The services were referred to as ''high and dry.''
Subjective means of determining ones state with God or ones vocation were rejected in favor of objective means, and emotionalism and other forms of
Enthusiasm
In modern usage, enthusiasm refers to intense enjoyment, interest, or approval expressed by a person. The term is related to playfulness, inventiveness, optimism, zest, verve, and high energy. The word was originally used to refer to a person ...
were not to be trusted.
The political theology of Laudianism was the
Divine right of kings and that power flows from God down to the King, not from the people up to the King. Those who followed it were called
Cavalier
The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...
s and it later became the
Tory
A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...
movement.
Laudianism & Puritan Calvinism
Unconditional election
Unconditional election (also called sovereign election or unconditional grace) is a Calvinist doctrine relating to predestination that describes the actions and motives of God prior to his creation of the world, when he predestined some people t ...
was the unifying feature of the Continental Reformed Churches, and the Puritans of all types. The rejection and suppression of this view of election led to deep friction within the Church of England between the Anglican and Puritan parties.
In addition, Archbishop Laud disagreed with the views of his predecessors, such as
John Whitgift
John Whitgift (c. 1530 – 29 February 1604) was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1583 to his death. Noted for his hospitality, he was somewhat ostentatious in his habits, sometimes visiting Canterbury and other towns attended by a retinue of 8 ...
, that the Puritan Calvinists were aberrant brethren, erring but deserving some level of leniency; instead he believed that the Puritan non-conformists presented a direct threat to the establishment and that there was more common ground between Anglicanism and Lutheranism or even that of the pre-
Reformed Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
Church.
The 1633 edition of the standard Latin-English Dictionary, dedicated to
William Laud
William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I of England, Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Caroline era#Religion, Charles I's religious re ...
, contained for the first time the word ''Praedestinatiani'', who were defined as "a kind of heretic that held fatal predestination of every particular matter person or action, and that all things come to passe, and fell out necessarily; especially touching the salvation and damnation of particular men".
After the Anglican Archbishop
William Laud
William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I of England, Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Caroline era#Religion, Charles I's religious re ...
made a statute in 1636 instructing all clergy to wear short hair, many Puritans rebelled to show their contempt for his authority and began to grow their hair even longer
their portraits)
These conflicts exacerbated the deep polarization within the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
, to the extent that Anglicans and Puritans could no longer be united in one church, which ultimaty led to the
Great Ejection.
History
Following the royal marriage negotiations with Spain,
James I faced an upsurge in hostility from the
pulpit
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...
and the press. Although the King tried to quiet such opposition through proclamations, the confinement of offenders and a set of Directions to Preachers in 1622, opposition came from senior figures within the established Church, such as several royal chaplains, Dean
Sutcliffe of Exeter, Archdeacon
Hakewill of Surrey and
George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury. Indeed, James reacted to this episode by moving his support to anti-Calvinist churchmen such as
Lancelot Andrewes at
Winchester dioceses and
Montaigne at
London dioceses, and at last elevating Laud to the
episcopate, thus radically shifting the power-base in favour of the emerging movement.
Charles I took these personnel changes even further when Laud was promised the
archbishopric of Canterbury. As bishop of London, he had been controlling the printing presses since 1628 and prohibiting discussion of predestination. The
York primacy had been filled with a succession of Laudians since the death of Calvinist
Matthews in 1628 and from 1632 it was occupied by
Neile, the one-time mentor of William Laud. In 1628, the
Duke of Buckingham was made Chancellor of
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
and all predestinarian teaching was subsequently banned. This was supported by a royal proclamation which effectively outlawed
Calvinism
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...
on a national level.
There was also a break with Calvinism on a visual level. Upon his translation to the
bishopric of Durham in 1617,
Richard Neile had the communion table transformed into an altar at the east end of the cathedral and supported Laud (then under his patronage) in a similar action at the
dioceses of Gloucester.
In the 1630s, Laud declared that "the altar is the greatest place of God's residence upon earth, greater than the pulpit for there it is ''Hoc est corpus meum'', This is my body; but in the other it is at most but ''Hoc est verbum meum'', This is my word." In November 1633, by act of
Privy Council King Charles I established the precedent that all parochial churches should follow the by then general
cathedral
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
practice of placing communion tables altar-wise at the east end of
chancels.
The visual emphasis that this placed on the
Real Presence and the
Eucharist
The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...
aligned with
Lutheran
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
practice and deemphasized the Calvinist practice of having the pulpit at the centre, which emphasized
preaching
A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. E ...
.
Laud was concerned with conformity in the Church and the Puritans who did not follow the services as written in the
Liturgy
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...
found in the
Book of Common Prayer
The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...
were labeled
Nonconformists.
