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Amazon.co.uk Review
Eamon Duffy's monumental The Stripping of the Altars provided a new slant on the English Reformation. Duffy has now dug deeper into the same fascinating period. The Voices of Morebath is the story of a hamlet buried deep in the heart of Devon. The parish priest, Sir Christopher Trychay remained in office through the troubled times of the mid-16th century. During his long tenure he carefully recorded the impact of national events in his ordinary rural community.
Trychay's account is unique because it is not a personal diary but a record of the parish accounts. Sir Christopher, however, was talkative and opinionated so the accounts are laden with the minutiae of parish life. Duffy weaves these otherwise cryptic details into the wider tapestry of events of the time, and by analysing the result shows the devastating revolution that took place in ordinary people's lives. As the drama unfolds we see the folk of Morebath forced from their secure Catholicism into the new religion of King Henry. After Edward's brief reign the villagers breathe a sigh of relief and haul out all their Catholic paraphernalia, grateful that Mary Tudor has restored the Catholic faith. Then it all goes for good once Elizabeth takes the throne.
Duffy has given us history that is absorbing, readable and complete. His own enthusiasm for his topic gives the book a zest that takes it beyond the usual academic tome. Anyone the least bit interested in English history must not neglect this important book. --Dwight Longenecker --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
"a book of exceptional quality" John Adamson, The Sunday Telegraph "This great book is a monument not only to scholarship but also to the numinous spirituality of our past." Daniel Johnson, The Daily Telegraph "a book to be read by enthusiasts and general readers alike... significant and striking." Peter Ackroyd, The Times
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
An instructive and at times deeply moving account of the effects of the Tudor Reformation on village life. Although the first half of the book may seem a little tedious in its introduction to the village, people and institutions of Morebath, it is ultimately necessary in understanding the remainder which moves historically through the Reformation period. The book gives a detailed insight into how bewildering it must have been for a conservative rural village to undergo the changes from Catholic to Protestant, back to Catholic under Queen Mary and finally to Protestant again under Elizabeth.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Thus ended the career of the parish priest of Morebath, there was he buried, between two religions, two social worlds, two distinct weltanschuung. Taken from his parish register, which gives full details of accounts with a full and interesting commentary by him ,Christopher Trychay, who served the parish from 1520 - 1574, this book gives an interesting account of the minutiae of parish life throughout the events of the 16th century.
I wonder whether it is possible to write of the Reformation without one's own loyalties being obvious, indeed other reviewers have clearly revealed their own, but Professor Duffy , himself a Catholic, certainly writes not only with considerable affection for the pre-Reformation world but also with some appreciation for the Elizabethan one which came to supplant it in England.
Many of us do not believe ,unlike our ancestors were led to believe by their historians -indeed Haigh when he first studied the opposition to the Reformation came to the conclusion that what he had been taught at school about its popularity was erroneous -that the Reformation was welcomed by the people of England, and have been puzzled as to how they accepted such a revolution. Looked at from the centre the answer is perhaps the power and luck of Queen Elizabeth and the relentless persecution , well detailed by Philip Hughes' "The Reformation in England Vol III True Religion Now Established " , of her Catholic subjects, but the localities have been more problematic, although even there as in the time of Thomas Cromwell it could be said that careless talk costs lives.(p 167). Duffy shows how gradually, after limited destruction under Henry VIII and massive destruction under Edward VI, restoration under Mary, and further destruction under Elizabeth, the Old Religion in Morebath gave way. Their parish priest stayed with them, no longer using the requiem vestments for which in his early days so much parish money had been saved, and obediently adopting the new ways. He "eased them into a slow and settled conformity to the new order of things"(p190).Under Mary he probably had looked back on the the Reformation as being "arrogant, destructive, and un-English, a disastrous rebellion against God and the faith of our fathers" but when it triumphed again he adapted to the change. He saw his duty as being to God and Morebath.
No doubt like many others, I was given this book as a Christmas gift, and was delighted to have such a readable, scholarly, and beautifully illustrated addition to my library.
I wonder whether it is possible to write of the Reformation without one's own loyalties being obvious, indeed other reviewers have clearly revealed their own, but Professor Duffy , himself a Catholic, certainly writes not only with considerable affection for the pre-Reformation world but also with some appreciation for the Elizabethan one which came to supplant it in England.
Many of us do not believe ,unlike our ancestors were led to believe by their historians -indeed Haigh when he first studied the opposition to the Reformation came to the conclusion that what he had been taught at school about its popularity was erroneous -that the Reformation was welcomed by the people of England, and have been puzzled as to how they accepted such a revolution. Looked at from the centre the answer is perhaps the power and luck of Queen Elizabeth and the relentless persecution , well detailed by Philip Hughes' "The Reformation in England Vol III True Religion Now Established " , of her Catholic subjects, but the localities have been more problematic, although even there as in the time of Thomas Cromwell it could be said that careless talk costs lives.(p 167). Duffy shows how gradually, after limited destruction under Henry VIII and massive destruction under Edward VI, restoration under Mary, and further destruction under Elizabeth, the Old Religion in Morebath gave way. Their parish priest stayed with them, no longer using the requiem vestments for which in his early days so much parish money had been saved, and obediently adopting the new ways. He "eased them into a slow and settled conformity to the new order of things"(p190).Under Mary he probably had looked back on the the Reformation as being "arrogant, destructive, and un-English, a disastrous rebellion against God and the faith of our fathers" but when it triumphed again he adapted to the change. He saw his duty as being to God and Morebath.
No doubt like many others, I was given this book as a Christmas gift, and was delighted to have such a readable, scholarly, and beautifully illustrated addition to my library.
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The long awaited sequel and parallel text to The Stripping of the Altars - an intimate examination of the Reformation in a single Devon parish.
Duffy explores the period 1530-1580 through the churchwardens accounts, minute books, journals and bequests of the remote Devon village of Morebath. If you've already read his "The Stripping of the Altars", this book is like a detective story, trying to answer a single, biting question: if the Reformation in England was so unpopular with the common people, why did it succeed? He comes up with what looks like it might be the answer.
The opening chapters may be heavy going if you haven't already read "The Stripping of the Altars".
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Duffy does it again!
If you've read any of Eamon Duffy's earlier books, (especially 'The Stripping of the Altars') you'll love this reconstruction of the impact of the English Reformation on a small... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Keith A. Chittenden
Intriguing
"The Voices of Morebath" has received much acclaim and justly so.
Generally, the histories written of the English Reformation and counter-Reformation have taken a... Read more
Generally, the histories written of the English Reformation and counter-Reformation have taken a... Read more
Published on 26 May 2009 by Dermot Elworthy
Thank you for visiting Morebath - Please drive carefully
Eamon Duffy brings the village of Morebath in the sixteenth century to life with this excellent piece of research. Read more
Published on 28 Dec 2007 by Deadletters
A good piece of scholarship, spoilt by nostalgia
Duffy's Morebath has received more than enough hype to require further praise from me. It is, clearly, an excellent and scholarly account based on a (for the most part) sound... Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2004
empathetic history
eamon duffy, through his intricate study of sir christopher's (morebath's parish preist's)written acounts of parish life, presents a deliciously partisan and empathetic tale of one... Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2003 by "conal_edmund"
Fascinating insight into the turmoil of the Tudor church
This book is fascinating, not least because we learn as much about Duffy's views as Sir Christopher Trychay's! Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2002 by Dr. R. G. Henderson
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