The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, 1400-1580

This prize-winning account of the pre-Reformation church recreates lay people’s experience of religion in fifteenth-century England. Eamon Duffy shows that late medieval Catholicism was neither decadent nor decayed, but was a strong and vigorous tradition, and that the Reformation represented a violent rupture from a popular and theologically respectable religious system. For this edition, Duffy has written a new Preface reflecting on recent developments in our understanding of the period.

From reviews of the first edition:

“A magnificent scholarly achievement [and] a compelling read.”—Patricia Morrison, Financial Times

“Deeply imaginative, movingly written, and splendidly illustrated. . . . Duffy’s analysis . . . carries conviction.”—Maurice Keen, New York Review of Books

“This book will afford enjoyment and enlightenment to layman and specialist alike.”—Peter Heath, Times Literary Supplement

“[An] astonishing and magnificent piece of work.”—Edward T. Oakes, Commonweal