March 2007 - The British Academy has awarded the University of Cambridge a research grant enabling Dr Van Dixhoorn to search for the correspondence of the Westminster Assembly across Europe.

The correspondence of the Westminster Assembly chiefly comprises exchanges with Parliament and with foreign states, churches and persons. The letters of the Assembly provide insight into international ecclesiastical relations and structures, personal friendships, academic connections, and political responses to ecumenism. From the perspective of English Parliamentary history, the letters reveal which ecclesiastical bodies on the continent were suspected of being most favourable to the Parliamentary war effort and the cause of reform. The Assembly’s correspondence also sheds light on the errors of Parliament and its Assembly: the Reformed Church of France was angry when it received letters from the Assembly, the Church of Bremen was irritated when it did not. The Assembly’s unpublished papers remain priceless for researchers, as they shed light on intellectual connections and patterns of communication as well as provide us with a new window into the history of the Assembly and Parliament.    

The Assembly is known to have corresponded with bodies in Germany, France, Switzerland, Romania, Poland, Sweden and the Netherlands. Most of the research in the Netherlands will be conducted with the help of Prof. Fred van Lieburg. Dr Inga Volmer will assist in visiting archives elsewhere in Europe.

The correspondence of the Westminster Assembly chiefly comprises exchanges with Parliament and with foreign states, churches and persons. The letters of the Assembly provide insight into international ecclesiastical relations and structures, personal friendships, academic connections, and political responses to ecumenism. From the perspective of English Parliamentary history, the letters reveal which ecclesiastical bodies on the continent were suspected of being most favourable to the Parliamentary war effort and the cause of reform. The Assembly’s correspondence also sheds light on the errors of Parliament and its Assembly: the Reformed Church of France was angry when it received letters from the Assembly, the Church of Bremen was irritated when it did not. The Assembly’s unpublished papers remain priceless for researchers, as they shed light on intellectual connections and patterns of communication as well as provide us with a new window into the history of the Assembly and Parliament.    

The Assembly is known to have corresponded with bodies in Germany, France, Switzerland, Romania, Poland, Sweden and the Netherlands. Most of the research in the Netherlands will be conducted with the help of Prof. Fred van Lieburg. Dr Inga Volmer will assist in visiting archives elsewhere in Europe.