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“Christendom Destroyed” is the fifth volume in the Penguin history of Europe series and easily maintains the high quality of the previous books, being a thorough and erudite study of the Reformation period to the Peace of Westphalia (1517-1648). Mark Greengrass vividly depicts Europe’s transition from Christendom, a “belief community” or “reflexive construction” (p. xxvii) consisting of a multitude of parishes owing allegiance to the pope and Holy Roman Emperor, to a physical geographic entity made up of disparate states frequently at war with one another over matters of religion. He offers a lucid account of the European community in the early sixteen century, covering, for example, population trends, rural and urban life, the role of the nobility, colonisation, trade and economic development, education and learning, monetary inflation, the impact of climate change and religious perceptions. Key factors which led to the Reformation are charted such as the new learning of the Renaissance which challenged the scholasticism of the medieval period (e.g. the Pyrrhonian scepticism of Sextus Empiricus), the growth of “conglomerate states” ruled by dynasties, Valois-Habsburg rivalry, the development of printing to spread new ideas and the preoccupation of popes with the temporal affairs of the papal states. In the new Europe of “cuius regio, eius religio” the authority of the pope was replaced by that of territorial rulers. The conciliar movement further reduced the role of the papacy as the promoter of Christendom. The doctrines of Luther, Zwingli. Calvin and those of lesser sects are analysed and the various wars of religion are described in all their ghastly horror. The book contains four maps, five helpful genealogies and thirty-eight illustrations. I have very few criticisms, though I would point out that Julius Caesar was not a Roman emperor (p. 275); his office at the time of his assassination was dictator for life. On page 326 “latter” (l. 11) should be “last” and on page 368 “exile” (l. 10) should read “exiled”.Read full review
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