the Stripping of Altars: Traditional Religion England, 1400-1580 in Bloomington, MN

This prize-winning account of the pre-Reformation church recreates lay people’s experience of religion, showing that late-medieval Catholicism was neither decadent nor decayed, but a strong and vigorous tradition. For this edition, Duffy has written a new introduction reflecting on recent developments in our understanding of the period.
“A mighty and momentous book: a book to be read and re-read, pondered and revered; a subtle, profound book written with passion and eloquence, and with masterly control.”—J. J. Scarisbrick,
The Tablet
“Revisionist history at its most imaginative and exciting. . . . [An] astonishing and magnificent piece of work.”—Edward T. Oakes,
Commonweal
“A magnificent scholarly achievement, a compelling read, and not a page too long to defend a thesis which will provoke passionate debate.”—Patricia Morison,
Financial Times
“Deeply imaginative, movingly written, and splendidly illustrated.”—Maurice Keen,
New York Review of Books
Winner of the Longman-
History Today
Book of the Year Award