Edinburgh’s Reformation was one of the last of the great city reformations that took place all over Europe in the sixteenth century. It took on a highly ditinctive shape as a result of the burgh’s social and economic problems and its position as the cockpit for English policy in Scotland and the shifting factionalism of Scottish politics.
Studies of the Scottish Reformation have tended to pay too little attention to the nature of Scottish society itself. In a society so conscious of rank, tradition and precedent the reformation could only make progress where it did not disturb the existing order. In Edinburgh the new religion was obliged to work within the natural constraints of burgh life.
This important and innovative study shows how the Protestant reformers’ early promises to create a new and godly society provoked a backlash - extremism had to be abandoned and a more conciliatory approach adopted. The result was that power remained in much the same hands in the 1580s as it had in the 1540s, with one real difference - there was more of it.
One of the advantages of new technology is that it enables hard-to-find books to be made available again. We are pleased to present the first fruits of exploring John Donald’s classic backlist of academic titles. Not only do we hope to add more titles to the list but look forward to bringing in other titles suitable for this system as time goes on. |
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