Piety and Politics

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The book offers a detailed analysis of the contrasting political roles of the Puritan and Pietist movements in early modern Europe amidst the backdrop of Protestantism and absolutism. It highlights how English Puritans actively opposed absolutism, influencing the rise of parliamentary rule during the English Revolution. In contrast, while Pietists in Wurttemberg shared anti-absolutist sentiments, they remained politically passive, whereas their Prussian counterparts played a crucial role in establishing a strong bureaucratic absolutist state.