Commonwealth and the English Reformation: Protestantism and the Politics of Religious Change in the Gloucester Vale, 1483-1560

Taking the Vale of Gloucester as a case study, the book refocuses attention onto issues left unfinished in the wake of current Reformation scholarship. By examining the connections between local gentry, city leaders, reformers, MPs, and royal court officials, it illuminates the broad network of political relationships that was essential to the success of Protestant reform. It demonstrates for the first time how commonwealth ideology galvanized many of these powerful leaders toward a new vis...