The Early Reformation on the Continent

by Owen Chadwick

Chadwick offers a fresh look at the formative years of the European Reformation and the origins of Protestant faith and practice. He arranges his material thematically, tracing the origins and development of each topic throughout the history of the western Church and providing an authoritative, accessible, and informative account.

456 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1902

About the author

William Owen Chadwick, OM, KBE, FBA, FRSE, was a British Anglican clergyman, academic, writer and prominent historian of Christianity. He was also a rugby union player. He was Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge, from 1956 to 1983, Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History from 1958 to 1968, and Regius Professor of History from 1968 to 1983.

Reviews

[Joel Zartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never read a better organized or more interesting book about the Reformation. First sentence:

1 “During the fifteenth century the Germans improved the use of metals, with startling results. Guns that destroyed less inefficiently, clocks that more or less kept the time, organs that played in tune, and a new way to making books easy for readers.”

The book consists of 18 topical essays into which he inserts the narratives. “The book,” the first, of course tells us about Gutenberg, but also about Stephanus. “Conversion” of course deals with Luther. “Radicals,” had Thomas Munzer, “Toleration” Servetus, and “Divorce,” oddly enough, is called Divorce rather than “Sex and Marriage.” It is almost courtly, though the chapter is not.

85 “Hesitant government, or slow change, or moderation, could produce worse results for public order than accepting at once what the majority of councilors, their leading pastors, and a majority of the people now thought to be a necessity for the health and prosperity of the city.”
There was a real balancing act. Judgment was needed and mistakes were made. Chadwick examines all kinds of situations and the various outcomes. He provides shrewd insight. His topical arrangement permits it. This book is ingeniously organized.

383 “It was an axiom accepted by everyone but anabaptists that a state cannot exist safely unless it contains only one religion—with large exception that many sates allowed hedged communities of Jews.” This is how the chapter on toleration begins. It is the best chapter of all. It shows how the confusion of the Christian religion with a Christian society played out in the Reformation. It is very important to understand what was and was not obvious to the Reformers when we consider their views regarding church and state. Also the view of the radicals, which they reacted against. Chadwick works though chronologically from Servetus to Castellio to Acontius developing the dilemma, showing how the personalities involved figured, and the limited horizons. Servetus was a contumacious heretic arguing with intelligence and without wisdom for religious toleration, as it transpires.

396 “This much only is certain: the Protest divided Europe in religion and a divided Europe was forced to tolerate or destroy itself.” That sentence is the statement of a very great historian; he says a great deal, but he only says what can be said. And that sums up the book.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

3½ stars, really.

This is not an introduction to Reformation Europe, this is the book to grab when you want to know more. Most important figures and events are dealt with, but the book isn't arranged chronologically but thematic and I think it can be a bit confusing if you don't have some previous knowledge of the subject. Here you can read about everything from book printing and schools to heretics and divorces - and there's tons of information to pick up (and Chadwick sometimes let a dry sense of humour shine through which is quite nice).

What stops this from being a 4 star book has to do with the editing, which is a pity (but I can't look past it). There are two different issues. The first is an overuse of 'he'. There are often long paragraphs which just refers to a 'he', which in a book that deals with tons and tons of different men can be really confusing - especially when there are several men mentioned in the paragraph. The other issue are some of the headlines. The chapter headlines are generally good, but sometimes a bit off. For example the chapter named 'Divorce' deals with everything concerning marriage. And some of the headlines in the text seem to be more of place-holders for the author than a help for the reader - for example the section titled 'Gerolamo Cardano' deals with both Cardano and Rabelais and is followed (without a new header) by a section on the discovery of America!

All in all a good book - but with a few simple tweaks it could have been great!

[Josiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent thorough and wonderfully readable while being scholarly in character.