By the book or with the spirit

This article considers the heated debate over the respective merits of set and extempore prayer that took place in revolutionary England between 1640 and 1662. Until 1645 the English liturgy was based on the 1559 Book of Common Prayer. While many men and women were firmly attached to this, the puritan wing of the Church was never happy with its set forms, and opposition intensified during the sixteen-thirties when the Laudians promoted its use at the expense of preaching. Between 1640 and 1645 a fierce debate raged about whether the Prayer Book should be abolished and, if so, whether it should be replaced by another set liturgy or by extempore forms. In 1645 a Directory for Public Worship replaced the Prayer Book, but this was subsequently criticized both by the defenders of the old set liturgy and by those radicals who resented any restriction on their freedom to compose their own conceived prayers. Throughout the period 1645–60 there was a great variety of liturgical practice in the national Church. This was brought to an end following the restoration of the monarchy, when the Anglican Church returned to the set forms of the 1662 Prayer Book and the nonconformists retained their affection for extempore forms

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• Theatre and the English Public from Reformation to Revolution

  Katrin Beushausen•Theatre and the English Public…•2018

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