ABSTRACT
Historians such as Peter White and G W Bernard have argued that very few of the policies associated with Laudianism can be regarded as novel. Each area of alleged “innovation” was, in fact, anticipated by earlier policies. This chapter argues that the 1630s did witness an important shift in English church policy, though the practical effects of this change were decidedly mixed. It is true that each area of Laudian reform, viewed in isolation, had a precedent in previous regimes, and the underlying theme of “order and decency” can be traced to the earliest stages of the English Reformation. The impact of Laudianism was well illustrated in the county of Warwickshire. The county was divided between the dioceses of Lichfield and Worcester; but the metropolitan initiatives of the 1630s ensured that similar policies were implemented across the region. Taken as a whole, the consistency and scale of Laudian policies represented a significant break with the past.
