The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, 1400-1580

By: Eamon Duffy

Published May 10th 2005 by Yale University Press (first published 1992)

Category: Biography

Pages: 700 pages

ISBN: 9780300108286

Description:
This prize-winning account of the pre-Reformation church recreates lay peopleÕs experience of religion in fifteenth-century England. Eamon Duffy shows that late medieval Catholicism was neither decadent nor decayed, but was a strong and vigorous tradition, and that the Reformation represented a violent rupture from a popular and theologically respectable religious system. For this edition, Duffy has written a new Preface reflecting on recent developments in our understanding of the period.
From reviews of the first edition:
ÒA magnificent scholarly achievement [and] a compelling read.ÓÑPatricia Morrison, Financial Times
ÒDeeply imaginative, movingly written, and splendidly illustrated. . . . DuffyÕs analysis . . . carries conviction.ÓÑMaurice Keen, New York Review of Books
ÒThis book will afford enjoyment and enlightenment to layman and specialist alike.ÓÑPeter Heath, Times Literary Supplement
Ò[An] astonishing and magnificent piece of work.ÓÑEdward T. Oakes, Commonweal