The English Reformation: A Very Brief History
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
This brief historical introduction to the English Reformation explores the social, political and religious factors that formed the original context in which it emerged, and the major thinkers and writings to which it gave birth. What was its impact on the world at the time and what were the key ideas and values connected with it? At the same time, Alec Ryrie explores the intellectual and cultural ‘afterlife’ of the English Reformation, and considers the ways in which its impact has lasted and been developed in different contexts by later generations. Why is it still considered important today? In what ways is its legacy contested or resisted? And what aspects of its legacy are likely to continue to influence the world in the future? The book has a brief chronology at the front plus a glossary of key terms and a list of further reading at the back.
- Tells the stories of six stories of religious change in sixteenthand seventeenth-century England
- Explores the chronological frame, cast of characters and pivotal events
- Examines the Reformation’s continuing influence on the world
- Catholic Reformation
- Deformation
- Tudor Reformation
- Protestant Reformation
- Anglican Reformation
- Radical Reformation
This brief but masterly account illuminates our understanding of what happened, why it happened, and why it still matters, by showing us how many different perspectives there are on this world-changing event. It’s not just Henry VIII and his wives: as this book shows, the spiritual and political consequences of the English Reformation, good and bad, are still very much part of our world today.
—Eric Metaxas, host of the nationally syndicated Eric Metaxas Radio Show; author of Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World
A mould-breaking little book. Ryrie persuades us that how we describe and interpret the English Reformation can owe almost as much to who is telling the story and what we want to hear as to the facts. It’s a message that’s long overdue, a wake-up call to anyone interested in the topic.
—John Guy, University of Cambridge
Alec Ryrie here performs an extraordinary feat: his deep knowledge and fresh, original understanding of the period are packed into every line but in such delicious, efficient prose that one barely notices what great draughts of learning are being gulped down. A little gem of a book.
—Suzannah Lipscomb, FRHistS, FHEA, Professor of History, University of Roehampton; author of A Visitor’s Companion to Tudor England
Alec Ryrie is Professor of History in the Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University, Professor of Divinity at Gresham College, London, and co-editor of the Journal of Ecclesiastical History. His recent publications include Unbelievers: An Emotional History of Doubt (William Collins, 2019), Protestants: The Radicals Who Made the Modern World (William Collins, 2017), and the prize-winning Being Protestant in Reformation Britain (OUP, 2013).