Midland Hist 33 (1)

It has been suggested that the ecclesiastical reforms pursued by Archbishop Laud in the 1630s aroused such hostility that they were a major factor in exacerbating the tensions which resulted in the outbreak of civil war in 1642. This article examines churchwardens' accounts, consistory court records and visitation returns in an attempt evaluate the effects of Laud's changes on the parishes of Staffordshire and north Shropshire, the major part of the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield. There is some evidence that in a few parishes the reforms met with hostility, or at least passive resistance, but evidence from more that the churchwardens implemented the changes required, even when considerable cost was involved. The most hostility was encountered in towns such as Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton where there was a strong puritan presence. The evidence of visitation records suggests that even in a diocese with a pro-Laudian bishop church officials were more concerned with the moral failings of the laity than the installation of altar rails or the details of behaviour during divine service. It seems that Laudian reforms heightened tensions where they already existed, but in many parishes were implemented without recorded problems, if, perhaps, without enthusiasm.

The article examines the eighteenth-century English Enlightenment in the setting of Birmingham and the west midlands. It responds to an argument made first by the economist and historian Joel Mokyr to the effect that industrialisation was driven, in large part, by the accumulation of scientific knowledge and its conversion into technological `know how'. Joel Mokyr labels this process `Industrial Enlightenment', and he points to the social dynamics and cultural practices of England's Enlightenment as perhaps the most favourable context for the industrial application of useful knowledge. The article suggests that Birmingham, and more especially the Soho Manufactory of Matthew Boulton, provides an example of Industrial Enlightenment in action. As such, it offers a practical demonstration of the mechanisms outlined in Mokyr's formulation. However, this case study also makes use of the archives of Soho to explore the question of knowledge dissemination on a broader front. It proposes ways in which the core hypothesis of an eighteenth-century knowledge economy might be refined to provide an even better account of the reality of Industrial Enlightenment as experienced in Birmingham and the Black Country between 1765 and 1820.