Contact
Expertise Summary
I am happy to supervise postgraduate work on all aspects of English religious and political culture and the social and urban history of early modern England.
Much of my work has focused on early modern London and these interests in urban history are reflected in a number of activities: I serve on the advisory board of the Pre-Modern Towns, (which organizes the yearly Pre-Modern Towns Conference) and I also convene the Medieval and Tudor London seminar, held at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London.
Teaching Summary
My teaching reflects my research interests in early modern religion, politics and cultural history. My second year option, A Protestant Nation? Politics, Religion and Culture in England, 1558-1640,… read more
Research Summary
My research interests lie in the intersections between the social, religious and cultural history of early modern England, with particular reference to the history of London. My first monograph, The Social World of Early Modern Westminster: Abbey, Court and Community, 1525-1640 (2005), explored themes ranging from the impact of the Reformation and the early development of the West End to the social history of the royal court, the competing use of space by different social groups, and the impact of plague and poverty. I have also worked on perceptions of early modern London--most notably in the work of John Stow and his successors, including an online edition of John Strype's famous 1720 edition of the Survey of London (2007)--and the political career of Charles I's minister, Thomas Wentworth, earl of Strafford. (see publications)
My most recent monograph, Westminster 1640-1660: A Royal City in a Time of Revolution (2013), investigates the varied and fascinating ways that this area-traditionally home to the royal court, the fashionable West End and parliament-became the seat of successive, non-monarchical regimes of the 1640s and 1650s. In doing so it uncovers previously unknown features of the capital's political heart during these revolutionary decades, ie. the impact of militarization, the fluctuating fortunes of the aristocratic West End, and the complex and dynamic character of religious life. It also uncovers the hitherto unstudied story of the appropriation of Westminster Abbey by governments of the day and its use for ceremonial purposes to legitimate their authority.
Current Research
A main focus of my current research is the complex relationship between religion and urban society. This is the focus of articles and a monograph- provisionally entitled Sacred and Profane in Early Modern London--which investigates the ways in which the boundaries of the sacred--with regard to space, time and people--were contested, redrawn and renegotiated over this period, as revealed in a range of social and cultural practices in the early modern capital.
Articles (recent or forthcoming) include:
'Monarchy, Protestantism and Revolution,1603-1714', in David Cannadine, ed. Westminster Abbey and the Nation (Yale University Press, 2019), 178-223.
'Voluntary Military Organizations, Associational Life and Urban Culture in Early Modern England', The Seventeenth Century, November, 2020 (forthcoming). [available online]
I continue to be interested in social, cultural and spatial developments in the metropolis during the seventeenth century, especially the social and cultural impact of the gentry and aristocracy.
Supervision
I would be happy to supervise research on any aspect of the social, religious, cultural and urban history of early modern England, and would particularly welcome enquiries from anyone wishing to study early modern London.
Research-Related Administrative Roles
I am currently Site Director for the Midlands4Cities Doctoral Partnership, 2020-
I have been a member of the AHRC Peer Review College since 2013 and have been reappointed for a second term. I have also served on Panel A for the assessment of PhD applications to the Midlands 3 Cities consortia since 2015.
I served as Department of History's Director of Research from September 2013-February 2016, sitting on the School of Humanities Research Committee during this period.
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Selected Publications
J.F. MERRITT, 2017. 'Religion and the English Parish'. In: Reformation and Identity: The Early Struggle for Anglicanism, c. 1520-1662: The Oxford History of Anglicanism Oxford University Press.
MERRITT, J.F., 2013. Westminster 1640-60: a royal city in a time of revolution Manchester University Press.
My teaching reflects my research interests in early modern religion, politics and cultural history. My second year option, A Protestant Nation? Politics, Religion and Culture in England, 1558-1640, charts the problematic impact of religious change in the period 1560-1640. My Special Subject, From Gunpowder Plot to Spanish Match: The Reign of James I (1603-1625) deals with the interplay of politics and religion, examining parliamentary politics, religious identity and co-existence, and the emergence of print culture and popular politics. It draws on a wide range primary sources, such as letters, diaries, speeches, printed pamphlets, popular libels and visual sources. At MA level, I devised the module Exploring English Identity and also teach on the new module for those interested in early modern history, Conflict and Coexistence in Early Modern Europe, where students devise an extended essay around their own particular interests, supervised on a one-to-one basis..