Ravage, Prayer, and Journalism: The Singular Marks of the English Civil Wars

This article examines how the cultural reforms and changes during the English Civil Wars contributed to the development of modern consciousness and sensibility. At the same time, it notes that these radical transformations were primarily driven by religious zeal among reformers―an unlikely origin for the eventual secularization and modernization of Western culture. To demonstrate this peculiar dual trajectory of cultural movements, the article details how the explosive growth of newsbooks was initiated by Parliamentarians and their supporters, and how the readers’ experience of this new cultural product transformed their daily perception of the world. To further illustrate cultural changes that contributed to modern consciousness and sensibility, the article also explores how religious practices, particularly prayer and worship, increasingly became central to iconoclastic debates among radical sects during the English Civil Wars. Lastly, to highlight the significance of the findings of this study, it draws parallels with Max Weber’s research on the vocational calling in Protestantism and concludes that the ravages brought about by the English Civil Wars were not confined to the material level but extended to a fundamental dismantling of traditional epistemological frameworks, including old institutions and forms.