Laudianism was both a way of being Christian and a political ideology. This definitive account
establishes the theological roots and political resonances of Laudianism and shows how it was
based on the recuperation of the theological principles and ecclesiastical and pietistic
ambitions that underpinned it. Peter Lake shows how the Laudians' famous obsession with the
beauty of holiness contained a plan for the reinvigoration of both the church and the state. It
represented a self-conscious reaction against the long-term evils of puritanism and of the
immediate political crisis of the 1620s caused in turn by the evils of (an often puritan)
popularity. The result was a coherent account of the theological liturgical and political
essence of the Church of England. On Laudianism explores how this intensely controversial
movement and the strong reactions it provoked helped cause the English Civil War but over
the long term provided one of the visions of the national church one that has been in
contention to define 'Anglicanism' ever since.
