Popular Religion In Sixteenth Century England

This book is a lively and accessible study of English religious life during the century of the Reformation. It draws together a wide range of recent research and makes extensive use of colourful contemporary evidence. The author explores the involvement of ordinary people within, alongside and beyond the church, covering topics such as liturgical practice, church office, relations with the clergy, festivity, religious fellowships, cheap print, 'magical' religion and dissent. The result is a distinctive interpretation of the Reformation as it was experienced by English people, and the strength, resourcefulness and flexibility of their religion emerges as an important theme.

How was the Reformation received by the majority of England's people? How did parishioners negotiate a pathway through this period of rapid and repeated change, maintaining a positive attitude to the hurch? Why, by the early seventeenth century, did most people consider themselves Protestant? In this lively and accessible introduction to English religious life during the century of the Reformation, Marsh attempts to answer these key questions and build a distinctive interpretation of religious developments during the period. Drawing together a wide range of recent research and making extensive use of colourful contemporary evidence, the involvement of ordinary people within, alongside and beyond the Church is explained. Topics such as liturgical practice, church office, relations with the clergy, festivity, religious fellowships, chea print, 'magical' religion and dissent are all considered. The author concludes that the popular response was resourceful, creative and flexible though dependent upon the strength of ideas about Christian neighbourliness, and upon the numerous links that existed between pre- and post-Reformation religion. This continuity of community was a powerful force and reflected an instinctive compromise between the old and the new rather than the victory of one over the other. This book is about the construction of that compromise. -- Book cover.

Publishes valuable primary sources on the religious, political and social history of sixteenth-century England.

Comprises eight contributions which explore various approaches and interpretations of religious change experienced by the English people. The contributors look at the relationship between the laity and the clergy, the impact of early preaching, religious satire, and the The Book of Common Prayer. Specific topics include religious diversity and Guild unity in early modern London; Protestant propaganda in the reign of Edward VI; and will-making and popular religion in early modern England. Three critical afterwords comment on the scholarship of the essays. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Witchcraft, astrology, divination and every kind of popular magic flourished in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from the belief that a blessed amulet could prevent the assaults of the Devil to the use of the same charms to recover stolen goods. At the same time the Protestant Reformation attempted to take the magic out of religion, and scientists were developing new explanations of the universe. Keith Thomas's classic analysis of beliefs held on every level of English society begins with the collapse of the medieval Church and ends with the changing intellectual atmosphere around 1700, when science and rationalism began to challenge the older systems of belief.

This new edition is a marvelous teaching tool and true feast for the intellectually curious. - Daniel Bornstein, Texas A&M University