In 1997 at the University Durham I completed my MA in Seventeenth Century Studies, for which I got a distinction. The dissertation I include on this my first academic blog was the largest of three works I had to write.

Anyway, here it is. The reasons why I chose this topic are not wholly clear to me. I am not Jewish but have always been interested and somewhat enchanted by Jewishness, despite the attachment to Christ that I felt at the time of writing. I thought there was something noble too in English philo-semitism, given the general rarity of this attitude at the time. I was also motivated to enquire into how prevalent and public British Israelite ideas were in the Seventeenth Century. On the basis of what I read, the answer to that question seemed: not much, since the main focus on the 'lost ten tribes' regarded the question of whether American Indians were descended from these tribes. The notion of a connection between English and Old Testament Israelite society seemed more ideological and analogical than literally ancestral.

I thought I should post it here because otherwise it would just rot on my computer; this way it might be of use to somebody other than me.

I make no claims for its objective excellence, but my Director Richard Maber suggested it contributed something new to the field, which perhaps it did by way of my analyses and syntheses and conclusions of the secondary work of other academics, and my use of certain primary sources.

I did find the writing of the piece to be at times frustrating and exacting, and I was very pleased when I finished it; but I am very glad, nevertheless, that I did it.

Thanks to Dr Richard Maber and Dr Chris Brookes for all their help.

The original had footnotes, which I am removing for aesthetic reasons. If you wish to read the footnotes I can send you an original manuscript. Just leave me a message with your email.

I assert the moral right to be associated as the copyright owner of the text. I have no idea if the University of Durham will claim that they share the copyright, but I should think so....