This book is the first account of British Protestant conversion initiatives directed towards continental Europe between 1600 and 1900.
Continental Europe was considered a missionary land-another periphery of the world, whose centre was imperial Britain. British missions to Europe were informed by religious experiments in America, Africa, and Asia, rendering these offensives against Europe a true form of "imaginary colonialism". British Protestant missionaries often understood themselves to be at the forefront of a civilising project directed at Catholics (and sometimes even at other Protestants). Their mission was further reinforced by Britain becoming a land of compassionate refuge for European dissenters and exiles. This book engages with the myth of International Protestantism, questioning its early origins and its narrative of transnational belonging, while also interrogating Britain as an imagined Protestant land of hope and glory.
In the history of western Christianities, "converting Europe" had a role that has not been adequately investigated. This is the story of the attempted, and ultimately failed, effort to convert a continent.
Continental Europe was considered a missionary land-another periphery of the world, whose centre was imperial Britain. British missions to Europe were informed by religious experiments in America, Africa, and Asia, rendering these offensives against Europe a true form of "imaginary colonialism". British Protestant missionaries often understood themselves to be at the forefront of a civilising project directed at Catholics (and sometimes even at other Protestants). Their mission was further reinforced by Britain becoming a land of compassionate refuge for European dissenters and exiles. This book engages with the myth of International Protestantism, questioning its early origins and its narrative of transnational belonging, while also interrogating Britain as an imagined Protestant land of hope and glory.
In the history of western Christianities, "converting Europe" had a role that has not been adequately investigated. This is the story of the attempted, and ultimately failed, effort to convert a continent.
'The richness of the various essays in this volume underlines the need to revisit the history of missions in a broader and more comprehensive framework than that traditionally offered by the history of religion. Maghenzani and Villani have offered a valuable contribution to the study of a historical problem whose importance goes beyond the sphere of religious history -- in itself very significant -- and stretches to crucial aspects of the making of the modern world.' - Eugenio F. Biagini, Rivista Storica Italiana, 134/1, 2022.
'With this volume on the history of British Protestant missionary initiatives in continental Europe, Simone Maghenzani and Stefano Villani have made an important contribution to the methodological renewal and expansion of studies in this field of historical research.' - Massimo Rubboli, Riforma e Movimenti Religiosi, 10, 2021.
'With this volume on the history of British Protestant missionary initiatives in continental Europe, Simone Maghenzani and Stefano Villani have made an important contribution to the methodological renewal and expansion of studies in this field of historical research.' - Massimo Rubboli, Riforma e Movimenti Religiosi, 10, 2021.