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The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, c. 1400-c. 1580.
By Eamon Duffy. (New Haven: Yale University Press. 1993. Pp.xii, 654. $45.00 cloth; $18.00 paperback.)
Historians have always questioned traditional beliefs and interpretations about the past. Some off new insights or emphasize neglected aspects of the human story, and others, iconoclastic in approach, radically reshape one's understanding of events. Very seldom, however, do the findings of revisionist historians touch a nerve outside the academic profession. Eamon Duffy's recent book on the English Reformation, however, proves to be an exception. It has created a stir within English ecclesiastical circles and has forced some to re-examine the causes, motives, and events associated with the separation from Rome during the sixteenth century. The Tablet, a Roman Catholic publication, recently noted that the preface to the 1995 edition of the Church of England Yearbook drew attention to revisionist historians, especially Eamon Duffy, who have questioned some Anglican views about the Reformation. In his recent book, Duffy argues that the pre-Reformation Catholic Church was not as corrupt as some historians have believed, and he also casts doubt on the belief that the Reformers performed valuable services by reviving a moribund church. If this interpretation is correct and if Anglican history needs re-examination, then, the preface pointed out, Eamon Duffy's book has important ramifications in the area of ecumenism.
The Stripping of the Altars, despite its length, will appeal to both the professional historian and to anyone interested in English ecclesiastical history. After an informative introduction, Duffy, a fellow of...