Catholicism and Parliamentarian Dehumanisation
摘要
This chapter examines the ways in which Parliamentarian religious dehumanisation targeted the King’s side. Anti-Irish, anti-Catholic, and anti-Royalist language became entangled in Puritan propaganda directed towards different enemy armies. Parliamentarians used religious rhetoric to portray the Royalists as God’s enemies and Catholic malignants, who were in league with the Papists and the Irish. These allegations were irrespective of the real identities of the targets and were used of different groups according to the military situation. Similar language was used in public propaganda that sought to legitimise the conflict as defence of Protestantism and subjects’ rights, and in publications directed at the godly soldiers as a method of indoctrination, inspiring them to fight harder against the Lord’s alleged enemies. Hence religious, delegitimising propaganda was used both to justify and facilitate atrocities towards the King’s men.