Review by Choice Review
Marnef, Senior Researcher, National Fund for Scientific Research at the University of Antwerp, analyzes the process of personal religious change in the context of the political, socioeconomic, and cultural structures of Antwerp. The in-depth focus on Antwerp significantly contributes to Marnef's goal of "a better knowledge of the Reformation as one of the most innovative forces in early modern Europe." A major strength of this study is the perceptive relating of concrete social contexts and religion without slighting the importance of either. This is social history at its best because it is not reductionist. The reader is constantly reminded that the search for salvation, "one of the cornerstones for understanding the thought and actions of the religiously minded person of the sixteenth century," occurred "in a concrete social context." The book sketches the urban context of early Protestantism in Antwerp, its relative success from 1550 to 1567, and its forced underground existence from 1567 to 1577. The analysis of the Calvinist, Anabaptist, and Lutheran communities in Antwerp utilizes a prosopographical database of more than 1100 persons. Much of this material is presented in 26 tables, eight graphs, and six maps. Upper-division undergraduate; graduate; faculty; general. C. Lindberg Boston University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
