All Outputs (27)

National Prayers. Special Worship since the Reformation. Volume 4:Anniversary Commemorations, Additional Material and Indices, 1533–2023 (2025)
Book
Taylor, S., Williamson, P., Mears, N., & Raffe, A. (in press). National Prayers. Special Worship since the Reformation. Volume 4:Anniversary Commemorations, Additional Material and Indices, 1533–2023. Boydell Press

A history of the annual British and Irish state and religious anniversaries and occasions of special worship from the sixteenth century to the present.


Since the sixteenth century, the governments and established churches of Britain and Ireland... Read More about National Prayers. Special Worship since the Reformation. Volume 4:Anniversary Commemorations, Additional Material and Indices, 1533–2023.

The Creation of State Anniversaries: James VI and I and the Politics of Thanksgiving (2024)
Journal Article
Williamson, P., & Mears, N. (2025). The Creation of State Anniversaries: James VI and I and the Politics of Thanksgiving. The English Historical Review, 140(602), 71-102. https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/ceae205

Religious anniversaries ordered by the state—by the monarch, royal council or parliament—were observed in England and Ireland from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. These have been studied chiefly as occasions for special sermons and popul... Read More about The Creation of State Anniversaries: James VI and I and the Politics of Thanksgiving.

Star Chamber Matters: An Early Modern Court & Its Records (2021)
Book
Kesselring, K., & Mears, N. (Eds.). (2021). Star Chamber Matters: An Early Modern Court & Its Records. University of London Press

An extraordinary court with late medieval roots in the activities of the king’s council, Star Chamber came into its own over the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, before being abolished in 1641 by members of parliament for what they deemed e... Read More about Star Chamber Matters: An Early Modern Court & Its Records.

Memorials of Queen Elizabeth I in early Stuart London (2021)
Journal Article
Mears, N. (2022). Memorials of Queen Elizabeth I in early Stuart London. The Seventeenth Century, 37(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/0268117x.2020.1867626

At least thirty–eight memorials were erected to Elizabeth I in London parish churches between c. 1606 and c.1633. Though they have been interpreted as critiques of Jacobean foreign policy, this conclusion is not fully supported by extant evidence reg... Read More about Memorials of Queen Elizabeth I in early Stuart London.

James I and Gunpowder treason day (2020)
Journal Article
Williamson, P., & Mears, N. (2021). James I and Gunpowder treason day. Historical Journal, 64(2), 185-210. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0018246x20000497

The assumed source of the annual early-modern English commemoration of Gunpowder treason day on 5 November – and its modern legacy, ‘Guy Fawkes day’ or ‘Bonfire night’ – has been an act of parliament in 1606. This article reveals the existence of ear... Read More about James I and Gunpowder treason day.

The culture of fasting in early Stuart parliaments (2020)
Journal Article
Mears, N. (2020). The culture of fasting in early Stuart parliaments. Parliamentary History, 39(3), 423-441. https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-0206.12522

The fasts, proposed and observed by parliament in the first half of the seventeenth century, have always been defined as opportunities for propaganda. This article focuses instead on their cultural and religious meanings: why MPs believed that the ac... Read More about The culture of fasting in early Stuart parliaments.

National Prayers: Special Worship since the Reformation. Volume 3: Worship for national and royal occasions in the United Kingdom, 1871-2016 (2020)
Book
Williamson, P., Taylor, S., Raffe, A., & Mears, N. (2020). National Prayers: Special Worship since the Reformation. Volume 3: Worship for national and royal occasions in the United Kingdom, 1871-2016

The third of four volumes, containing the edited texts, commentaries and source notes for each of the nearly nine hundred occasions of special worship including the development of national days of prayer during the two world wars,and a proliferation... Read More about National Prayers: Special Worship since the Reformation. Volume 3: Worship for national and royal occasions in the United Kingdom, 1871-2016.

