Birth, Marriage, and Death

A vivid picture of the classic rites of passage in Tudor and Stuart England.

From childbirth and baptism through to courtship, weddings, and funerals, every stage in the life-cycle of Tudor and Stuart England was accompanied by ritual. Even under the protestantism of the reformed Church, the spiritual and social dramas of birth, marriage, and death were graced with elaborate ceremony. Powerful and controversial protocols were in operation, shaped and altered by the influences of the Reformation, the Revolution, and the Restoration.

Using fascinating first-hand evidence, David Cressy shows how the making and the re-making of ritual formed part of a continuing debate, sometimes strained and occasionally acrimonious, which exposed the raw nerves of society in the midst of great historical events. In doing so, he vividly brings to life the common experiences of living and dying in Tudor and Stuart England.

`...a massive compendium of information...its material is so extensive and often so novel in itself that it opens a door on a lost world of experience, dispelling popular myths and removing areas of scholarly ignorance.'
Times Literary Supplement, June 1997

`David Cressy's detailed study examines how each elaborate rite of passage was shaped and altered by the wider events of the Reformation, the Commonwealth, and the Restoration.'
History Today, April 1997

`...detailed and absorbing book.'
The Observer, May 1997