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Philip Williamson's Outputs (19)

The Creation of State Anniversaries: James VI and I and the Politics of Thanksgiving (2024)
Journal Article
Williamson, P., & Mears, N. (online). The Creation of State Anniversaries: James VI and I and the Politics of Thanksgiving. The English Historical Review, Article ceae205. 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.

Hensley Henson and the appointment of bishops: state, church and nation in England, 1917–1920 and Beyond (2023)
Journal Article
Williamson, P. (2023). Hensley Henson and the appointment of bishops: state, church and nation in England, 1917–1920 and Beyond. Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 74(2), 325-348. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022046922002032

The nomination of Hensley Henson as bishop of Hereford in 1917 provoked a famous ecclesiastical controversy, the ‘Hereford scandal’, which threatened a split within the Church of England and a crisis between the Church and the State. The point of con... Read More about Hensley Henson and the appointment of bishops: state, church and nation in England, 1917–1920 and Beyond.

The Church of England and constitutional reform: the Enabling Act in British politics and English religion, 1913–1928 (2023)
Journal Article
Williamson, P. (2023). The Church of England and constitutional reform: the Enabling Act in British politics and English religion, 1913–1928. Journal of British Studies, 62(2), 445-475. https://doi.org/10.1017/jbr.2022.174

In 1919, a parliamentary act reconstructed the relations between the British state and the Church of England. The passage of this act had considerable constitutional, political, ecclesiastical, and religious significance, and it is best understood by... Read More about The Church of England and constitutional reform: the Enabling Act in British politics and English religion, 1913–1928.

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 ‘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.

‘Special worship in the British Empire: from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries’ (2018)
Journal Article
Hardwick, J., & Williamson, P. (2018). ‘Special worship in the British Empire: from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries’. Studies in Church History, 54, 260-280. https://doi.org/10.1017/stc.2017.14

Across the British empire, public worship was important for sustaining a sense of community and connectedness. This was most evident in special acts of worship, when the peoples of imperial territories, and sometimes of the whole empire, were asked a... Read More about ‘Special worship in the British Empire: from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries’.

National days of prayer: the churches, the state and public worship in Britain 1899-1957 (2013)
Journal Article
Williamson, P. (2013). National days of prayer: the churches, the state and public worship in Britain 1899-1957. The English Historical Review, 128(531), 324-366. https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/ces182

A terrible war had been followed by a harsh winter: trade was poor, money was scarce, and food, fuel and other essentials were in short supply. Extraordinary measures seemed necessary, so the king on the advice of his archbishop and chief minister su... Read More about National days of prayer: the churches, the state and public worship in Britain 1899-1957.

State prayers, fasts and thanksgivings: public worship in Britain 1830–1897 (2008)
Journal Article
Williamson, P. (2008). State prayers, fasts and thanksgivings: public worship in Britain 1830–1897. Past & Present: A Journal of Historical Studies, 200(1), 121-174. https://doi.org/10.1093/pastj/gtm057

Among the more remarkable activities of the mid nineteenth-century British state was its practice of ordering special acts of national worship — either new prayers to be read in all churches for particular dates or periods, or whole days set aside fo... Read More about State prayers, fasts and thanksgivings: public worship in Britain 1830–1897.

Baldwin's reputation: politics and history, 1937-1967 (2004)
Journal Article
Williamson, P. (2004). Baldwin's reputation: politics and history, 1937-1967. Historical Journal, 47(1), 127-168. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0018246x03003546

In one fundamental sense, a British post-war consensus certainly existed: repudiation and denigration of interwar governments and their leaders. Stanley Baldwin was the chief victim, as it became widely believed during the 1940s that he had ‘failed t... Read More about Baldwin's reputation: politics and history, 1937-1967.

'Safety First': Baldwin, the Conservative party, and the 1929 general election (1982)
Journal Article
Williamson, P. (1982). 'Safety First': Baldwin, the Conservative party, and the 1929 general election. Historical Journal, 25(2), 385-409. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0018246x00011614

The Conservative party's preparations for the 1929 general election have been harshly treated by historians. Because the election was lost, they have understandably concentrated on explaining the defeat and so looked for weaknesses in Conservative le... Read More about 'Safety First': Baldwin, the Conservative party, and the 1929 general election.