Synopses & Reviews
This fast-paced survey of Western civilizationandrsquo;s transition from the Middle Ages to modernity brings that tumultuous period vividly to life. Carlos Eire, popular professor and gifted writer, chronicles the two-hundred-year era of the Renaissance and Reformation with particular attention to issues that persist as concerns in the present day. Eire connects the Protestant and Catholic Reformations in new and profound ways, and he demonstrates convincingly that this crucial turning point in history not only affected people long gone, but continues to shape our world and define who we are today.
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The book focuses on the vast changes that took place in Western civilization between 1450 and 1650, from Gutenbergandrsquo;s printing press and the subsequent revolution in the spread of ideas to the close of the Thirty Yearsandrsquo; War. Eire devotes equal attention to the various Protestant traditions and churches as well as to Catholicism, skepticism, and secularism, and he takes into account the expansion of European culture and religion into other lands, particularly the Americas and Asia. He also underscores how changes in religion transformed the Western secular world. A book created with students and nonspecialists in mind, Reformations is an inspiring, provocative volume for any reader who is curious about the role of ideas and beliefs in history.
Review
"Now there is at last a big, reliable study of the Spanish attitudes toward death and dying in the time of the Counter-Reformation....a thorough and gripping piece of scholarship....Ranging freely over various classes and cultural facts of the Sixteenth Century, it has a broad scope and a lot of interesting detail." Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance"...an extraordinarily ambitious undertaking, comprising no less than three books in one....an important, provocative, readable, and thoroughly enjoyable book." Richard L. Kagan, Johns Hopkins University, Journal of Interdisciplinary History"...Eire has produced an impressive and important book....its examination of a vast array of primary sources, it integration of insights from literature, cultural anthropology, theology, and other disciplines, and its well-written, witty prose succeeds wonderfully in demonstrating how the discource of the `good death' articulated and affirmed Catholic doctrine and practice in a highly polemical age." American Historical Review"...this is a perceptive and evocative study....[it] presents a vivid, dramatic picture of the centrality of death in the religion and culture of early modern Spain....the book makes an original and imaginative contribution to the religious and social history of early modern Spain." Canadian Journal of History"Eire's extensive research, his feel for the telling anecdote, and his congenial prose persona make this book informative and entertaining." Carlos Slade, The Journal of Religion
Review
andldquo;Carlos Eire contributes to the Reformations being seen as European-wide phenomena, to highlighting the diversity of Protestantism, and to showing how vibrant Catholic Reform could be. The authorandrsquo;s expertise as a writer really shows through.andrdquo;andmdash;Kathryn A. Edwards, University of South Carolina
Review
andldquo;An ambitious and highly successful project. Wonderfully balanced and nicely nuanced, the book is a genuine tour de force in bringing together the various elements of the Reformations, from their meaning for the educated and sophisticated proponents (and opponents) to their reception (or rejection) by the mass of ordinary and unlettered persons who andlsquo;livedandrsquo; amid the swirl of religious change.andrdquo;andmdash;Raymond Mentzer, University of Iowa
Synopsis
The first full-length study of sixteenth-century Spanish attitudes towards death and the afterlife.
Synopsis
This book reveals the workings of a culture that cherished death, and invested its resources in the pursuit of heaven. This is the first full-length study of Spanish attitudes toward death and the afterlife in the peak years of the Counter-Reformation. It contains an analysis of the death rituals requested in hundreds of sixteenth-century Madrid testaments, as well as a detailed account of the ways in which the "good" deaths of King Philip II and Saint Teresa of Avila were interpreted by contemporaries.
Synopsis
This is the first full-length study of sixteenth-century Spanish attitudes toward death and the afterlife.
Synopsis
A lively, expansive history of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations and the momentous changes they set in motion
About the Author
A conversation with Carlos Eireandhellip;
Q: and#160;What prompted you to write this book?
A:and#160; At the very beginning, I had two goals in mind. One was to produce a more wide-ranging survey for my own students, the other was to gather all the advances being made in research on this pivotal era. By the time the book neared completionandmdash;ten years after I began working on itandmdash;it had become obvious that the boundaries of the project had to expand due to new understandings of the early modern period. Also, I realized that I could, and should, reach a broader audience, including readers beyond the classroom.and#160;and#160;
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Q:and#160; How is your book unique?and#160;
A:and#160; Unlike other surveys of this time period, Reformations encompasses each of the various competing branches of the Protestant Reformation and the totality of the Catholic Reformation. Also, I cover over two centuries so as to integrate the long-term outcomes of the Reformations with their beginnings. And, this book expands the horizons of traditional narratives by encompassing the Americas and Asia while also integrating religious, intellectual, social, cultural, political, and economic history.
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Q:and#160; What can you tell us about the interesting art in the book?
A:and#160; Due to the invention of the printing press, the era of the Reformations was the first in which mass-produced images could be distributed and consumed. A history of this period would be incomplete without images. The illustrations include a vast array of media, from paintings and statues to engravings and book pages. The phrase andldquo;one picture is worth a thousand wordsandrdquo; certainly applies to this period of history and to this book in particular.
Table of Contents
Prologue: death and the sun; Part I. Eager for Heaven: Death and Testamentary Discourse in Madrid, 1520-1599: 1. Wills and the history of death in Madrid; 2. Approaching the divine tribunal; 3. Relinquishing one's body; 4. Impressing God and neighbor; 5. Planning for the soul's journey; 6. Aiding the needy, aiding oneself; 7. Conclusion; Part II. The King's Dissolving Body: Philip II and the Royal Paradigm of Death: 1. King Philip and his palace of death; 2. The king's many requiems; 3. Drawing lessons from the king's death; 4. Defending the faith through ritual; 5. Death, the Spanish monarchy, and the myth of sacredness; 6. Conclusion; Part III. The Saint's Heavenly Corpse: Teresa of Avila and the Ultimate Paradigm of Death: 1. From Alba to Heaven; 2. Come sweet death, come swift dying; 3. Imperishable flesh, incomparable wonder; 4. Earthbound no longer; 5. Saint Teresa's apparitions; 6. Conclusion; Epilogue: in death as in life: from the daily rounds of Hell to the vestibule of Heaven.