The Early Reformation on the Continent offers a fresh look at the formative years of the European Reformation and the origins of Protestant faith and practice. Taking into account recent work on Erasmus and Luther, Owen Chadwick handles these and numerous other figures and with sensitivity and understanding. Emphasis on the context provides a balanced view of the raison d'être for the changes which the reforming communities sought to introduce and the difficulties and disagreements concerning these. The structure of the book is distinctively original. Rather than following a conventional chronological progression, Owen Chadwick takes a much broader perspective and arranges his material thematically. Whatever the topic - the Bible, clerical celibacy, moral questions of adultery and divorce, purgatory, hymns, excommunication, the role of the State in worship and pastoral activity, education, the Eucharist - the reader is taken back to its origins and development through the history of the western Church and given an authoritative, accessible, and informative account.

This book presents a wide range of documents, some from unpublished manuscripts, relating to the Continental Reformation. Rather than focusing purely on leading reformers and their writings, this collection places the ideas and the figures themselves within the broader context of early modern society. By relying heavily on eye-witness accounts, the texts present the Reformation as a vibrant and violent movement shattering late medieval Christendom. The documents provide the reader with a window into the maelstrom of religious change and the host of complex issues (political, socio-economic, gender) swept along in its wake.