Westminster Abbey Reformed 1540–1640

Title first published in 2003. Westminster Abbey occupies a unique position in the religious and royal landscape of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. As the scene of coronations and other great public occasions, it has been the continuing focus of the nation's religious life for half the Christian era. Yet the building itself would not have survived the upheavals of the Protestant Reformation had the institution running it not been itself 'reformed' from monastery into collegiate church. These nine studies discuss ways in which Westminster's new corporate structure evolved in the first century of its existence, and look at some of the personalities who played a part in that process. New research, much of it in the Abbey's own rich archive, opens up previously unseen views of this great church's internal affairs, its relationship with the Crown, and its place in its own locality.

Contents: Preface; Introduction: Westminster Abbey from Reformation to Revolution; King's College, C.S. Knighton; John Redman, the gentle ambler, Ashley Null; The sanctuary, David Loades; The musicians of Westminster Abbey, 1540-1640, Stanford Lehmberg; The coronations of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I and the transformation of the Tudor Monarchy, Dale Hoak; 'Under the shadowe of the church'?: the Abbey and the town of Westminster 1530-1640, J.F. Merritt; Richard Neile, Dean of Westminster 1605-1610: home grown talent makes its mark, Andrew Foster; Canon fire: Peter Heylyn at Westminster, Anthony Milton; The Lord of Jerusalem: John Williams as Dean of Westminster, C.S. Knighton; Index.