A classic and comprehensive selection of documents, expertly presented by a leading historian and ideal for courses on the Reformation.
R Po-chia Hsia, University of Pennsylvania Margaret L. King's Reformation Thought: An Anthology of Sources will prove useful for students taking an introductory class in early modern religious history. It provides excerpts from sources that are widely ... Read morediverse in both time and geographical location, and considers the religious thought of humble folk as well as that of princesses, priests, nuns, and scholars. As King states in her introductionoutlining the major theme in her workmany different views made up early modern religious thought, and this diversity greatly affected the development of internal and individual faith. . . . King provides her own translations for most texts and updates the language of English sources for modern audiences; this and other details demonstrate how well the anthology would suit an introductory course. She provides careful introductions for each excerpt that show how it fits in the larger work, and defines terms that students who have never studied religious history may not have encountered. . . . Forty-one different authors are included in this anthology, a remarkable feat for a book of fewer than 230 pages. . . . King's anthology could prove very useful in sparking debate between students of the Reformation. It is a good supplement to a historiographical study of Reformation thought, because it shows that the people involved in the great religious upheaval of the early modern era cannot easily be simplified. It was a time of great diversity and depth of thought, when individuals took hold of their faith for themselves. King's anthology successfully re-creates this atmosphere. Angela Ranson, University of York, in Renaissance and Reformation Source readers can be interesting barometers of how certain fields have changed over the years. Margaret King's Reformation Thought is an intriguing case in point as it effectively illustrates how our understanding of the Reformation world has shifted in at least two significant ways. First is an expanded chronology. . . . The second distinctive feature is the determined effort on her part to include a broad range of voices. . . . Though there are a number of Reformation readers on the market today, King's volume is a welcome addition. Her selections are judicious, and the breadth that she offers distinguishes Reformation Thought from some of its competitors. . . . Finally, Hackett Publishing should be commended for their commitment to producing primary source anthologies at an attractive price point. Indeed, the price alone makes the volume well worth considering for any course on the Reformation world. Howard Louthan, University of Minnesota, in Journal of Jesuit Studies King's anthology could prove very useful in sparking debate between students of the Reformation. It is a good supplement to a historiographical study of Reformation thought, because it shows that the people involved in the great religious upheaval of the early modern era cannot easily be simplified. It was a time of great diversity and depth of thought, when individuals took hold of their faith for themselves. King's anthology successfully re-creates this atmosphere. Angela Ranson, University of York, in Renaissance and Reformation A highly approachable collection of selections both canonical (but not less important for that; one can't teach the Reformation without key texts from Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, et al.) and less well known. The latter textsfrom Mantova, Melancthon, Beza, Riedeman, Campion, Hoby, Pole, and othersare illuminating and useful in every case. The decision to carry the story to the late seventeenth and even eighteenth century and bring in the overseas perspective was an excellent one. King's characteristic ability to choose important piecesand translate and annotate them accurately and wellis on full display here. The introductions to the chapters and to the individual selections are well written and concise. Thomas Kuehn, Clemson University This invaluable little anthology delivers exactly what it promises and a little bit more. There was a time when a source collection titled 'Reformation Thought' would have consisted entirely of extracts from the principal published works of the best-known Protestant theologians
and that would not be a bad thing: the Reformation was a revolution of ideas led by scholars, and unless students are willing to engage with those ideas they will not grasp much of what it was all about. So it is pleasing that, amongst Margaret L. King's fifty short extracts, we have five from Martin Luther and ten more from major Protestant thinkers, plus five from Erasmus. The extracts are brief but well-chosen, and will give novices a decent overview of some of the most burning issues in the Reformation debates. The book's real value, however, is in its recognition that Reformation studies is now a much broader discipline than just big name theologians. As is now conventional, the Protestant Reformation is joined by its Catholic counterpart. Where King moves beyond convention is in the extent of her inclusion of women's voices: fully ten of her fifty sources are written wholly or partly by women, a mixture of well-known figures like Teresa of avila, representative voices of female piety such as the English diarist Margaret Hoby, and strikingly fresh and undeservedly neglected theological interventions like that of Marie Dentiere, who not only insisted on the legitimacy of women's theology, but added, 'they will not be able to stop us' (p. 94).
Alec Ryrie, Durham University, in the Journal of World History Show Less