Lying in Early Modern English Culture: From the Oath of Supremacy to the Oath of Allegiance

Lying in Early Modern English Culture is a major study of ideas of truth and falsehood in early modern England from the advent of the Reformation to the aftermath of the failed Gunpowder Plot, a period of panic and chaos when few had any idea how life would develop after the traumatic division of Christendom. Issues of truth and lying were a constant feature of everyday life and determined ideas of politics, sex, marriage, and social behaviour, as well as philosophy and religion. This book shows how lying needs to be understood in action as well as in theory, covering a wide range of material such as the trials of Ann Boleyn and Thomas More, the divorce of Frances Howard, and the murder of Anthony James by Annis and George Dell; works of literature such as Othello and The Unfortunate Traveller; works of popular culture such as the herring pamphlet of 1597; and major writings by Montaigne, Erasmus, and Luther.