Parliament and the Reformation of Edward VI

This article explores the ways in which parliament was used to shape the accelerating protestant reformation undertaken by successive governments under Edward VI. It underlines the significance for constitutional history of Thomas Cromwell's extraordinary promotion of England's parliament to enact the break with Rome and evangelical religious change, and the corresponding use of parliament after Cromwell's fall by conservatives to combat evangelical gains, which at first constituted an obstacle to Protector Somerset's plans. There was a steady deliberate erosion of conservative episcopal votes in the Lords through political man?uvres from 1547; nevertheless, up to late 1549, the weight of conservative opposition in the Lords (without much obvious corresponding traditionalist support in the Commons) dictated crabwise progress in legislation. The convocations of Canterbury and York played a more marginal role in religious change. Somerset's unsuccessful attempt at populist innovation in parliament was, arguably, an important element fuelling the coup against him in autumn 1549. Thereafter, events moved much more rapidly, aided by further compulsory retirements of bishops. Attention is drawn to the frustration felt by some enthusiastic evangelicals at the pace of change dictated by parliament, leading the prominent refugee, Jan ?aski, sarcastically to characterise the Edwardian Reformation in retrospect as ‘parliamentary theology’. From late 1552, divisions between clergy and nobility in the evangelical leadership over plundering of church wealth led to confusion, ill will and the disruption of further progress, even before it was obvious that King Edward was rapidly dying.     

New Perspectives on the English Reformation

The historiography of the English Reformation has been driven by several key themes for three or four decades: the chronology of religious change and the success or failure of Protestantism to establish itself, the position of Puritanism vis-à-vis Church conformity, the role of Arminianism (anti-Calvinism) in doctrinal and ecclesiological debates and its impact on ecclesiastical politics and, more latterly, the continuities of ideas and beliefs between medieval Catholicism and Reformation Protestantism. This survey article on six new books in the field of Reformation studies argues that while the current historiography is generating very exciting work on the religious mentalité of early-modern English people and the transmission of ideas across the Catholic-Protestant divide, as well as generating a thriving debate on Calvinist consensus (or not) and the rise of Arminianism (or not), there are further rich seams to mine that incorporate gender into the analysis and that add the Atlantic World perspective to that of the European context for Reformation.     

Planting Peace: The Greater London Council and the Community Gardens of Central London

‘Peace’ has not lent itself easily to emblematic or mnemonic forms of representation. In Europe’s furnished urban landscapes of the 19th century peace was often personified in female allegorical form. She can be seen in many of the sculpted memorials that commemorate distant battles fought on the edges of Empire. Invariably, however, the figure of ‘Peace’ had a more modest role in the allegory of commemoration than that of ‘Victory’ or ‘Triumph’. As an ideal, peace and pacifism is more often regarded as a process, a long‐term goal that cannot be captured in single static form. To this end, the promotion of peace has most often been realised through intervention, occupation, and fluid, temporal forms such as campaigns, marches, songs, dances and other extended programmes. Peace has also been promoted through slow, evolutionary forms such as designed landscapes, parks and gardens. Drawing on international parallels, this paper examines in detail two community gardens in central London. Each owes its origins to radical local agendas set within the political climate of the Cold War of the 1980s, but both were born out of grand visions for world peace, multilateral disarmament, and global accord. Twenty years after their creation, the author explores their current condition and examines their value as sites of political value and heritage.     

Reformation on the Continent: Approaches Old and New

Much has changed in Reformation historiography over the last two decades. Long established temporal and geographical frameworks have been thoroughly revised and reappraised. If theology, politics, social movements, and economic trends were once treated as discreet areas of study, nowadays scholars in the field are much more appreciative of how these themes inform each other. This review essay appraises a selection of works that are indicative of the richness and variety that characterizes Reformation and Counter-Reformation scholarship today.     

宗教改革与近代早期伦敦葬礼的变迁

近代早期英国经历了曲折的宗教改革,大部分伦敦居民的死亡观念和葬礼实践随之发生了变化.在灵魂得救上,他们接受了"因信称义",摈弃了炼狱观念.在墓地的选择上,由于宗教改革缩小了教区墓地的面积,中间阶层与精英阶层争夺教区内最神圣的墓地--教堂,普通市民不得不葬入郊外新建的墓地.在葬礼仪式上,减少了许多天主教性质的仪式,世俗机构纹章院对葬礼的控制进一步加剧了葬礼仪式的世俗化.归根结底,新教的"入世禁欲"观念极大地推动了葬礼的变迁,同时,节俭、谋利的资本主义精神贯穿葬礼变迁之始终.     

欧洲宗教改革与瑞士钟表业的崛起

在瑞士近代工业发展史上,钟表业占有举足轻重的地位。通过考察其历史,瑞士钟表业的奠基时期与欧洲的宗教改革时期恰好重合。可以说,瑞士钟表业从初创到迅速发展,并最终能够成为世界独一无二的“钟表王国”,无不与宗教改革有着密切的关联。16世纪的宗教改革为钟表业在瑞士的建立、发展、兴盛提供了良好的历史机遇宗教改革中的一些法令为钟表业的发展排除了劲敌首饰业,并将那些从事首饰业的工匠转化为钟表业的潜在技术人员;宗教改革的“衍生物”,即受到宗教迫害的法国难民等,则为瑞士钟表业的兴起提供了先进的技术、大量的资金、优秀的人才以及销售网络;宗教改革还从精神层面间接地产生了潜移默化的影响,从而陶染了瑞士人的思想观念,培养出瑞士人执着的工匠精神,为钟表业的长远发展提供了积极的因素。宗教改革不仅助推了钟表工业的发展,同时也带动了瑞士城市化发展和其他产业,对瑞士近代经济与社会产生了巨大的影响。