Author: Winston James File Type: pdf

Author: Ethan H. Shagan File Type: pdf Why was it that whenever the Tudor-Stuart regime most loudly trumpeted its moderation, the regime was at its most vicious? With the answer to this fundamental question at its heart, The Rule of Moderation comprehensively rewrites the history of early modern England, showing that many of its key developments-the via media of Anglicanism, the rise of the middle sort, the idea of political liberty, the development of empire, the rise of religious toleration-were defined and defended as instances of coercive and aggressive moderation, producing the middle way through the forcible restraint of apparently dangerous excesses in Church, state and society. Ethan Shagan draws on literary and historical sources to illuminate the subtle violence of English history and explain how, paradoxically, England came to represent reason, civility and moderation to a world it slowly conquered. The quintessentially English quality of moderation was, at heart, an ideology of control.ReviewThis is a lively and provocative, but also deeply illuminating and richly suggestive work from one of the most original and stimulating historians currently working in the early modern period. Professor Shagan scores many a palpable hit in this wonderfully sustained critique of early modern historians sloppy tendency to essentialize moderation and moderate, and to misread these terms relative, polemical function in the sources of the period. It should be required reading for all those working on early modern British history. - Anthony Milton, University of SheffieldDiscussion of Englands religious moderation has over the centuries been attended by much woolly thinking and some downright intellectual and historical dishonesty. There can be few people better able than Ethan Shagan to take a scalpel to this body of material, given the sophistication and detachment of his historical analysis and his ability to look at old problems in new ways. -Diarmaid MacCulloch, University of OxfordA profound and important book, which deserves to be widely discussed and debated. Shagan issues a provocative challenge to complacent acceptance of claims about the intrinsic or relative moderation of Englands church, system of government, and empire, from pre-modern into modern times. -Peter Marshall, University of Warwick Book DescriptionThe ideal of moderation is central to English history and identity. But Ethan H. Shagan argues that in early modern England, it was a profoundly coercive tool of social, religious and political power. This important new book illuminates the periods subtle violence and offers many original insights into English history.