English Reformations

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The Revisionist text book - Rated
Dr Haigh writes a fluent and readable history that is strongly grounded in the source material available from the period. Although the post-revisionist school (typified by the work of Professor MacCullogh) has evolved, it has evolved in the shadow of Haigh and his fellow revisionists of the 1980s. As a result, this book constitutes essential reading for anyone studying British history, European religious history, or church history. This work represents a benchmark, and it is necessary to have grasped the arguments within it before considering the subsequent debate.

While it can now be argued that revionism overstated its case in the reaction to the 'whig' histories of a progressive and inevitable English reformation, it is very difficult to prove this argument absolutely. In his lectures at Oxford Dr Haigh continues to justify his position in an academically sound manner, and so the question of whether he is right becomes one of interpretation, emphasis and bias. This, after all, is what the study of history is all about. Within this debate Haigh was one of the leading protagonists, and remains a central force for the 'yes but, realistically' approach to reformation history, and this book is therefore fundamental reading material.

invaluable - Rated
I am currently studying History at Exeter College, Oxford, and I very much doubt I would be here without the aid of this book. Clearly set out, well written and with a fantastic overview of events, Haigh describes the changes that took place in Tudor England with finesse and style. However, this is not just a work for those studying the period - Haigh's informal style of writing and the fluency of his essays means that it is also an excellent resources for the more casual reader. An invaluable book to any studying or interested in the Reformations.

Protestantism for the Few - Rated
Another very satisfying book which I read just after Duffy's "The Stripping of the Altars". Interestingly it confirms Duffy's thesis of the robustness and resilience of late medieval piety and does even more to expose the political motives and accidents of timing which underpinned enforced institutional change to religion in England. If his reading is right the Edwardine period becomes a virtual aberration based on cynical power-hunger on the part of Somerset and Northumberland. Of particular interest is his analysis of the start of Elizabeth's reign and her sharply radical opening push which came unstuck with the bishops and conservative peers. It is a pity that one cannot - as Haigh rightly accepts - put any reliable figure on the number of protestant believers through the period or make any sensible judgment on the extent of pressure on would-be protestants to conform. What is clear is that the Whig theory of an ineluctable and historically necessary English Reformation is entirely exploded.

Too narrow a perspective - Rated
Dr Haigh's book appears to have widespread appeal but there are a number of fault lines running through it.

For the early part of the period there is a failure to come to terms with the essential dynanism of the Henrican reforms. Papal authority was broken, an English Bible translated by reformers introduced, monastries disolved, the cults of relics and shrines virtually ended,there was extensive use of English in church services while the interrelated concepts of purgatory,images and prayers for dead much diminished in importance.There was was a vigorous preaching campaign,ale house discussion and a strong( I suspect already dominant) flow of reformist literature for which figures such as Boleyn, Cromwell,Cranmer, Denny, Butts, Catherine Parr could offer at least partial protection throughout. Macculloch's Cranmer offers more constructive account, of the latter period of Henry's reign which is I think is more convincing than that presented by Dr Haigh.

It is not that the Henrican reforms turned England into a protestant nation but rather that they laid the foundations for rapid advance in Edwards' reign and the early part of Elizabeths' reign. Dr Haigh(Chp 11) for example gives some data for traditional catholic will preambles for Kent taken,I assume, from English Provincial society --Kent by P Clark.These show a collapse under Edward a recovery to around 40% in the latter part of Mary's reign. The critical point is that even with the intensity of the Marian persecution in Kent they never returned to the of the mid-1540's but more importantly fell back sharply again as soon as Elizabeth came to power(9% in 1560).The data must be used with caution but the trend is clear.

From the 1560's onwards Dr Haigh seems to assume that puritanism and protestantism are one and the same thing and hence fails to take account of the power of Cranmer's Prayer Book and the development of a conservative, but nevertheless protestant, Anglicanism. The demand for some form of ceremony or dislike of puritan preaching was just that, not a demand for a catholic restoration.

There are some interesting points but overall the lack of balance and in my view the rather strained use of sources makes this a seriously flawed work.