Just Finished Reading: The Reformation – A Very Short Introduction by Peter Marshall

The Reformation is another one of those periods in European history that I know something about via other sources – be it history books touching on it tangentially or novels based during that turbulent time. We may have even mentioned it in passing in school though I can’t remember anything specific about it. Just about the only highlights I could mention – like one of those word association games where someone says “Reformation” – is Henry the Eight’s dissolution of the monasteries in England, the Thirty Years War and Martin Luther nailing his thesis to a church door. Apart from that, at least until I read this slim but excellent volume, my knowledge was scant indeed.

Although still far, far from an expert on the period I do now have a greater appreciation of the complexities of that time, some of the major causes of the split in the ‘one true church’ (more nuanced and longer running that I’d first appreciated) and have been made aware of some of the myths surrounding the actions of Luther in particular (I was for example surprised that nailing your thesis to a church door was standard practice in those days and that the thesis in question hardly caused a still at least at first). Marshall certainly knows his stuff and is a good enough writer to make what is essentially church history – before the whole episode got down and dirty – frankly fascinating. Not only do I now have a greater insight into the Reformation itself but that knowledge has helped me to understand European history in general much more. This is simply because the various fallouts from the great schism in Christianity are still with us today – whether you believe in the tenets of either side or neither side. Not only did the process tear the church into two but it also rebounded on itself with the Counter-Reformation which arguably made the Catholic Church the powerhouse it still is today. As both sides fought for European supremacy they were both forced to become true world religions for the first time prompting voyages of discovery and conquest. Likewise the antagonisms between Protestant and Catholic had huge cultural implications as art, music, architecture and the written word where all utilised in the ongoing war of ideas and ideology. Things, as they say, would never, could never, be the same again. It is even arguable that the growing chasm between the two sides of the Christian faith allowed the development and present dominance of secularisation in Europe.

Overall this was an enlightening little book which has certainly prompted me to read more about this period in European history. That is most definitely the point of the series and this is a fine example of a job well done. Highly recommended to anyone who knows a bit about the topic and wants to know a bit more without wading through any heavy handed prose.