Laudianism and the English Civil War
The 1630s saw deepening polarization of religious opinion influenced by reactions to tracts, sermons and lobbying. The religious changes Laud and King Charles tried to implement in Scotland culminating with the Prayer Book of 1637 which was produced under Laud for Scotland led to the formation of the Puritan
Covenanters
Covenanters were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. It originated in disputes with James VI and his son ...
and the start of the
Bishops' Wars
The Bishops' Wars were two separate conflicts fought in 1639 and 1640 between Scotland and England, with Scottish Royalists allied to England. They were the first of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which also include the First and Second En ...
After the 1640s, King Charles and any of the
Cavalier
The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...
s who supported him, found themselves under attack from the
Roundhead
Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...
s. More books were published by Puritans attacking the Divine right of Kings, the most well known of which is
Lex, Rex. Furthermore attacks on the episcopacy increased as both issues were linked, because in the 17th century 'true religion' and 'good government' were seen as mutually dependent. In general, Laudian
Royalists supported a
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
governed by
bishops
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
, appointed by, and answerable to, the king, while most
Parliamentarians were Puritans and believed he was answerable to the
leaders of the church, appointed by their congregations, or to the
congregations themselves.
One reason was that bishops held a variety of non-religious roles which impacted all levels of society; they acted as state censors, who were able to ban sermons and writings, while ordinary people could be tried by
church courts
In organized Christianity, an ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain non-adversarial courts conducted by church-approved officials having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. Histo ...
for crimes including
blasphemy
Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...
,
heresy
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy.
Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...
,
fornication
Fornication generally refers to consensual sexual intercourse between two people who are not married to each other. When a married person has consensual sexual relations with one or more partners whom they are not married to, it is called adu ...
and other 'sins of the flesh', as well as matrimonial or inheritance disputes. As members of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
, bishops often blocked legislation opposed by the Crown; their ousting from Parliament by the
Clergy Act 1640
The Clergy Act 1640 ( 16 Cha. 1. c. 27), also known as the Bishops Exclusion Act, or the Clerical Disabilities Act, was an act of the Parliament of England, effective 13 February 1642 that prevented men in holy orders from exercising any temp ...
was a major step on the road to war, since it meant Charles could no longer prevent passage of legislation that he opposed.
Their removal temporarily ended censorship, and especially in London led to an explosion in the printing of pamphlets, books and sermons, many advocating radical religious and political ideas, like doing away with Bishops in favor of a
Congregationalist or
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
form of Church Polity.
The ''Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiasticall'' were passed by the 1640
Convocation
A convocation (from the Latin ''wikt:convocare, convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:ἐκκλησία, ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a specia ...
and they included as Canon VI, a pledge to uphold episcopacy and the current Anglican hierarchy.
During the
First English Civil War
The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An estimated 15% to 20% of adult males in England and Wales served in the military at some point b ...
Priests and bishops who had gathered in Convocation to draft the canons of 1640, within months, were unable to enforce them. By December 1640 thirteen bishops had been impeached, with another dozen having followed them by December 1641. Within eight weeks of the opening of Parliament, the Houses were calling not for the restoration of the Anglican church, but the abolition of the entire ecclesiastical order and its reconstruction in a
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...
mold.
During the conflicts
the removal of ecclesiastical judges and the abolition of the High Commission meant that the Established Church was unprotected on a parish level since the Church could no longer charge anyone with a crime. Prayer books and
surplices were torn up; communion tables were relocated and
altar rails were burned by the Puritans.
The re-establishment of the Anglican Church, would not occur until
the Restoration in 1660 when
William Juxon, who gave King Charles I his last rites, was made Archbishop of Canterbury.
See also
*
William Laud
William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I of England, Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Caroline era#Religion, Charles I's religious re ...
*
King Charles the Martyr and
Charles I of England
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649.
Charles was born ...
*
Arminianism in the Church of England
*
Caroline Divines
*
High church
A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...
*
Central churchmanship
*
Divine right of kings
*
English Civil War
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
*
Puritanism
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should ...
Further reading
* Lake, Peter (2023). ''On Laudianism: Piety, Polemic and Politics During the Personal Rule of Charles I''. Cambridge University Press.
*Bourne, E. C. E. (1947). ''The Anglicanism of William Laud''. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
References
Citations
Sources
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* }
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* {{cite book, first=Nicholas, last= Tyacke, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YcGqImx4wjQC&pg=PA53, chapter= Puritanism, Arminianism and Counter-revolution, editor-first=Margo , editor-last=Todd , title=Reformation to revolution: politics and religion in early modern England, publisher=
Routledge
Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...
, date= 1994, isbn=0-415-09691-X
17th-century Protestantism
Anglican Churchmanship
Christian theological movements
History of the Church of England
Arminianism