The Forgotten History of the Protestant Crusade: Religious Liberalism in Ireland1

Irish historians do not generally identify religious liberalism as a feature of the 1820s. Instead, they have mapped religious conflict onto increasingly binary conflicts in the socio‐economic, cultural, and political spheres. The “Second Reformation” missionary movement put evangelicals and Catholics on a direct collision course and, consequently, historians have argued that it was a key factor in the emergence both of Irish Catholic nationalism and Protestant defensive co‐operation. However, the Crusade also produced a strong Protestant backlash alongside the growing sectarian conflict. In County Limerick, for example, two versions of Church of Ireland opposition emerged during 1820, among high church clergy including Bishop Jebb and among liberal Protestant gentlemen. Instead of closing down debate into rigid binary opposition along sectarian lines, the Limerick evidence shows that the Crusade produced a much more complex religious, social, and political debate than historians have recognised which, in turn, made possible a wider range of responses to key Irish problems.     

Pomp and Circumstance at the University: The Origin of the Honorary Degree

Opinion on the age and origin of the honorary degree differs according to the region under study and the criteria used to define what precisely constitutes an honorary promotion. By applying a flexible definition of the honorary degree, and combining existing research on the background and origin of early honorary degrees in different regions, this article aims to offer an answer to the question of the origin of the tradition of conferring honorary degrees. The giving and receiving of honorary degrees emerged in a variety of situations. Such degrees were awarded by popes and emperors – or their representatives – who wished to honour their ‘disciples’. They were also granted to meritorious professionals seeking a way around the strict rules for academic promotion via a promotion in absentia. And they were granted by universities wishing to benefit from the prestige of the celebrities they honoured, or which offered these degrees to professors without a doctoral degree, as a practical answer to the need for academic ceremonies and/or by way of thanks to their friends and benefactors. The emergence of the honorary promotion can only be explained through a combination of all these factors.