During the 16th century a movement started that culminated in the founding of Protestantism. The story of ecclesiastical reform as it developed into contending factions, and as it interacted with the political, social, economic and philosophical currents of the age, is unfolded in this book.

Lay Religious Life in Late Medieval Durham

Although religious life in medieval Durham was ruled by its prince bishop and priory, the laity flourished and played a major role in the affairs of the parish, as Margaret Harvey demonstrates. Using a variety of sources, she provides a complete account of its history from the Conquest to the Dissolution of the priory, with a particular emphasis on the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. She shows how the laity interacted vigorously with both bishop and priory, and the relations between them, with the priory providing schools, hospitals, chantries and regular sermons, but also acting as a disciplinary force.