Reformation Unbound
Protestant Visions of Reform in England, 1525–1590

A study of radical English Protestant views of reformation, revising understandings of early English Protestantism and the development of Puritanism.

Karl Gunther (Author)

9781107074484, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 25 September 2014

296 pages
23.1 x 15.7 x 2.5 cm, 0.57 kg

'A much needed corrective to earlier interpretations of the English Reformation and a major contribution of early modern intellectual history. If radicalism sits at the heart of religious reform, then this forces scholars to reassess the nature of religious debate and the origins of English puritanism. Scholars in Renaissance studies, Christian theology, and political theory will find this book an invaluable resource.' Christopher Petrakos, Anglican and Episcopal History

Fundamentally revising our understanding of the nature and intellectual contours of early English Protestantism, Karl Gunther argues that sixteenth-century English evangelicals were calling for reforms and envisioning godly life in ways that were far more radical than have hitherto been appreciated. Typically such ideas have been seen as later historical developments, associated especially with radical Puritanism, but Gunther's work draws attention to their development in the earliest decades of the English Reformation. Along the way, the book offers new interpretations of central episodes in this period of England's history, such as the 'Troubles at Frankfurt' under Mary and the Elizabethan vestments controversy. By shedding new light on early English Protestantism, the book ultimately casts the later development of Puritanism in a new light, enabling us to re-situate it in a history of radical Protestant thought that reaches back to the beginnings of the English Reformation itself.

Introduction: remembering the Tuesday Sabbath
1. Radical reformation and the Henrician church
2. Not peace but a sword
3. Anti-Nicodemism as a way of life
4. Reformation without tarrying
5. Revisiting the troubles at Frankfurt
6. Catholics and the Elizabethan vestments controversy
7. The battle for English Protestantism
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Church history [HRCC2], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], British & Irish history [HBJD1]