List of Abbreviations vi 1 Introduction 1 2 Defining the Reformation 8 3 Religious Life 34 4 The Anatomy of Reform 71 5 Reformation Politics 103 6 The Social Dynamics 130 7 Confessional Cultures 163 Appendix: Did Luther Post the Ninety-Five Theses ? 205 Further Reading 208 Index 220

In recent years the literature on the Reformation has grown not only in quantity but in complexity as well. Historiographical trends have waxed and waned, knowledge has mounted and become ever more specialist, and new methods, technologies, and preoccupations have transformed our perspective of the past and raised issues that had not occurred to former generations. Contesting the Reformation offers an illuminating synthesis and reassessment of recent trends by providing a comprehensive survey of the most influential theories in the field from a comparative, cross-national, interdisciplinary perspective. Included in the book are such issues as the conceptualization of the Reformation in terms of its timeframe and its historical context, the nature of the religious culture that gave rise to the movement, and the relationship between religious reform and political ideas. Other topics include the effect of the Reformation on the social relations of the age, the intellectual legacy of Protestant reform, and the extent to which religious change impacted the lives and beliefs of early modern parishioners. The book concludes with a discussion about the relationship between the Reformation and the modern age. Contesting the Reformation provides a thought-provoking and balanced survey of the debates that have shaped, and continue to shape, the field.