Emma Hartley

Supervisors: 

• Anthony Milton (Primary)
• Tom Leng (Secondary)
• Dr Paul Seaward (History of Parliament Trust)

Period:

1500-1800

Thesis abstract:

In collaboration with the History of Parliament Trust, this thesis will analyse the presence and activities of bishops in Parliament from the Elizabethan Settlement in 1559 to 1642 which saw the ejection of bishops from the House of Lords and the beginning of the English Civil War. It will review to what extent bishops were able to influence or block parliamentary legislation, and how such authority wavered or declined over time.  The period under review witnessed numerous parliamentary debates and conflicts over the nature of religious supremacy and indeed the role of episcopacy, and so it remains for this project to analyse how bishops interacted and maneuvered amid such tension, and how they were perceived by contemporaries.