11 - A British Patriarchy? Ecclesiastical Imperialism under the Later Stuarts

Summary

Twenty years ago John Morrill offered a searching and combative account of the interactions between the state Churches of England, Scotland, and Ireland under the early Stuarts in a festschrift for Patrick Collinson. Conrad Russell was wrong to delineate efforts to achieve English ecclesiastical hegemony across the British Isles: there was simply no court-based, Laudian plan to entrench a ‘British patriarchy’ that would subordinate the Churches of Scotland and Ireland to control from Canterbury. In keeping with Morrill's broader thinking on ‘the British problem’, this was certainly not to deny significant and increasingly controversial interactions between the three kingdoms. James VI & I may not have sought a clear union of the three Churches, but he did become ‘sloppy’ about protecting the autonomy and equality of the state Churches beyond England as he strove for ‘congruity’. Charles I did not aim to impose complete uniformity of religious practice throughout the islands of Britain and Ireland, but he did have a ‘British policy’, one that placed a common stress on the discretionary powers of the crown. In this account, Laud aided and instructed Charles in how best to achieve his goals within each kingdom, but did not covet immediate personal powers over Scottish and Irish clergy. Furthermore, Laud's influence beyond England varied considerably. In Ireland he enjoyed a close personal relationship with Wentworth, and could rely on active support from John Bramhall, bishop of Derry. But in Scotland he had to be ‘far more circumspect’ in his activity.