Abstract: In recent years evidence has accumulated that there was plenty of health in the devotional patterns of the traditional Church on the eve of the English Reformation. Outward show may be thought to be a poor index to genuine piety, yet traditional devotion cherished the tangible as a doorway to the intangible. In this respect, the pre-Reformation English Church scored highly: England was noted by foreigners for its energy in lavishing money on church building and furnishings. How easily did the Reformation sweep aside such devotional patterns to impose new priorities? Was the Reformation a mere series of acts of state, pushed through regardless of the wishes of the English people? In the past, disagreements about this largely depended on the confessional bias of the historical commentator; but the cooling of passions about the Reformation has not ended controversy. Recent debate centring on the work of self-styled 'revisionist' historians has isolated two pairs of possibilities in describing the Reformation: rapid or slow? Imposed from above or rising from below?1
Publication Year: 1990
Publication Date: 1990-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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