Abstract
Previous scholarship has often employed the categories of ‘voluntary’ and ‘established’ religion when studying lay involvement in parish religion; yet these categories do not provide adequate space for the vitality of lay religious initiatives during the English Reformation. Through a study of the singing of metrical psalms, this article argues that the categories of ‘inspiration’ and ‘institution’ provide a more nuanced understanding of lay religious initiatives during the English Reformation. It outlines the ways in which the singing of metrical psalms, taken from the Sternhold and Hopkins Whole Booke of Psalmes, moved from its origins in domestic devotions, through inspirational initiative, to become an institutionalized part of the worship of English congregations. This process developed over many years, coming to the fore during the reign of Elizabeth I, yet even once institutionalization had occurred, inspiration could still arise, providing fresh direction and development.
Highlights
Previous scholarship has often employed the categories of ‘voluntary’ and ‘established’ religion when studying lay involvement in parish religion; yet these categories do not provide adequate space for the vitality of lay religious initiatives during the English Reformation
Through a study of the singing of metrical psalms, this article argues that the categories of ‘inspiration’ and ‘institution’ provide a more nuanced understanding of lay religious initiatives during the English Reformation
It outlines the ways in which the singing of metrical psalms, taken from the Sternhold and Hopkins Whole Booke of Psalmes, moved from its origins in domestic devotions, through inspirational initiative, to become an institutionalized part of the worship of English congregations
Summary
Previous scholarship has often employed the categories of ‘voluntary’ and ‘established’ religion when studying lay involvement in parish religion; yet these categories do not provide adequate space for the vitality of lay religious initiatives during the English Reformation. Its inclusion was initiated by individuals as well as groups such as congregations, and while the singing of metrical psalms did not receive an official mandate – in contrast to, for example, the requirement that parishes purchase and use the Book of Common Prayer – the practice established itself as a central element of congregational worship In this early phase, to use Haigh’s terminology, the process of institutionalization occurred ‘from below’ in that individual parishes decided to adopt it, as opposed to ‘from above’ as a requirement for all parishes.[24] as early as April 1559, the London chronicler Henry Machyn recorded how ‘boyth prychers and odur [others], and [women,] [sang] of a nuw fassyon’.25.
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