My research examines the reception and use of the Book of Homilies, the collection of official sermons published in the sixteenth century as part of the official programme of religious reform in England. From its first publication in 1547 through the Oxford Movement of the nineteenth century, the Homilies shaped the doctrine, practice, and politics of the Church of England and the Anglican communion. My current project considers how monarchs, clergy, and laypersons received, interpreted, and negotiated this text as they defined and re-defined what it meant to be an English Protestant during the revolutionary decades of the long seventeenth century. My research is generously funded by The Wolfson FoundationLink opens in a new window and supervised by Peter MarshallLink opens in a new window, Mark KnightsLink opens in a new window, and Beat KüminLink opens in a new window.

Research Interests

• Early modern homiletics
• Political theology in the 17th century
• The development of Anglican theology and identity in the 17th century
• The early modern parish
• Early modern book production & the 17th century printing trade

Conference Presentations

• 'The Performance of the Book of Homilies in the English Parish, 1547–1720', Twenty-First Warwick Symposium on Parish Research, University of Warwick (May 2023)
• ‘The Book of Homilies in Early Modern England: A New Analysis of a Marginalized Text’, Ecclesiastical History Society Conference (June 2023)
• 'An Ambiguous Authority: The Book of Homilies and the Development of the Church of England, 1688–1720', Newberry Library Multidisciplinary Graduate Conference (February 2024 )
• 'Romans 13 & the Homiletical Language of Obedience in the Reign of James II', GEMMS Gateway to Early Modern Manuscript Sermons (GEMMS) Conference (October 2024)

Publications

Reports

• 'Parish Memory' Twenty-Second Warwick Symposium on Parish Research, Conference Report, co-authored with Angus Crawford (University of Warwick), H/Solz/KultLink opens in a new window

Teaching Experience

• Seminar Tutor, Europe in the Making 1450-1800, University of Warwick, 2023-24
• Graduate Teaching Assistant, Women in Church History, Fuller Theological Seminary, 2019

Academic Background

• MA in Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary
• BA in History, Summa cum laude, Texas Tech University

Public Engagement

• 'Ecclesiastical Sources, Wills, and Family Papers' session for 'Researching Ordinary People of the Early Modern Period' workshop series, in collaboration with Dr Naomi Pullin, Anna Pravdica, and the Lord Leicester Hospital Link opens in a new window March 2024
• 'How to Get to Heaven in Early Modern England', Nuneaton Historical AssociationLink opens in a new window co-speaker with Anna Pravdica (University of Warwick), December 2023

kristi dot flake at warwick dot ac dot uk