Reformation In Britain And Ireland

Studying the coming of reform in the 16th century, this book argues for a comparative understanding of this crucial dimension of British and Irish history. Presenting an examination of political choices, of ecclesiastical structures, and of individual religious attitudes, it seeks to explain the success or failure of Protestantism in the islands. The study of the Reformation in England and Wales, Ireland and Scotland has usually been treated by historians as a series of discrete national stories. Reformation in Britain and Ireland draws upon the growing genre of writing about British History to construct an innovative narrative of religious change in the four countries/three kingdoms. The text uses a broadly chronological framework to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the pre-Reformation churches; the political crises of the break with Rome; the development of Protestantism and changes in popular religious culture. The tools of conversion - the Bible, preaching and catechising - are accorded specific attention, as is doctrinal change. It is argued that political calculations did most to determine the success or failure of reformation, though the ideological commitment of a clerical elite was also of central significance.