A People’s Tragedy: Studies in Reformation

In his book ‘The Stripping of the Altars’, (Yale University Press) Eamon Duffy revolutionized English medieval studies. His thesis, the English Reformation was indeed ‘A People’s Tragedy’. By minute research into late medieval religious practice, Duffy demonstrated beyond dispute that popular religious practice on the eve of the Reformation was alive, indeed vibrant. This contradicted the theories of Reformation scholars such as A.G. Dickens that at the Henrician Reformation, it was out with the old and in with the new - the old being totally corrupt.

These are the themes that Duffy pursues again in this new book. But he introduces the readers here to a whole lot of new research, some of it archaeological, to demonstrate his point. Wall paintings, parish records, wood carvings, triptychs which show the true nature of medieval devotion. The detail is absolutely fascinating and shows the best of historical research. Walsingham, York Minster and Ely Abbey are among the places described.

Most of these studies are aimed at the intelligent general reader - anyone who loves to delve into new historical findings. In the latter part of the book, Duffy explains how the Reformation even today remains a battleground among scholars. This is Duffy at his very best.