List of Maps and Illustrations Acknowledgements Timeline Introduction: 500 Years 1. In the Power of God Alone? Martin Luther and the Theology of the Reformation 2. The Reformation and Dissemination of Ideas 3. The Reformation and the Image 4. The Reformation, Authority and Radicalism 5. The Reformation, Women and Marriage 6. The Reformation and the Supernatural Epilogue Further Reading Notes Index
Martin Luther pinned his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg he shattered foundations of western Christendom. The Reformation of doctrine and practice that followed Luther's seismic action, and protest against sale of indulgences, fragmented the Church and overturned previously accepted certainties and priorities.
Helen L. Parish is Professor of History at the University of Reading. Her previous books include Superstition and Magic in Early Modern Europe: A Reader (Bloomsbury, 2015), Monks, Miracles and Magic: Reformation Representations of the Medieval Church (2005) and Clerical Marriage and the English Reformation: Precedent, Policy and Practice (2000).
'This book is an excellent and up-to-date treatment of the
Reformation. Helen Parish has produced a splendid summary, based on
the latest research, of those major themes that characterized the
Reformation in both its coherence and its diversity. Though
underpinned by solid scholarship, it deserves a wide
readership.’
*Scott H. Hendrix, Emeritus Professor of Reformation History and
Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, author of Martin Luther:
A Very Short Introduction*
‘This is much more than just another history of the Reformation.
Helen Parish not only gives us Luther’s story, she expertly traces
its impact deep into ordinary life. We learn how a theologians’
quarrel ended up reinventing the arts, family life, and even
ghosts. And while she digests the best of recent scholarship for
us, the book is also filled with vivid vignettes, from the inferno
of a Dutch church torched by iconoclasts to an Anabaptist radical’s
letter to her infant son written as she went to her death.’
*Alec Ryrie, Professor of the History of Christianity, Durham
University, author of Protestants: The Radicals who Made the Modern
World*
‘Brought out to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the nailing
of Martin Luther's 95 Theses to the door of the cathedral in
Wittenberg – the event generally held to have set the Reformation
in motion – Helen Parish's exciting new book is a timely, assured,
well-written and thoroughly engaging account of this key episode of
early modern European history. Drawing on the most recent
scholarship, and making extensive use of primary sources, it
provides readers with an excellent introduction to the subject
while at the same time offering something quite distinctive. Not
only does this volume cover essential topics such as Reformation
theology and the role of printing, but it also does a great job of
drawing our attention to less conventional themes, such as the
visual arts, women and marriage and the supernatural. It is a key
contribution from one of our leading Reformation historians.’
*Kenneth Austin, Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History,
University of Bristol*
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