The Oxford Illustrated History of the Reformation

by Peter Marshall (Editor)

The Reformation was a seismic event in history, whose consequences are still working themselves out in Europe and across the world. The protests against the marketing of indulgences staged by the German monk Martin Luther in 1517 belonged to a long-standing pattern of calls for internal reform and renewal in the Christian Church. But they rapidly took a radical and unexpected turn, engulfing first Germany and then Europe as a whole in furious arguments about how God's will was to be "saved".

However, these debates did not remain confined to a narrow sphere of theology. They came to reshape politics and international relations; social, cultural, and artistic developments; relations between the sexes; and the patterns and performances of everyday life. They were also the stimulus for Christianity's transformation into a truly global religion, as agents of the Roman Catholic Church sought to compensate for losses in Europe with new conversions in Asia and the Americas.

Covering both Protestant and Catholic reform movements, in Europe and across the wider world, this beautifully illustrated volume tells the story of the Reformation from its immediate, explosive beginnings, through to its profound longer-term consequences and legacy for the modern world. The story is not one of an inevitable triumph of liberty over oppression, enlightenment over ignorance. Rather, it tells how a multitude of rival groups and individuals, with or without the support of political power, strove after visions of "reform". And how, in spite of themselves, they laid the foundations for the plural and conflicted world we now inhabit.

Genres: History, 16th Century

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 6, 2015

About the author

Peter Marshall is Professor of History at the University of Warwick, with a particular interest in the study of religious belief and practice in sixteenth and seventeenth-century England and the cultural impact of the English Reformation. He has published widely in the field, including a survey of the period, Reformation England 1480-1642, and The Catholic Priesthood and the English Reformation, also published by Oxford University Press.

Reviews

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall an excellent introduction to the events and issues surrounding the Reformation period. I had a few quibbles with it, but on the whole, an excellent book I would recommend to anyone looking to get an academically sound foundation in the subject.

[Del Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative book. Makes me want to read about the Early Modern Age.

[Amanda Witt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has seven sections by different authors, each focussing on a different aspect of the Reformation

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent essays, in particular the one by Brad Gregory on the inexorable conclusion of Protestantism.