London and the Reformation

This is a study of the religious and social world of a community transformed by the Reformation. In London the new faith was most fervently evangelized and most fiercely resisted. A city that had once been bound by a common faith was, for the first time, divided in religion as a succession of governments and monarchs--Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary--vied for control. The disproportionate size and wealth of the capital, the network of connections within London and between London and the provinces and overseas, its particular integration of social forces and high politics, and the strength of its religious sectors--both reformist and conservative--made London a key factor in the reception of the English Reformation. This book draws upon the rich archival sources of 16th-century London to explore how the religious dilemmas were confronted during the Reformation, and provides a much-needed examination of the turbulence of Reformation politics.