"Filthy dreamers and scurrilous dreams": The politics of dreams in seventeenth-century England
Author(s)
Riviere, JanineContributor(s)
Crook, PaulKeywords
BlasphemyDream interpretation
Early modern England
Politics
Superstition
Quakers
England
Francis Bacon
Popular culture
Prohecy
Cultural history
Religion
History
British History (210305)
Dreams
Beliefs
Full record
Show full item recordOnline Access
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/241/Abstract
In seventeenth-century England the emergence of a multitude of dreams and dreamers claiming to be prophets gave rise to heated debate. In 1655, John Wilson, a minister of the 'Church of Christ' preached that there were too many 'filthy dreamers' and attempted to dissuade his parishioners from hearkening to the dreams and visions of Quakers and Seekers he believed were leading the people into apostasy and sin. Seeing dreams as aligned with prophesy and astrology, and other 'superstitious' and diabolocal practices, critics attacked dream interpretation as a dangerous spiritual and political 'observation' in need of reform.Date
2001Type
journal articleIdentifier
oai:arrow.nla.gov.au:1282280745422101http://eprints.qut.edu.au/241/