Covenanting Political Propaganda, 1638-89

Steele, Margaret (1995) Covenanting Political Propaganda, 1638-89. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis examines the interplay of propaganda, politics and religion as it relates to the covenanting movement in early-modern Scotland. The transmission of ideology and the communication of ideas from above to below by covenanting polemicists to shape public discourse and to stimulate political action is the focus of this work. The use of propaganda as an elite mechanism for influencing popular opinion is analysed with respect to the origins of the covenanting movement. Consideration is given, then, to the initial, political tensions which occasioned dissent in the late-1630s and led to the formation of the radical, political movement The evolution of the covenanters from a press u regroup to a provisional government to a, largely, disaffected faction to an underground, protest group between 1638 and 1689 had a significant Impact on the methods relied on to formulate and disseminate their Ideology Thus, the mechanics of their considerable polemical efforts are analysed with respect to their function, production, transmission and reception through their years of political ascendancy as well as their years in the political wilderness. Equally, attention is paid to the modes of thought that underlay the propagandists' message and the main themes promoted in it to galvinize popular opinion. Whether appeals to the masses through polemical rhetoric acted as a stimulus for the creation of a plebian, political consciousness in seventeenth-century Scotland is of prime concern throughout this study.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Adviser: Ian B Cowan
• Keywords: European history, Political science, Religious history
• Date of Award: 1995
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1995-74743
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 27 Sep 2019 16:42
• Last Modified: 27 Sep 2019 16:42
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/74743