This collection of essays by historians and literary scholars treats English history and culture from the Reformation to the Glorious Revolution as a single coherent period in which religion was a dominant element in political and cultural life. It explores the close linkage between religion and politics in the period through the examination of a wide variety of literary and nonliterary texts. Normal period and disciplinary distinctions are broken down, as post-Reformation culture is shown struggling with major issues of belief and authority.