The Scholastique Catechisme of Tristram Sugge: Reconciling Ecclesial and Monarchical Authority During the English Civil Wars

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article introduces a new manuscript written in c.1648, A Scholastique Catechisme, Wherein ye Mysteries of Christianity are unfolded by way of Dialogue, by Tristram Sugge (1610–1661), a Royalist and episcopalian divine at Wadham College, Oxon. It is argued that the catechism’s primary function was to promote both monarchical authority and an episcopal Church independent of the monarchy. This is achieved through an innovative deployment of established arguments of patriarchal kingship, and the writing of it was prompted by Sugge’s fears of a religious compromise between Charles I and the Covenanters and/or Parliamentarians in the later 1640s. The Scholastique Catechisme offers an insight into the key concerns of Sugge’s milieu at this time, and is testament to the radical potential of Royalist Anglican thought.