Description
Book SynopsisThe role of bishops in the process of Reformation in the 16th century, studied from their surviving writings and contemporary discussion.The English bishops played a crucial role in the process of Reformation in the sixteenth century, from the first arrival of continental Reformed thought to the virtual extinction of the office in 1559. This work has at its core the bishops' own understanding of the episcopate, drawn from their surviving writings and other contemporary discussions; such a study is key to understanding what became of the English Church of the middle ages and what it was to become under Elizabeth. Carleton examines the interplay between bishop and king, the episcopate in the context of other orders, and the social context of the office; he studies episcopal activity in key areas such as preaching, ordaining, and opposing heresy; and he notes the influence of the models which the bishops themselves set up as ideals, most notably Christ himself as the ideal bishop. The backgrounds of the bishops are set out in the appendix.
Trade ReviewWide-ranging study...containing much of interest in its own right [and] likely to stimulate fresh thinking. on the Church during the early Reformation in England. HISTORY [Claire Cross] * Sets out to look at the episcopate as a whole over one period of what many of us now see as a number of Reformations... [It] relates ideas well to what bishops did. It is a good synthesis with original perspectives, opening new territory. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *
Table of ContentsTheologies of episcopacy in mid-Tudor England; models of episcopal office; bishops of the English Church, 1520-1559; the bishop and preaching; bishops and the provision of education; prayer and sacrifice - the life of the bishop; episcopal activity 1 - the eradication of heresy; episcopal activity 2 - the propagation of the ministry; conclusion - the old episcopate in a new order; appendix 1 - prosopography of the bishops in office 1520-59; appendix 2 - the dioceses; appendix 3 - the education of the bishops - membership of Oxford and Cambridge colleges, English and Welsh bishops at foreign universities; appendix 4 - the bishops of Sodor and Man.
