The Moderation of Oath-Taking in Jacobean England

Abstract

In the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot Jacobean authorities imposed the Oath of Allegiance as a means to secure the realm against not just its foreign enemies but also those who might undermine it from within. Highly coercive in its effects, the Oath generated repeated attempts by English Catholics to manage its theological and cognitive demands. Responding to these maneuvers was John Donne, who develops in Pseudo-Martyr a compelling and cognitively focused case for the Oath and royal power. As a close reading of his later sermon on the Book of Esther then reveals, Donne’s consideration of the intersection between thought, conscience, and monarchical authority importantly represents not just a response to the immediate catalyst of the Gunpowder Plot but an initial theorization of political authority that could encompass Catholics and Protestants alike.