The People and the Book

“This clear, vivid, and engaging book stresses the participation of laypeople, including women, in the English Reformation and its aftermath, as the decisions and deaths of four monarchs changed England’s official religion four times in the early seventeenth century. Protestant women provided food and clean shirts to their coreligionist priests in prison; later, Catholics prayed the rosary during Protestant services. The story continues, showing how today the international Anglican Communion maintains diversity within unity.”


—Marianne Novy, University of Pittsburgh





“With admirable clarity, Caroline Litzenberger strips away the myths and sets out what the English Reformation was really about. Most significantly, she shows that lay women and men, not just the clergy and theologians, played central roles in shaping Anglicanism from the start. This is the ideal introduction for general readers, and especially for American Episcopalians seeking to understand the roots of their church.”


—Eric Carlson, Gustavus Adolphus College





“This book offers a concise, lucid, and thematically consistent introduction to the English Reformation as it relates to the Episcopal Church. It will be helpful to anyone attempting to


discern that tradition’s strengths and weaknesses as it explores its place in the evolving American religious landscape, as well as the gifts it can bring to (and receive from) the wider church.”


—Thomas Breidenthal, author of Christian Households: The Sanctification of Nearness