Local Magistracy and the Rule of the Major Generals: Robert Beake Coventry’s Godly Mayor 1655-6

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper will explore a local aspect of what Bernard Capp characterized as England’s Culture Wars. Robert Beake, mayor of Coventry in 1655/6, worked closely with the region’s ‘Major General’, Edward Whalley, local ministers and constables to make Coventry an English Zion and realize the puritan mission of godly discipline and moral reformation. The paper will explore an archetypal puritan magistrate and how he went about his mission of reform in an important midland city and the success he achieved.