Stripping of Altars - Traditional Religion in England, 1400-1580

685 Pages·2005·20.546 MB·English

by  Eamon Duffy

Revieowfst hfeir setdi tion:
"This book will afford enjoyment and enlightenment to layman and
specialist alike. Duffy sweeps the reader along ... by his lively and
absorbing detail, his piercing insights, patient analysis, and his vigour in
debate."-Peter Heath, Times Literary Suppleme11t
"Deeply imaginative, movingly written, and splendidly illustrated ....
Duffy's analysis, in his richly detailed book, of what happened at the
Reformation to the religion of the laity of England ... carries convic­
of
tion."-Maurice Keen, New York Review Books
"Revisionist history at its most imaginative and exciting ....[A n]
astonishing and magnificent piece of work."-Edward T. Oakes,
Commonweal
"Duffy wants to show the vitality and appeal oflate medieval
Catholicism and to prove that it exerted a diverse and vigorous hold
over the imagination and loyalty of the people up to the very moment
of Reformation.H e succeeds triumphantly."-Susan Brigden, Lo11do11
of
Review Books
"A landmark book in the history of the Reformation."-Ann
EljenholrnN ichols, Sixteenth Century Journal
"Sensitively written and beautifully produced, this book represents a
major contribution to the Reformation debate."-NormanT anner,
The Times
"With the publication of this book, a kind of map or illustrated atlas
of late medieval English Christianity, English Reformation studies will
never be the same again."-Patrick Collinson, Times Higl,er Educatio11
Supplement
"Duffy ofef rs an unrivaled picture of late medieval parochial religion,
with all itristu al symbolism and visual imagery.-" KeithT homas, T11e
Observer
"This is a quite remarkable, indeed brilliant, study, which puts flesh on
the bones of the so-caJled 'revisionist' interpretation of the English
Reformation. ... This is essential reading for all those who wish co
understand late medieval religion and the means by which it was
undermined against the wishes of the vast majority of its practition­
ers."-Christopher Harper-Bill, Theology
"This magnificently produced volume must rank as one of the most
important landmarks in the study of late medieval English religion to
have hitherto appeared, and it is unlikely to be superseded for quite
some time. ... The sheer scale of Duffy's achievement, the enormous
value of the information he provides and the vigour and elegance
with whjch he presents it, make his book, in every sense, a rnust."­
Robert Peters, History Review
"This is a monumental work ... Duffy writes elegantly, handling
complex and controversial subject matter in a way at once sober and
factual. ... lt should be read by every historian of the medieval and
early modern periods, by every Catholic, indeed by every Christian
with a serious interest in the history of Christendom."-Evelyn Birge
Vitz, 171eological Studies
"A valuable source of information supported with excellent illustra­
tions and bibliography."-C/ioice
"A very illuminating and satisfying book, which takes a major step
towards better understanding of the English reformation."-Margaret
Aston, E11glish Historical Revie111
"This is a work of exceptional importance, demonstrating massive
erudition, great sympathy, and eloquence of style. It presents a mar­
velously detailed new picture of traditional religious belief and prac­
tice in England during the century prior to the Reformation and it
shows exactly when and how the customs of faith and ceremony were
stripped away in tl1e sixteenth century. Our interpretation of the
Reformation and our understandjng ofTudor religion will never be
the same."-Scanford Lehmberg, Sixtee11th Ce11tury Joumal
"Scholarly, compulsively readable and revolutionary in thesis. ..
Scholars of the period will enjoy the controversy and the general
reader will ... be carried back empathetically to the days when reli­
gion was not as we know it now."-Gillian Mottram, Faith a11d
Freedom
