How people power fuelled England's century of chaos

Charles I's clashes with parliament may dominate the history books, but behind the turmoil of the 17th century lay something deeper: a political awakening of the people 

- JONATHAN HEALEY

William Juxon, bishop of London 1633-49. His attempts to assess parishioners met angry responses

On an autumn day in 1640, poor Arthur Duck found himself caught between rocks and a wet place. On the north bank of the Thames in London, he faced a hostile and rapidly swelling throng. Hastily boarding a boat, he fled across the heaving river to the safety of Lambeth Palace as his assailants hurled stones at him, chanting and making cacophonous quacking sounds. This assault marked the nadir of a particularly fraught period for the unfortunate Duck - and also reflected rising tensions that defined the 17th century.

Born in the Devon countryside, Duck had by 1640 reached the venerable age of 60. A church lawyer, he had held legal posts in several of England's great bishoprics. Indeed, he'd made an ally of the prickly archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud, who found Duck's expertise useful in a litigious age.

By the later months of that year, though, Duck was in the service of another prelate: William Juxon, bishop of London. It was on Juxon's orders that Duck embarked on a "visitation": touring the diocese to assess the state of things. Were parishioners behaving themselves? Were the church laws being obeyed?

What Duck found was very worrisome. Far from complying with the laws, people were angry about recent religious reforms. Supported by King Charles I, Archbishop Laud had pushed a policy of "beautifying" churches, enforcing strictly hierarchical forms of worship, and exalting the

clergy. These Laudian reforms had some support, but plenty of people - especially in the more religiously radical areas near London - saw them as authoritarian, and too close to Catholicism.