Staff Profiles

Adam arrived in Newcastle in 2014, having previously worked at the universities of Oxford, Warwick and York. His work focusses on Reformation Britain, which he defines as ‘very long’ by seeing its concerns spreading into the early eighteenth century. The explicit focus of his research considers the cultural impact of Protestantism, the development of anti-Catholicism, the inter-related nature of tolerance and intolerance, and the impact of Reformed theology upon visual and material cultures. These research interests are the focus of his PhD thesis, which he is currently revising for publication.

Adam has broader research interests in the study of laughter, tolerance and intolerance, the history of the book, and the experience of belief in early modern England. He is also attached to the HERA-funded project ‘Marrying Cultures: Queens Consort and European Identities, 1500-1800’ led by a team of researchers in Oxford, Lund, and Wolfenbüttel. His research on this project focuses on the cultural impact and confessional strains wrought by the marriage of Charles II of England to Catherine of Braganza, his Portuguese wife. This research includes working on a diverse body of source material, from state papers, literature, news media and material culture.

Adam has research interests in the 'long Reformation' in Britain, print and visual culture, satire and laughter, anti-Catholicism and toleration. He would be delighted to supervise PhD study in any of these fields and welcomes all enquiries about post-graduate research.

He suggests that the following topics are particularly ripe for study:

- Gender in the long Reformation

- The representation of royal births and deaths in Tudor and Stuart Britain

- anti-Catholicism in England c.1580-1850

- Popular Anglicanism 1660-1700

- Early modern stereotypes

- Assessments of dialogue and contradictions between religious and natural philosophical conceptions of the senses in the seventeenth centuries.

- Protestantism's relationship with rhetoric

- The circulation of bible stories in cheap print

These are suggested topics and are meant to be indicative of the types of materials and areas which Adam is keen to supervise. He is, however, highly keen to hear suggested research topics from prospective graduate students.

- Aspects of British History

- Elizabeth I: the Politics of Religion

- Reading History: Diane Purkiss, The Witch in History

- Tudor Religion: Continuity and Conflict in England, c. 1470-1558

- Pathway in British History

- Ideas and Influences in British History 

• Articles

  • Morton A. Laughing at Hypocrisy: The Turncoats (1711), visual culture, and dissent in early-eighteenth century England. Studies in Church History 2024, 60, 312-339.
  • Morton A. Popery, Politics and Play: visual culture in Succession Crisis England. The Seventeenth Century 2016, 31(4), 411-449.
  • Morton A. Images and the Senses in post-Reformation England. Reformation 2015, 20(1), 1-24.
  • Morton A. 'Coming of Age? The image in Early Modern England’. Journal of Early Modern History 2011, 15, 435-457.

• Book Chapters

  • Hammersley R, Morton A. 'Introduction: Civil Religion in the early modern Anglophone World'. In: Rachel Hammersley & Adam Morton, ed. Civil Religion in the early modern Anglophone World. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2024. In Preparation.
  • Morton Adam. Anti-popery. In: John Morrill & Liam Temple, ed. The Oxford History of British and Irish Catholicism, volII. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023, pp.170-89. In Preparation.
  • Morton A. Fighting Popery with Popery: subverting stereotypes and contesting anti-Catholicism in late seventeenth century England. In: Yamamoto, K, ed. Stereotypes and stereotyping in early modern England: Puritans, papists and projectors. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2022.
  • Morton A. Anti-Catholicism. In: Angela Ellis, Robert E. Scully SJ, ed. A Companion to Catholicism and Recusancy in Britain and Ireland. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2022, pp.410-448.
  • Morton A. Remembering the Past at the End of Time. In: Brian Cummings & Alexandra Walsham, ed. Remembering the English Reformation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020, pp.80-97.
  • Morton A. Laughter as a polemical act in late-seventeenth century England. In: Knights M; Morton A, ed. The Power of Laughter & Satire in Early Modern Britain: Political and Religious Culture, 1500-1820. Martlesham: Boydell & Brewer, 2017.
  • Morton A. Sanctity and Suspicion: Catholicism, Conspiracy and the Representation of Henrietta Maria of France and Catherine of Braganza, Queens of Britain. In: Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly and Adam Morton, ed. Queens Consort, Cultural Transfer and European Politics, c.1500-1800. Abingdon: Routledge, 2016, pp.172-201.
  • Morton A. Punir le pape: honte, satire et action performative dans la polémique anticatholique anglaise au temps de la Réforme. In: Baranova,T; Szcech,N, ed. Usages et stratćégies polémiques en Europe au temps de l’humanisme du XIV au milieu du XVII siècle. Berne, Germany: Peter Lang, 2016.
  • Morton A. Introduction: Politics, Culture and Queens Consort. In: Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly and Adam Morton, ed. Queens Consort, Cultural Transfer and European Politics, c.1500-1800. Abingdon: Routledge, 2016, pp.1-14.
  • Stronks E, Morton A, Dietz F. Introduction: the function and nature of international religious contacts in Northern Europe. In: Dietz,F; Morton,A; Roggen,L; Stronks,E; VanVaeck,M, ed. Illustrated Religious Texts in the North of Europe, 1500-1800. Farnham: Ashgate, 2014, pp.1-18.
  • Morton A. Intensive ephemera: The Catholick Gamesters and the visual culture of news in Restoration London. In: Davies,D; Fletcher,P, ed. News in early modern Europe: currents and connections. Leiden: Brill, 2014, pp.115-140.
  • Morton A. A Product of Confession or Corruption? The Common Weales Canker Worms (c.1625) and the Progress of Sin in Early Modern England. In: Morton, A; Dietz, F; Roggen, L; Stronks, E; Van Vaeck, M, ed. Illustrated Religious Texts in the North of Europe, 1500-1800. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2014, pp.135-166.
  • Morton A, Lewycky N. 'Introduction'. In: Morton,A; Lewycky,N, ed. Getting Along? Confessional politics, identity and non-conformity in early modern Europe – essays in honour of Professor W. J. Sheils. Farnham: Ashgate, 2012.

• Edited Books

  • Hammersley R, Morton A, ed. Civil Religion in the early modern Anglophone World 1500-1700. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2024. In Preparation.
  • Knights M, Morton A, ed. The Power of Laughter and Satire in Early Modern Britain. Political and Religious Culture, 1500-1820. Boydell Press, 2017.
  • Watanabe-O'Kelly H, Morton A, ed. Queens Consort, Cultural Transfer and European Politics, c.1500-1800. Abingdon: Routledge, 2017.
  • Dietz F, Morton A, Roggen L, Stronks E, Van Vaeck M, ed. Illustrated Religious Texts in the North of Europe, 1500-1800. Farnham: Ashgate, 2014.
  • Morton A, Lewycky N, ed. Getting Along? Religious Identities and Confessional Relations in Early Modern England - Essays in Honour of Professor W.J. Sheils. Farnham: Ashgate, 2012.