"(This book] at last gives the culture of the late Middle Ages in
England its due, and helps us co see the period as it was and not as
Protestant reformers and their intellectual descendants imagined it to
be. ... A monumental and deeply felt work."-Gabriel Josipovici,
Times Literary S11pple111enl
"An outstanding history of the English Reformation."-Commonwea/
THES TRIPPING
OFT HEA LTARS
TraditRieolniagilinE o nng land
c.1400-c.1580
EAMON DUFFY
YALUEN IVERSPIRTEYS S
NEWH AVEANN DL ONDON
Copyright © 1992 by Yale U niversicy
Second edition © 2005
4 6 8 9 7 5
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in
part, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and
108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public
press), without written permission from the publishers.
Designed by John Nicoll
Set in Linorron Bembo by Best-set Typesetters Ltd, Hong Kong
Primed in China through Worldprint
ISBN 978-0-300-10828-6 (pbk)
Library of Congress Catalog Number 92-50579
Deus, qui nos patrem et mah'em lwnorare praecepisti,
miserere clementer an.im.abus patris et matris meae, eorumque
peccata dimitte, meque cum illis in, aeternae claritatis gaudio Jae vivere.
Per Chris tum Dominum Nostn,m. Amen.
Frotmh Mea sst hfDeoe ra d,
MissaadUl se1 l11m, seigtPr1 a1eicsl araSea nE«1l1e1s1i,a e
edF.. HD.i cki1n8s6o1n-,8 837,3 *c.o l.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
XI
Preface to the Second Edition
Xlll
Introduction 1
PART I: THE STRUCTURES OF
TRADITIONAL RELIGION 9
A: LITURGY, LEARNING AND THE LAITY 9
1 Seasons and Signs: the LiturgicaJ Year 11
The Ceremonies of Holy �ek 22
Sacred Place, Sacred Time 37
"Sacred" and "Sewlar"Time? 46
2 How the Plowman learned his Paternoster 53
Priests, People and Catechesis 53
The Impact of Catechcsis: imagery and
Dmmatir Evidence 63
ef
The Impact Literacy: l.Ay Didactic and
Devotional Collections 68
The Coming of Prillf 77
B:E NCOUNTERITHNEG H OLY 89
3 The Mass 91
Seeing the Host 95
Seeing a11d Believing 102
"Dredd" into "Sweetness" 107
viii CONTENTS
Spectators or Participants? Lay Religio11 and
the Mass
109
Praying the Mass: tlie Individual's Experiet1ce
117
Praying the Mass: Privatizatio11?
121
Praying the Mass: the Parochial Experience
123
Making rite Peace
126
Corporate Christians 131
4
Gild and Parish
141
5 The Saints 155
The Sai11ts in tlteir Images
155
"The debt ei1f1terc ha11ging neighbo11rhood"
160
Old and New Allegiances
164
Holiness and Help
169
Coins, Candles and Contracts
183
Gift, Grace and Fel/0111jeeling
186
Pilgrimage
190
St Walstan of Ba111b11rgh
200
C: PRAYERS AND SPELLS
207
"Lewed and Learned": the Laity and the Primers
6 209
The Primer and LAy Prayer
210
The Devotions of the Primers
7 233
Devotions to the Passion
234
The Mass eSft G regory and the frVounds eJefsus
238
The Seven J.¼rds on the Cross
248
Devotions to the Vi in
rg 256
8 Charms, Pardons and Promises: Lay Piety and
"Superstition" in the Primers
266
Pardons and Promises
287
CONTENTS ix
D: NOW,ANDATTHE HOUR OF
OUR DEATH
299
Last Things
9 301
The Image of Death
303
of
The Ho11r Death
310
Ars Moriendi
313
Death a11d Memory
327
10 The Pains of Purgatory 338
P11rgatory: Ante-roonr of Heaven or Outpost of
Hell?
343
Christendome and Kindred
348
of
Ways Deliverance: Shortening the Paints of
P,u;gatory
354
of
The Works Mercy
357
of
The Rejection Penny Doles
362
Bridges and Highivays
367
Prayers and Supplications
368
PARITI :T HES TRIPPOIFNT GH E
ALTAR1S5,3 0-1580 377
The Attack onT raditional Religion I:
11
From the Break with Rome to the Act of
Six Articles
379
12 The Attack on Traditional Religion 11:
To the death of Henry VIII
424
13 The Attack onT raditional Religion lll:
The Rei of Edward VI
gn 448
The Impact ofR eform: Parishes
14 478
The Impact of Reform: Wills
15 504
CONTENTS
X
Mary
16 524
Religio1,1s Priorities i11 Marian England
527
The Marian Primers
537
T11e Programme in the Pal'ishes
543
The Visitation of Keut, 1557
555
Elizabeth
17 565
Abbreviations
594
Bibliography
595
Index
626