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‘Courage, Language, Discretion and Learning’: Lancelot Andrewes and Early Modern Religious Culture

Friday 26 March 2021, 1.00PM to 27 March 2021

Speaker(s): The conference will feature plenary addresses from Peter McCullough (Lincoln College, Oxford) and Kathryn Murphy (Oriel College, Oxford).

Since recent re-assessments of his work, this conference will be the first to explore the writings of Bishop Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626) and his engagement with early modern cultures of religion, literature and learning. Andrewes was the most renowned elite preacher of his generation. His sermons were celebrated by listeners, readers and poets; he occupied powerful roles in the Jacobean court, and his writings paved the way for later reforms in the English church. Andrewes was a famous polemicist, a major translator of the King James Bible, an internationally respected scholar, and an influential teacher at Cambridge. This conference intends to explore his writings in all their variety.

More details about the online format and the schedule will be available in the new year and accessible on the CREMS website.

Conference Program

Day 1 Friday, 26th March 2021

12.45pm GMT Zoom link opens and Welcome
1-2.00     Plenary 1
(chair: Tilly Zeeman)

Peter McCullough (University of Oxford)
Andrewes and Apophatic Biography 
2-2.15 Break
2.15-3.45   Panel 1: Language and theology
(chair: Subha Mukherji)

Shiran Avni (University College London)
‘Halfe Hebrew halfe Greek’: Lancelot Andrewes’s Christian Hebraism
Alison Knight (Royal Holloway, University of London)
The Odious Original: Andrewes and Scriptural Indecorum
Esther Osorio Whewell (University of Cambridge)
Spaniels and Poodles: Andrewes and Gertrude Stein
3.45-4.15 Break
4.15-5.45     Panel 2: ‘Beyond’ sermons: libraries, legacies, liturgies
(chair: Kevin Killeen)

J.S. Nathan (University of Cambridge)
Andrewes and the Revival of Monastic Benefaction in Protestant Colleges
Flynn Cratty (Harvard University)
Public Controversy and Lancelot Andrewes’s Private Prayers
Andrew Hammond (University of Cambridge)
Courage and Discretion: Andrewes in his private chapel

Day 2 Saturday 27th March, 2021

9.45-10.00am GMT Zoom Link opens
10-11.00 Plenary 2
(chair: Joe Ashmore)

Kathryn Murphy (University of Oxford)
Use, Mention, Incarnation
11-11.20 Break
11.20-12.30 pm     Panel 3: Worship, language and politics
(chair: Brian Cummings)

Natalya Din-Kariuki (University of Warwick)
‘This Musique Hath Life in It’: Lancelot Andrewes’s Preaching on Harmony
Sophie Read (University of Cambridge)
Andrewes’s Hands: Bodies Politic and the Rhetoric of Gesture in the Gowrie Sermons
12.30-1.00pm Break
1-2.00pm Roundtable and Informal Discussion

Reflections from Peter McCullough, Kathryn Murphy, Sophie Read. All attendees welcome to participate.



Registration: Participation in the conference will be free of charge and will take place via Zoom. Please register via Eventbrite

We look very much forward to seeing you in March. If you have any questions or queries, please email Dr Joseph Ashmore and Tilly Zeeman at the below email address. 

Location: Zoom

Email: andrewes2020@gmail.com