Disruption

Three main topics are discussed in this chapter. One is the Hampton Court conference, the first of three largely unsuccessful attempts to take account of objections to the Book of Common Prayer on the part of “godly” protestant nonconformists. Another is the counter-puritan movement known as Laudianism and the abortive Prayer Book for Scotland, known as “Laud’s Liturgy.” The third topic is the parliamentary abolishment of the Prayer Book in England, which had the unintended consequence of elevating its status as a sacred text for those who continued to use it until its return as the Church of England’s statutory liturgy at the restoration of monarchy in 1660.