Henry Sacheverell was born c. 1674 and became a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and a fanatical High Church Anglican whose 27 or so sermons attacking the Dissenters, Whigs and even moderate Tories brought him notoriety in the years 1702-1718.

It was a sermon preached on 31 May 1702 and immediately published in Oxford on 2 June as “The Political Union: A Discourse Shewing the Dependence of Government on Religion in General: And of the English Monarchy on the Church of England in Particular” that was among the immediate causes for Daniel Defoe to write his famous pamphlet, “The Shortest Way with Dissenters”. Sacheverell was but one of many sermonisers and pamphleteers who represented the Dissenters as tyrranicidal insurgents, bent on the destruction of the State.

It was a…

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Citation: Clark, Robert. "Henry Sacheverell". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 December 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11884, accessed 19 March 2024.]

11884 Henry Sacheverell 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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