The ‘holy days’ of Queen Elizabeth I (2020)
Journal Article
Mears, N., & Williamson, P. (2020). The ‘holy days’ of Queen Elizabeth I. History, 105(365), 201-228. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-229x.12971

The annual celebrations of the accession day and birthday of Queen Elizabeth I are a familiar subject in studies of her reign, yet their beginnings, status and purpose have remained uncertain. By examining revisions of the calendar of the Church of E... Read More about The ‘holy days’ of Queen Elizabeth I.

National Prayers: Special Worship since the Reformation. Volume 2: General Fasts, Thanksgivings and Special Prayers in the British Isles, 1689-1870 (2017)
Book
Williamson, P., Raffe, A., Taylor, S., & Mears, N. (2017). National Prayers: Special Worship since the Reformation. Volume 2: General Fasts, Thanksgivings and Special Prayers in the British Isles, 1689-1870

The second of four volumes containing the edited texts, commentaries and source notes for each of the nearly nine hundred occasions of special worship and for each of the annual commemorations in England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Since the si... Read More about National Prayers: Special Worship since the Reformation. Volume 2: General Fasts, Thanksgivings and Special Prayers in the British Isles, 1689-1870.

State papers and related collections (2016)
Book Chapter
Mears, N. (2016). State papers and related collections. In L. Sangha, & J. Willis (Eds.), Understanding early modern primary sources (17-34). Routledge

Paul's Cross and nationwide special worship, 1533-1642 (2014)
Book Chapter
Mears, N. (2014). Paul's Cross and nationwide special worship, 1533-1642. In T. Kirby, & P. Stanwood (Eds.), Paul's Cross and the culture of persuasion in England, 1520-1640 (41-60). Brill Academic Publishers

National Prayers: Special Worship since the Reformation. Volume 1: Special Prayers, Fasts and Thanksgivings in the British Isles, 1533-1688. (2013)
Book
Mears, N., Raffe, A., Williamson, P., & Taylor, S. (2013). National Prayers: Special Worship since the Reformation. Volume 1: Special Prayers, Fasts and Thanksgivings in the British Isles, 1533-1688

Special nationwide worship and the Book of Common Prayer in England, Wales and Ireland, 1533-1642 (2013)
Book Chapter
Mears, N. (2013). Special nationwide worship and the Book of Common Prayer in England, Wales and Ireland, 1533-1642. In N. Mears, & A. Ryrie (Eds.), Worship and the parish church in early modern Britain (31-72). Ashgate Publishing

Paul's Cross and special worship (2013)
Preprint / Working Paper
Mears, N. Paul's Cross and special worship

Worship and the Parish Church in Early Modern Britain (2012)
Book
Mears, N., & Ryrie, A. (Eds.). (2012). Worship and the Parish Church in Early Modern Britain. Ashgate Publishing

Introduction’ and ‘Special nationwide worship and the Book of Common Prayer in England, Wales and Ireland, 1533-1642 (2012)
Book Chapter
Mears, N. (2012). Introduction’ and ‘Special nationwide worship and the Book of Common Prayer in England, Wales and Ireland, 1533-1642. In N. Mears, & A. Ryrie (Eds.), Worship and the Parish Church in Early Modern Britain. Ashgate Publishing

Public Worship and political participation in Elizabethan England (2012)
Journal Article
Mears, N. (2012). Public Worship and political participation in Elizabethan England. Journal of British Studies, 51(1), 4-25. https://doi.org/10.1086/662297

Brought to book: special book purchases in English parishes, 1558-1640 (2011)
Book Chapter
Mears, N. (2011). Brought to book: special book purchases in English parishes, 1558-1640. In P. Langman (Ed.), Negotiating the Jacobean printed book (29-44). Ashgate Publishing

The council (2010)
Book Chapter
Mears, N. (2010). The council. In S. Doran, & N. Jones (Eds.), The Elizabethan World (59-75). Routledge

Praying for Britain (2009)
Other
Mears, N. (2009). Praying for Britain