The second half of the seventeenth century saw the Protestant families of England struggle to preserve old values ​​in the age of enormous political and religious upheavals. Even uncompromising ministers tended to be pessimistic about "piety" - Protestant attitudes and practices - among the upper classes.

Based on the study of family papers and other primary resources, the Trevor Cliff study reveals that in many cases, the families of the Buretani province played a double game: ostensibly in communion with the church, they used non-committed priests and attended uncooperative meetings.