'A Knowing Ministry': the Reform of the Church under Oliver Cromwell, c.1653-1660

This thesis examines the institutional reforms to the church in England and Wales during the Protectorates of Oliver and Richard Cromwell. It exposes a previously unrecognised collapse in ecclesiastical administration under the Republic (1649-53) and argues that the Cromwellian reforms were both a response to this collapse and a pragmatic development of the principles of congregationalism into a system that could operate as a national church. It offers the first complete and detailed examination of the archives of the 'Triers', who vetted all ministers entering the church and it re-examines their relationship with the work of their sister agencies, the 'Ejectors' and the 'Trustees for the Preaching Ministry'. It argues that existing assumptions about the relative importance of the Triers and Ejectors are incorrect and, in light of this, it offers a revised interpretation of the scope, efficacy and significance of the Cromwellian reforms during the Interregnum and also within the longer-term development of the post-reformation church.