Abstract
Terminological concerns are at the heart of most recent accounts of the English Reformation(s). Some would like to see the momentous events referred to by a plural rather than a singular, many more endeavour to dissociate terms such as ‘decline’ or ‘discontent’ from the late medieval Church and to discredit any attempts to explain the changes as a result of pressures ‘from below’. The establishment of a new vocabulary, however, has proved rather more elusive. Prevented from labelling late medieval Catholicism as a ‘popular’ religion by a whole series of inappropriate connotations, some have now suggested that historians speak of the ‘vigour, richness and creativity’ of ‘traditional’ religious practices. The search, no doubt, will continue.1
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© 1998 Beat Kumin
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KüMin, B. (1998). Voluntary Religion and Reformation Change in Eight Urban Parishes. In: Collinson, P., Craig, J. (eds) The Reformation in English Towns, 1500–1640. Themes in Focus. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26832-0_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26832-0_11
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-63431-8
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