Protestants Beyond the Seas : The Practice of English Protestantism in Maritime Contexts, c.1560-1660

This book examines the religious activities and perspectives of those merchants, mariners, planters, and mostly, preachers, who participated on the front lines of England's early efforts at overseas expansion in an effort to understand the varied practice of English Protestantism in England's emergent commercial empire of the mid-seventeenth century.

As a contribution to the field of early modern English religious and cultural history, this project concludes that the London mercantile community can be seen as participating in the evangelical agenda set by many in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, especially Archbishop George Abbot. Mercantile Protestantism, as promoted by London merchants and preachers, was highly conservative. The merchants worked hard to keep their spiritual ministries free from interference by ecclesiastical and political officials, demonstrated consistent preference for the Calvinist theological consensus, promoted devotional activities usually associated with the practice of moderate puritanism, and remained committed to the Crown's authority as the mid-century crisis approached. Additionally, as this project provides contextualized examination of the practice of English Protestantism on the frontlines of British commercial expansion, it offers a major contribution to the discussion of the relationship of English Protestantism to imperialism and national identity. English Protestantism was not a major cause of commercial expansion. On the contrary, patriotic English Protestantism seems to have been, at least in part, a result of expansion. Since there was no coherent royal policy directing expansionist endeavors in these years, English Protestantism provided a surrogate coherence that formed a context within which English Protestant merchants, ambassadors, planters, and overseas preachers could interpret their activities of commercial expansion.