Revisionism has challenged the traditional version of English Reformation history. The essays collected in this volume argue or imply interpretations which differ sharply from conventional textbook accounts. The late-medieval Church was not a corrupt and repressive institution whose abuses demanded radical reforms. There was very little popular demand for Reformation, so official changes were implemented without enthusiasm and Protestantism spread only slowly. The reign of Mary saw a vigorous and quite imaginative programme of restoration, and, despite difficulties, the prospects for an established Catholic Church seemed good. Widespread attachment to Catholic beliefs and rituals survived both State repression and Protestant evangelism, and popular conservatism remained strong well into the reign of Elizabeth I. The English Reformation, therefore, was not a joyous national rejection of outmoded superstition: it was a long drawn-out struggle between reformist minorities and a reluctant majority, and the victory of the reformers was late and limited. Only in the 1570s and after did the officially-Protestant Church of England acquire the missionary manpower and organisation for a campaign of conversion, and even then its impact was restricted. Conscious Catholic commitment remained entrenched in many parts of England, and there was stubborn resistance to some central Protestant tenets. The Reformation did not produce a Protestant England: it produced a divided England.

The Reformation, then, was unpopular – but it did happen, even if it happened slowly, and it happened without civil war. It was suggested in the ‘Introduction’ that the fortunes of politics and the strength of conservatism made the Reformation piecemeal, and therefore enforceable in small portions.