The Tudor and Stuart inns of court were major centres of learning and literature, as well as professional associations of practising lawyers. This book sketches the evolution of the inns from their medieval origins and traces the dramatic impact of the societies' rapid expansion through the Elizabethan era and beyond. Prest's comprehensive study based on original sources surveys the structure and functions of the inns, outlining key aspects, from tensions between junior and senior members to the nature and effectiveness of their educational role. Its lively prose locates the inns within the cultural, political, religious, and social context of Shakespearean and pre-civil war England. This corrected and revised second edition of a classic work addresses recent scholarship on the early modern inns of court and includes a new chapter introducing the book to twenty-first-century readers.

This 1998 study describes the most neglected site of political, religious and literary culture in early modern England: the court pulpits of Elizabeth I and James I. It unites the most fertile strains in early modern British history - the court and religion. Dr McCullough shows work previous to his own underestimated the place of religion in courtly culture, and presents evidence of the competing religious patronage not only of Elizabeth and James but also of Queen Anne, Prince Henry and Prince Charles. The book contextualises the political, religious and literary careers of court preachers such as Lancelot Andrewes, John Donne and William Laud, and presents evidence of the tensions between sermon- and sacrament-centred piety in the established Church period. Additional web resources provide the reader with a definitive calendar of court sermons for the period.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1955.

The Oxford Handbook of the Early Modern Sermon is the first book to survey this rich new field for both students and specialists. It is divided into sections devoted to sermon composition, delivery, and reception; sermons in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; English Sermons, 1500-1660; and English Sermons, 1660-1720.