The state of Catholicism in England towards the start of the sixteenth century has attracted considerable scholarly interest since the publication of Eamon Duffy's massive work, The Stripping of the Altars. While I admire Duffy's scholarship, I take issue with his central argument, which assumes that the Reformation was (in many ways) accidental, and that the people of Britain were (by and large) content with the state of the late-medieval Church. Far more satisfactory, I feel, is Christopher Marsh's analysis of early modern religion, and I suggest his work on the subject to all interested in the ecclesiastical shifts experienced in England beginning under Henry VIII.
Brevity? I think not...The Catholic Apologist
Against the grain...
No comments:
Post a Comment