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Catholic Social Networks in Early Modern England: Kinship, Gender, and Coexistence. By Susan M. Cogan. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2021. 296 pp. € 113,00 cloth.

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settlement on those subject to ecclesiastical discipline would be worthwhile. Muirhead’s main sources are the records of the presbyteries and parishes, to which he adds a wide range of other… Click to show full abstract

settlement on those subject to ecclesiastical discipline would be worthwhile. Muirhead’s main sources are the records of the presbyteries and parishes, to which he adds a wide range of other local records, correspondence, sermons, and the life-writings of the comparatively well-known contemporary clergy George Turnbull and Thomas Boston. Through close attention to these sources, he is able to follow the struggles of ministers and elders to exercise discipline, and the successes and failures of the presbyteries in settling ministers, in pleasing detail. Even when tracking convoluted court cases and dilatory ecclesiastical business, Muirhead’s prose is clear and entertaining. Throughout the book, readers are treated to insights that arise from a mastery of local sources and contexts. This is evident not only in Muirhead’s comments about the social status of elders and heritors (landowners), but also in his accounts of religious politics in Stirling, the region’s main urban center. The book’s final chapter, which assesses local participation in the debates over union with England in 1707, exemplifies the nature of Muirhead’s contribution. Residents of Stirlingshire, the members of the presbytery of Dunblane, and inhabitants of the towns of Stirling and Culross and parishes of Tulliallan and St. Ninians submitted addresses to the Scottish parliament against the union. These texts have been edited by Karin Bowie and analyzed in other publications by Bowie and Jeffrey Stephen. Nevertheless, Muirhead’s discussion draws on a fuller appreciation of the dynamics of each locality, adding depth to our interpretation of petitioning against the union. In this and other respects, Muirhead’s book is valuable not so much for asking new questions as for furnishing sophisticated, local perspectives on familiar historical problems. To understand the re-establishment of Presbyterianism in appropriate detail, we could do with several other studies like Muirhead’s. Scottish Presbyterianism Re-Established provides an example for the authors of those books to come.

Keywords: england; social networks; amsterdam; networks early; catholic social; early modern

Journal Title: Church History
Year Published: 2022

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