Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #104430 in Books
• Published on: 1993-04-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

About the Author
Haigh is the editor of The English Reformation Revised and author of Reformation and Resistance in Tudor Lancashire (CUP 1987, 1975)

Customer Reviews

invaluable
I am currently studying History at Exeter College, Oxford, and I very much doubt I would be here without the aid of this book. Clearly set out, well written and with a fantastic overview of events, Haigh describes the changes that took place in Tudor England with finesse and style. However, this is not just a work for those studying the period - Haigh's informal style of writing and the fluency of his essays means that it is also an excellent resources for the more casual reader. An invaluable book to any studying or interested in the Reformations.

Protestantism for the Few
Another very satisfying book which I read just after Duffy's "The Stripping of the Altars". Interestingly it confirms Duffy's thesis of the robustness and resilience of late medieval piety and does even more to expose the political motives and accidents of timing which underpinned enforced institutional change to religion in England. If his reading is right the Edwardine period becomes a virtual aberration based on cynical power-hunger on the part of Somerset and Northumberland. Of particular interest is his analysis of the start of Elizabeth's reign and her sharply radical opening push which came unstuck with the bishops and conservative peers. It is a pity that one cannot - as Haigh rightly accepts - put any reliable figure on the number of protestant believers through the period or make any sensible judgment on the extent of pressure on would-be protestants to conform. What is clear is that the Whig theory of an ineluctable and historically necessary English Reformation is entirely exploded.

The Revisionist text book
Dr Haigh writes a fluent and readable history that is strongly grounded in the source material available from the period. Although the post-revisionist school (typified by the work of Professor MacCullogh) has evolved, it has evolved in the shadow of Haigh and his fellow revisionists of the 1980s. As a result, this book constitutes essential reading for anyone studying British history, European religious history, or church history. This work represents a benchmark, and it is necessary to have grasped the arguments within it before considering the subsequent debate.

While it can now be argued that revionism overstated its case in the reaction to the 'whig' histories of a progressive and inevitable English reformation, it is very difficult to prove this argument absolutely. In his lectures at Oxford Dr Haigh continues to justify his position in an academically sound manner, and so the question of whether he is right becomes one of interpretation, emphasis and bias. This, after all, is what the study of history is all about. Within this debate Haigh was one of the leading protagonists, and remains a central force for the 'yes but, realistically' approach to reformation history, and this book is therefore fundamental reading material.