The Devil's Book

Charles I, The Book of Sports and Puritanism in Tudor and Early Stuart England

Alistair Dougall

The Devil's Book
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Alistair Dougall

Distributed for Liverpool University Press

230 pages | 8 halftones | 6 1/4 x 9 1/4 | © 2011
Cloth $99.95 ISBN: 9780859898560 Published October 2011 For sale in North and South America only
 Originally published in 1617 by James I, the royal declaration commonly known as The Book of Sports was republished by Charles I in 1633. The Book of Sports sanctioned participation in “lawful recreations,” such as archery and dancing, after church attendance on Sundays. Radical Protestants sought to oppress all Sunday recreations, and the cultural battle over Sunday observance and traditional pastimes intensified.


This new work by Alistair Dougall examines the events surrounding the republication of The Book of Sports. It argues that this provocative and divisive statement of royal policy was a key factor in England’s eventual descent into the civil wars of the 1640s.

John Morrill, University of Cambridge
 “A rich telling of an important story of developing tensions within English Protestantism. . . . A well conceived and very well executed study. . . . I can warmly commend this book to you.”
Contents

List of illustrations
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Chronology
Glossary
Introduction

1. ‘Vain, stupid, profane games’: Medieval attitudes to the playing of sports on the Sabbath and other holy days
2. The impact of the break with Rome
3. The reign of Elizabeth I and the battle over the Lord’s Day
4. James I’s ‘dancing book’ and the politicization of ‘Saint Sabbath’
5. The Book of Sports and the reign of Charles I: From a ‘pious Statute’ to ‘bloody civil war’
6. Enforcement and reaction: Choosing between the ‘Commandments of God and Man’

Conclusion
Appendix: The text of the 1633 Book of Sports
Notes and references
Bibliography
Index

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History: British and Irish History

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