Gouge, the Spanish Match, and Blackfriars “Spanish” Plays

This chapter argues that William Gouge not only continued Stephen Egerton’s tradition of dissident preaching but also made the parish of St. Anne’s a cockpit of opposition to Stuart policy in church and state. King James’s pursuit of an inter-faith dynastic marriage for Prince Charles and his reluctance to support the Protestant cause in Europe galvanized Gouge and his activist parishioners. Their sermons and other writings pushed back against Stuart policies in subtle and not so subtle ways. In doing so, they resonated with similar oppositional discourses in contemporary Blackfriars Spanish-themed plays. During these years, sermons and plays were more in dialogue with than opposed to one another.