Book Description

"'The one definite thing which can be said about the reformation in England is that it was an act of State.' Sir Maurice Powicke sets out to give a dispassionate account of the actual process of the Reformation, without passing any judgement on the profound theological and moral issues involved. His study is an attempt to explain the way in which the transition from the medieval system to the organization of the Church in Tudor times was effected and the changes which this transition involved. It was by these political moves and these social adjustments more than any others that the English State and people were transformed from their medieval to their modern character. The book has long been prized for its clear analysis of a vexed period and the intuitive sympathy with which Sir Maurice regarded men as diverse as Sir Thomas More, Archbishop Cranmer, Bishop Gardiner and Cardinal Pole." -Publisher