Space, place and Laudianism in early Stuart Ipswich

This chapter revisits and rethinks what might appear to be a classic instance of conflict between centre and locality: Laudian attempts to implement reforms in Puritan Ipswich in the 1630s. It does so by assessing Bishop Matthew Wren’s associations with the town, and by examining the spatial politics of Laudianism, in terms of the interior of Ipswich’s churches. It also does so by exploring the issue of communication, in terms of battles over the town’s most powerful minister, Samuel Ward, as well as over the town’s pulpits, and in terms of how the town’s affairs fed into controversial Puritan pamphleteering. The aim is to use a thorough investigation of episodes and events that took place in Ipswich – not least a riot in 1636 – in order to shed light on the relationship between the spatial politics of Laudianism and the wider reform programme of the Personal Rule.