Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450–1650

Citation

Eire, C. M. N. (2018). Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450–1650. Yale University Press.

Chapter Summary

The book is a very large single-volume history: Yale lists the 2018 paperback at 920 pages with 155 black-and-white illustrations (an earlier 2016 edition and e-book exist). It is arranged in four parts and an epilogue, followed by notes, a bibliography, illustration credits and an index. According to Yale, it chronicles the era from Gutenberg's printing press and the resulting revolution in the spread of ideas to the close of the Thirty Years' War, and it connects the Protestant and Catholic Reformations in the same account. Yale also says it takes in skepticism and secularism, the expansion of European culture and religion into the Americas and Asia, and the way religious change transformed the secular world.

Part One: On the Edge (pp. 1–130)

The opening part is about 130 pages and comes before the parts devoted to Protestants and Catholics. The publisher's description of the book as a whole begins its chronology at Gutenberg's printing press, around 1450.

Part Two: Protestants (pp. 131–366)

At about 236 pages this is the longest of the four parts. The publisher says Eire gives equal attention to the various Protestant traditions and churches, and this part is where they are treated.

Part Three: Catholics (pp. 367–522)

The third part, about 156 pages, is given to Catholics. The publisher says the book connects the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, and the contents give each a part of its own.

Part Four: Consequences (pp. 523–740)

The fourth part, about 218 pages, is titled "Consequences" and is the second-longest. The publisher's description of the book as a whole mentions the expansion of European culture and religion into the Americas and Asia and the transformation of the Western secular world among its subjects.

Epilogue: Assessing the Reformations (pp. 741–758)

The book closes with a short assessment of the Reformations as a whole before the notes (from p. 759) and the bibliography (from p. 783).

Key Concepts

Structure of the Argument

• Reformations, in the plural: the title's term for the Protestant, Catholic and other movements that the book treats together.
• Protestants and Catholics: the subjects of Parts Two and Three, given parallel treatment.
• Consequences: the effects of religious change, the subject of Part Four.

Themes Named by the Publisher

• The printing press and the spread of ideas: the book's starting point in Gutenberg.
• Skepticism and secularism: treated alongside the churches.
• Expansion of European culture and religion: especially into the Americas and Asia.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Clear exposition of difficult material. Eamon Duffy, in First Things, singled out the clarity with which Eire explains difficult theological ideas and complex political changes, and his calm, even-handed judgments. Ulrich Lehner, in Theology Studies, described the prose as lucid and engaging enough to make each chapter move quickly.
• A narrative rather than a single thesis. John Wilson, in the National Review, described it as a detail-rich, crosscutting narrative that is not thesis-driven, which suits readers who want the full picture.
• Protestant and Catholic histories together. Yale emphasises equal attention to Protestant traditions, Catholicism, skepticism and secularism, and the book's structure gives Protestants and Catholics a part each.
• Recognition. Yale reports that the book won the 2017 PROSE awards in European and World History and in Excellence in Humanities, and the Pelikan Award for a distinguished book on religion. These are the publisher's statements.

Limitations

• Size. Reviewers quoted by Yale call it "enormous" (Michael Massing, New York Times Book Review) and "massive" (Benjamin Guyer, Reviews in History). At 920 pages it cannot be read through in a single term without selection.
• An interpreter out of step with consensus. Nicholas Terpstra, in Renaissance and Reformation, remarked that in recent years Eire has adopted the posture of an outsider whose interpretation is out of step with the dominant consensus, so the book is best read alongside other accounts.
• Organized by confession. With Protestants and Catholics in separate parts, a reader following one year or one region across Europe must move between parts.

Where It Fits in the Course

In the early modern history course, Eire is the long narrative of the Reformations. Marshall's The Reformation: A Very Short Introduction is a brief introduction that treats the Reformation as a long process with Protestant and Catholic strands, and it makes a good preview. Cameron's The European Reformation is a scholarly synthesis of the sixteenth century that gives equal weight to theology and to social and political settings; it is a more focused alternative with a narrower chronological range than Eire's 1450–1650.

Wiesner-Hanks's Early Modern Europe, 1450–1789 and Kümin's The European World 1500–1800 place religion among other themes, so Eire can be read as a deeper treatment of the religion material in them. Parker's Global Crisis takes up the seventeenth century on a world scale and overlaps the later part of Eire's period, which ends in 1650.

How to Use This Book

Yale describes the book as created with students and nonspecialists in mind, and no prerequisite is required beyond willingness to read a long work. It suits students in a Reformation or early modern course and general readers.

A practical plan:

• Preview with Marshall's very short introduction, then read Part One for the background.
• Core: Parts Two and Three together, since the book treats the Protestant and Catholic movements as connected.
• Then: Part Four and the epilogue, for consequences and the book's overall assessment.
• If time is short: read the parts that match the syllabus and use the notes and bibliography as guides for further reading.
• Read critically: compare Eire's account with Cameron's, bearing in mind the reviewer's remark that Eire departs from the prevailing consensus.