The Reformation of the Heart

The Reformation of the Heart: Gender and Radical Theology in the English Revolution offers fresh insight into the relationship between radical theology and gender radicalism in the English Revolution. It addresses together two themes which have long fascinated historians of the period: the intellectual formation of religious radicalism, and the prominence of women as prophets and preachers in radical sects. Sarah Apetrei explores the remarkable ideas and reforming visions of a levelling and highly mystical network in the period of civil conflict, the regicide, and its aftermath--a network which linked military chaplains with inspired women and congregations across England. Drawing on both printed works and previously unexamined manuscript evidence, Apetrei discovers that revolutionary radicals were both more theologically daring, and more unified in their support for women's participation, than we have hitherto thought. On one side, the army chaplains and radical preachers developed a