The English Reformation and the Laity: Gloucestershire, 1540-1580

This book tells the story of the English Reformation from the viewpoint of ordinary people and their parishes. It discusses official policy and policymakers, as well as local bishops and priests, but the emphasis is on the laity in all its diversity, not just Catholic or Protestant. The book shows that while some individuals and parishes may have welcomed the new religion, people generally resisted change and then gradually created their own idiosyncratic sets of beliefs and practices.