It has been seen that part of the reaction to the increased beautification of churches and other features of the new Arminianism was a protest focused, amongst other things, upon a perceived increase in ‘idolatry’. The main targets for protesters were communion rails, but there was also a clear feeling that images – loosely defined to include pictures, hangings, ornaments and other ‘monuments of superstition’ – were on the increase. The controversy about church decoration and ornamentation sparked a renewed interest in the issue of imagery and a vigorous campaign on the subject. The calling of parliament in November 1640 was seen as an opportunity for this issue to be addressed, inspiring a number of works which argued for the removal and destruction of images. This chapter gives an overview of the published literature which formed a backdrop to the official and unofficial iconoclasm of the period.

The majority of the works directly concerned with images and idolatry were published in 1641 and, to a lesser extent, 1642. This ties in with both the collapse of press censorship – followed by an enormous increase in the amount of printed material circulating – and the pouring forth of previously repressed feelings against the Laudian religious regime. Indeed it was as part of the attack on Laud and the bishops that a lot of the anti-imagery and anti-cathedral works appeared at this point – mostly in the form of cheap satirical verses and woodcuts.