Text

theses

This dissertation assesses the religious and political roles and interpretations of martyrdom in England during the years following the beheading of King Charles I, the climax of the English Revolution. It uses potential martyrs’ own statements and writings as well as published commentaries on their executions to expand our understanding of how a Christian framework of martyrdom could be used to advance various causes in a period of political upheaval. In this way it emphasizes the “contested” nature of martyrdom, which was always subject to debate. Previous studies of martyrdom during the Roman period as well as during the Protestant and Catholic Reformations have emphasized the role of dying for one’s beliefs in the broader development of Christianity. This project extends that field into the mid-seventeenth century, when professed Protestants of various stripes were executed for treason, an ostensibly political cause, by the evolving English State—whether Parliament, the Lord Protector, or the restored King Charles II. With a few exceptions, the condemned men were engaged in political intrigues against a particular government; but they usually characterized their deaths as religiously motivated, at least in part, thereby turning their deaths into martyrdoms, blood sacrifices for a greater good. In this way, they seized control of the official performance of ritual punishment, transforming the State’s intended message and instead defending and advancing their own causes. Their professions of faith had the further effect of sacralizing an otherwise secular cause: the structure of a civil government. The process unfolded similarly whether individuals died for the cause of the late King Charles I or in defense of the English Revolution, suggesting that the English understanding of martyrdom was adapting to political changes, as well as to the growing role of print media in disseminating political arguments. Martyrs’ own performances were reappropriated after their deaths, adopted for new causes by their successors, even causes that they would likely have rejected had they still been alive.

ETD_6869

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Mark Thomas Duggan

doi:10.7282/T3VM4F6N

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.