English Reformations: Religion, Politics, and Society under the Tudors

by Christopher Haigh

English Reformations takes a refreshing new approach to the study of the Reformation in England. Christopher Haigh's lively and readable study disproves any facile assumption that the triumph of Protestantism was inevitable, and goes beyond the surface of official political policy to explore
the religious views and practices of ordinary English people. With the benefit of hindsight, other historians have traced the course of the Reformation as a series of events inescapably culminating in the creation of the English Protestant establishment. Dr Haigh sets out to recreate the sixteenth
century as a time of excitement and insecurity, with each new policy or ruler causing the reversal of earlier religious changes. This is a scholarly and stimulating book, which challenges traditional ideas about the Reformation and offers a powerful and convincing alternative analysis.

Genres: History, Religion, Tudor Period, Nonfiction, School, Academic, Church History

378 pages, Hardcover

First published June 24, 1993

About the author

Christopher Haigh is a British historian specialising in religion and politics around the English Reformation. Until his retirement in 2009, he was Student and Tutor in Modern History at Christ Church, Oxford and University Lecturer at Oxford University. He was educated at Churchill College, Cambridge and the University of Manchester.

Reviews

[Lauren Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant revisionist history of religion under the Tudors.

"Catholic Christianity before England's break with Rome was flourishing; we must not assume that the Reformations prove otherwise. For it was the break with Rome which was to cause the decline of Catholicism, not the decline of Catholicism which led to the break with Rome. Before the intrusion of political considerations which had little to do with religion, early Tudor England was not heading towards a Reformation." 28

There was not some teleological drive toward a final "Protestantism"--there were a series of politically-generated and enforced reforms not all accepted. "Reformation in England proceeded by political accident and tactical manœuvre," Haigh writes. There was no call for protestantism from the masses--and catholic thought never wholly disappeared:

"The political Reformations had succeeded in driving Catholic public worship from the churches; but the Protestant Reformation did not destroy essentially Catholic views of Christian life and eternal salvation. The political Reformations had succeeded in imposing more Protestant ways of worship; but the Protestant Reformation did not generate widespread attachment to Protestant doctrines of justification."

After Elizabeth's reign, Haigh thinks that "churchgoers were de-catholicized but un-protestantized." People are generally pragmatists in his view and go along and get along as best as they can.

Whatever you think about his central argument, he does brilliantly martial his evidence from local religious practices.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher Haigh's book, English Reformations, begins by showing that before 1530 there was no strong undercurrent for the Protestant Reformation in England in fact the exact opposite was true as Catholic England was going strong. Unlike the general historical belief that once Henry VIII broke with Rome a Protestant England would be the result, Haigh shows it was never the case especially when documenting the reign of Mary I when the majority of the English welcomed a return to the Roman Catholic Church.

Haigh presents that development of a Protestant minority in England started when Thomas Cromwell brought Protestant elements little-by-little into Henry's decision to break with Rome then promoted them even after Henry's natural conservative religious views came into play. The Protestant minority truely came into being during the reign of Edward VI when his Protectors and Council systematically made the Church of England more Protestant. After surviving the reign of Mary, the Protestants overreached at the beginning of Elizabeth's reign when they tried to overhaul the Church of England in one-fell swoop instead of the step-by-step approached used by Crowmell and under Edward, and it was this overreached that most likely created the mixture of Reformed Protestant and Catholic beliefs that are present in the Anglican Church.

Haigh's conclusions and the evidence he presents shows that after all these "reformations" England was Christian, it just wasn't really majority Protestant or Catholic. And when considering the religious and political developments in Great Britain from 1603 to 1714 under the Stuarts along with the various colonies on the eastern coast of North America, this conclusion seems to be correct.

[Ricky Balas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent perspective of the English reformation(s). Haigh has brought the old Dickens v. Scarisbrick divide to a more centered place and shows readers the way the reformation developed as a process (multiple processes) over decades.

[Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

does a good job of complicating progress narratives in Reformation history & emphasizing the diversity of early modern experiences of religious change!

[Jeff Koslowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

So SO scholarly. Not a casual easy read but something effective for someone researching this topic.

[5greenway · Rating 5 out of 5]

History, eh:

"Reformation monarchs timed their deaths very badly. Henry VIII died when those who most nearly shared his religious views were in disgrace, and when Protestants and politiques controlled Council and Court. Edward VI died when his commissioners were pillaging churches and provoking nostalgia for Catholic ways. Mary died when the political and diplomatic situations made it certain her sister would be queen, and safe for Elizabeth to restore Edwardian Protestantism."

[Marissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent history. Although I do not agree with Haigh's extraordinarily revisionist views on the English Reformations, I can appreciate his viewpoint and I think this book is very well-written.

[AskHistorians]

Another revision of A G Dickens, showing that rather than one Reformation, there are multiple reformations. Haigh again, emphasises the importance of the Reformation from Above as a political movement, rather than a populist one.

[Lysbeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nuanced, thoughtful re-examination of the reformation period in England.