‘[A] solemne league and contract with the Devill': Narratives of Sin and Desire in A true and exact relation (1645)

This chapter considers how changes to the baptism ceremony in reformation England affected perceptions of infant salvation and indeed the spiritual status of infants more generally. It examines how the removal of the exorcism from the baptismal ceremony changed perceptions of what it meant to be baptised at this time. The chapter explores the richly theatrical nature of the Catholic baptism ceremony as detailed in the Sarum Manual, and then by considering how those who penned the Edwardian Books of Common Prayer removed the exorcism ritual. It shows what the potential impact of the key liturgical changes may have been for reformers of the English reformation. Baptism was intimately related to early modern perceptions of the spiritual status of children, and to beliefs about child salvation; furthermore, these perceptions were related to, and problematised by, changes to the baptismal ceremony.