medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

One note regarding this bibliography: all the authors, in varying degrees, view and interpret the Protestant Reformation from a Protestant perspective (Moorman would probably be closest to a Catholic reading of the events).  For some balance, with about the same level of confessional bias but from the Catholic side, one might look at Philip Edgecomb Hughes's or Hubert Jediin's books.  Writing from a confessional commitment is not the problem--buit the reader deserves to know where the author he is reading is coming from.
 
Dennis Martin

>>> [log in to unmask] 5/24/2004 9:22:10 PM >>>
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Phyllis,

Now would be a good time to start cramming to teach a class in Reformation
History for the Fall. But, for this summer? WOW!!!!

Get this book, ASAP!!!!!: _A History of the Christian Church_, by Williston
Walker (Most recent editions edited by Robert T. Handy, Cyril C. Richardson,
and Wilhelm Pauck.) Start with (my references are to the 3rd edition)
Chapter 9 (p.216) and read through the end of Chapter 17 (p. 421).

Then, read the following:

Owen Chadwick. _The Reformation_, vol. 3 in _Penguin History of the Church_.

Alister E. McGrath. _Reformation Thought: An Introduction_.

Roland H. Bainton. _The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century_.

J.R.H. Moorman. _A History of the Church of England_.

You will want to bone-up on the Counter-Reformation, too, as it is part of
the whole picture. See the Council of Trent.

In England we find four major "strands" to consider: (1) The Anglicans of
the Catholic but non-Papal "Church of England;" (2) The Lutheran influence;
(3) The Calvinist (via John Knox, in Scotland) influence; (4) The Puritan
influence (very Calvinisticly favored individuals, who tried to wrest
control of the Church of England to "purify" it--and who did wrest control,
and caused the Interregnum, under Cromwell (King Charles the Martyr), before
the Restoration of the monarchy, and the Anglicans regaining control of
their church). In England there is also the Recussant influence (and
persecution of them). You will see how the "Elizabethan Compromise" was a
_political_ settlement than allowed opposite parties to remain in the Church
together. Some things, such as the so-called "Articles of Religion" were
written in a vague enough manner, that those holding opposite views could
each claim that the Articles sustained either view.

On the continent, you need to see Martin Luther as the "spirit" behind the
so-called Evangelical (Evangelishe) Reformation, but Phillip Malancton was
the brains behind Luther. Look at the Leipsig Interim of 1548 as the means
by which the Evangelical Reformation stayed together. Check out the concept
of "adiaphora."

The Reformed movement is Calvin's creation, in Switzerland. Calvin and
Luther agreed on many things. However, Luther and Calvin could not agree on
the Real Presence in the Eucharistic Species.

Get back to us with questions, if you need to. This is all off the top of my
head. I'll give it some more thought. In fact, I'll probably lose sleep over
it, worring about you. I can't get to my files just now, or at least I could
give you a syllabus on the Reformation.

If you need to choose a textbook for the course, Bainton's would be a good
choice. Maddy has a book out on the reformation, too, but I can't remember
the title, and I have not seen it--it would be worth looking into. I think
she is a member of this list, isn't she? Madeleine Grey?

"Evangelical" churches are "Lutheran." "Reformed" chuches are "Calvinist."

Oh, before I forget, you probably want to familiarize yourself with Wyclif
in England and John Hus in Bohemia, as "precursors" to the Reformation.

Remember that the English Reformation and the Continental Reformation are
two different entities. Moorman covers that well.

I will find and email the appropriate passages in the Magna Carta of 1215.
The Pope, you recall, condemned the Magna Carta.

So far as the "abominable heresy of the Mass," you will come to understand
why the Calvinists/Puritans thought that way. Maybe more later, on that.
Also, political history looms big, in Europe--see Ducal Saxony versus
Electoral Saxony. Power struggles in the Holy Roman Empire figure in, as to
which "side" local rulers took.

The influence of the rise of Universities.

At the close of the fifteenth century, the Christian status quo was ripe
conflict. "Theology, as such, had largely lost its hold on popular thought,
discredited by nominalism, despised by humanism, and supplanted by
mysticism.  ¶ It was no dead age to which Luther was to speak, but one
seething with unrest, vexed with multitudinous unsolved problems and
unfulfilled longings." (Walker, p. 297)

This has all been a very quick "hip shoot," sorry!

Good luck!

Terrill
-----------------

Phyllis Jestice wrote:

> I'm frantically cramming Reformation history to teach a class on the
> subject for the first time this summer (!)  Much is illuminating,
> some things are just downright confusing.  This afternoon (for the
> 30th time or so) I've come across sixteenth-century reformers
> denouncing the medieval mass as heretical/blasphemous/sacrilegious or
> words to that effect.  And I don't understand why.  I know that
> something about the mass as "sacrifice" (a re-enactment of Christ's
> sacrifice on the cross?) is involved in this denunciation.  But I
> don't really have any sense of how the late medieval mass was
> different theologically or ecclesiologically from the Episcopalian
> eucharist I go to on Sundays---and none of the standard books on the
> Reformation are explaining this in terms that make sense to me.  I'd
> appreciate any help in understanding this, either on- or offlist.

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