David Cressy was born in England and educated at Cambridge, but built his career in the United States. He has taught at colleges and universities in California, Ohio, and New Mexico, and has won numerous fellowships and awards. His work is driven by curiosity about the relationships of central and local authority, elite and popular culture, official and unofficial religion, and ordinary men and women, a curiosity that ranges from kinship to book-burning, from cross-dressing to Gypsies. When not engaged in historical research he may be found exploring the deserts and beaches of the American West.

An invaluable case study in the evolution of historical scholarship, popular memory, and national mythology.

• Preface ; Prologue: Lucy Martin's Message ; Introduction ; 1. The Commonwealth of England ; 2. The Oath of a King ; 3. Sacred Kingship and Dutiful Subjection ; 4. Unprosperous Wars ; 5. An Accessible Monarch? ; 6. Importunate Petitioners ; 7. The King's Religion and the People's Church ; 8. The King's Declaration and the People's Sports ; 9. Sacred Kingship Eclipsed ; 10. The Blindness of Charles I ; Bibliography ; Notes ; Index

David Cressy was born in England and educated at Cambridge, but built his career in the United States. He has taught at colleges and universities in California, Ohio, and New Mexico, and has won numerous fellowships and awards. His work is driven by curiosity about the relationships of central and local authority, elite and popular culture, official and unofficial religion, and ordinary men and women, a curiosity that ranges from kinship to book-burning, from cross-dressing to Gypsies. When not engaged in historical research he may be found exploring the deserts and beaches of the American West.

An invaluable case study in the evolution of historical scholarship, popular memory, and national mythology.

• Preface ; Prologue: Lucy Martin's Message ; Introduction ; 1. The Commonwealth of England ; 2. The Oath of a King ; 3. Sacred Kingship and Dutiful Subjection ; 4. Unprosperous Wars ; 5. An Accessible Monarch? ; 6. Importunate Petitioners ; 7. The King's Religion and the People's Church ; 8. The King's Declaration and the People's Sports ; 9. Sacred Kingship Eclipsed ; 10. The Blindness of Charles I ; Bibliography ; Notes ; Index

David Cressy was born in England and educated at Cambridge, but built his career in the United States. He has taught at colleges and universities in California, Ohio, and New Mexico, and has won numerous fellowships and awards. His work is driven by curiosity about the relationships of central and local authority, elite and popular culture, official and unofficial religion, and ordinary men and women, a curiosity that ranges from kinship to book-burning, from cross-dressing to Gypsies. When not engaged in historical research he may be found exploring the deserts and beaches of the American West.

An invaluable case study in the evolution of historical scholarship, popular memory, and national mythology.

• Preface ; Prologue: Lucy Martin's Message ; Introduction ; 1. The Commonwealth of England ; 2. The Oath of a King ; 3. Sacred Kingship and Dutiful Subjection ; 4. Unprosperous Wars ; 5. An Accessible Monarch? ; 6. Importunate Petitioners ; 7. The King's Religion and the People's Church ; 8. The King's Declaration and the People's Sports ; 9. Sacred Kingship Eclipsed ; 10. The Blindness of Charles I ; Bibliography ; Notes ; Index