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The Age of Reform, 1250-1550: An Intellectual and Religious History of Late Medieval and Reformation Europe

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Ozment does a wonderful job of showing that the story of the Reformation does NOT begin with the posting of the 95 theses in 1517. Rather, the events of the 1500s were the culmination of a centuries-old search for truth. Ozment's account of the Reformation as something unfolding out of the Middle Ages is much more instructive than the standard view, which treats the Reformation as a starting point for this or that development. This book grounds Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and Ignatius firmly in the tradition of medieval scholastic, mystic, and ecclesio-political thought, as well as Renaissance humanism. Additional chapters are devoted to clerical marriage and resistance to tyranny, two legacies of Protestantism that Ozment finds particularly compelling. To top it off, the author has obviously done his homework; every significant interpretation by previous scholars receives due note here. I think this should the FIRST book anyone reads on the Reformation.

This is simply a fantastic presentation of the historical, theological, and philosophical background of the Reformation. This book apparently won the 1981 "Philip Schaff Prize of the American Society of Church History" award, and is certainly worthy of it. Ozment traces the course of scholasticism, mysticism, monasticism, the papacy, humanism, etc., all in a masterful way that shows how these diverse and complex movements culminated in the Reformation. The text is well documented, and, thankfully, uses footnotes rather than endnotes so one does not have to constantly turn to the end of the book to view the source of a citation. In my opinion this is one of the best works on intellectual and church history that I have ever read. Be warned, however, this book is not for the feint hearted. It is definitely a graduate level text, or for the serious student of the late Medieval and Reformation periods.

It is quite amazing that of all the books that exist on the Protestant Reformation, very few chart the intellectual and theological history as being the primary moving force of the Protestant movement. It is still further disheartening that many books wish to treat the Reformation as if it were some sort of absolute novelty and break with the whole of the medieval Western European tradition. Steven Ozment's brilliant study - winner of the Phillip Schaff Award in 1980 - not only bucks the trend on both of these issues, but even traces relevant facets of cultural history - such as the printing press - as he puts the Protestant Reformation into both context and continuity with the medieval era.

More than half the book is spent detailing the medieval world and various theories that would be of the utmost importance to the Reformers: salvation and certainty of knowledge, in particular. The picture that emerges is one in which the Reformation is, in many ways, the absolutely logical outcome of the major trends in believing and practicing the faith after St. Thomas Aquinas. The harmonious worldview that Aquinas sought to put forth in his synthesis of Aristotle and Catholic revelation is largely rejected after the 14th century (re: after the Black Death, in which nearly 40% of Europe's population died).

It has become popular - and for good reason - to note that the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries have a number of trends that are continuous with the Protestant Reformers, although they are rejected by Roman Catholicism. The conciliar movement is well documented by Ozment, as are the tensions between "mystical" and "scholastic" theology that were commonly spoken of at that time. Popular movements such as the Devotio Moderna, which sought to return the Western Church to her more simple foundations of the ancient Councils, Fathers and the Scriptures are also discussed. Medieval "heretics" such as Jan Huss and John Wycliffe are noted as having little influence, however, upon the Reformers - the one exception being Martin Luther, who seemed to be well conscious of his unintentional continuity with a number of the reforming movements of the 14th and 15th centuries.

As Ozment progresses, he notes the major differences between the various Protestant Reformation movements (note the plural!). For example, whereas Luther's movement was started in a backwoods university with a debate concerning the nature of salvation, the Swiss started their Re-formation with a few rebellious priests defiantly eating sausages during Lent! Minor and radical reformers such as John Knox - whose influence would be felt in the later 16th and early 17th century in England - are also looked at; Knox is particularly interesting because his stance on civil matters is so different from that of Luther and Calvin. In short, Knox believed that if the state would not defend a particular form of the reformation - basically, Knox's version of the Reformation - then Christians could rise up and overthrow the state! Luther advocated martyrdom; Knox advocated rebellion. Luther considered people like Knox to be "fanatics" and reformers such as Knox considered Luther to be a failure. Thus, in the end, we can see that the Protestant Reformation has no single legacy but multiple, incompatible legacies that were incompatible from the very beginning.

Of particular interest are the social changes wrought by the Reformation in family life and sexual morality. Despite their differences, all the Reformers agreed that marriage was not a sacrament (it conveyed nothing of God's grace). The huge movement of monks and nuns breaking their monastic vows and being married (which was considered deeply scandalous at the time); the exponential rise in polygamy throughout Europe (its psychological impact was certainly greater than any long-term cultural change); the advocacy of incompatibility as an acceptable reason for divorce among the Protestants; all of these led to what amounts to a sexual revolution for the time period, and all understandings of modern divorce go back to the Reformation.

The book is well illustrated, with woodcuts in particular, and it serves to place the polemical facets of the Reformation into rather sharp relief. It is interesting to note that Lutherans, for instance, understood themselves to stand in perfect continuity with high medieval saints such as St. Francis of Assisi who is depicted as looking with great consternation at the Roman church from heaven in one of the woodcuts.

This is a thick read. It is a little more than 400 pages, but the pages are all oversized (which helps a good bit with the illustrations) and the subject matter can be quite dense. After all, the Reformers all had Scholastic backgrounds and just as they sought to think against their heritage, they also couldn't help but thinking from inside of it; Protestant theology is just as dense and nuanced as that of the Scholastics that came before them. All who take Reformation studies seriously - whether as a scholar or as an "armchair" historian or theologian - can do no better than to consult this volume for the major and minor trends in high medieval and early Reformation thought.

Ozment is a brilliantly clear writer, always engaging, never dry or confusing. I've always thought this work is an example of how a textbook ought to be written. Accessible for undergraduates (if a little too information-dense at times) but never oversimplifying the material (a problem with Lindberg's European Reformations). He even manages to tie the whole book together with a narrative structure that keeps you involved as the story unfolds. He was my teacher, so I guess I'm biased, but not TOO biased.

Steven Ozment's writing stands head and shoulders above that of most historians. He makes the difficult and thorny religious issues of this period accessible and interesting. At the same time, he goes in depth and never oversimplifies the complicated issues at stake in this period. Even scholars very familiar with this period will learn from this book. Most histories of the Reformation skim over lightly the medieval background. A great strength of this book is the in-depth treatment of the late medieval religious and intellectual period. Ozment gives insightful treatments of Thomism, late-medieval nominalism, mysticism, Renaissance humanism, anti-clericalism, and how all these contributed to the Protestant Reformation and modernity. Although he focuses on intellectual and religious history, he also discusses the political and social history since religion, politics, and culture cannot be separated in this period. Another notable feature of Ozment's treatment is that he recognizes and discusses the interpretive controversies of Reformation and Renaissance historians. He gives very fair summaries of the positions of the leading scholars, including their strengths and weaknesses; these summaries are very handy for graduate or undergraduate students who need to write an essay on this period. I give this book my highest recommendation. For anyone interested in Christianity and its role in the development of modernity, this book is essential!

Some histories of the reformation are simple polemics intended to defend the author's own Catholic, Protestant, or Secular religious views. Other histories are dry facts concerning events, people, and places without the context of the underlying cultural, philosophical, political, and religious forces that shaped those events. Dr. Ozment avoids both the passionate partisanship and dull fact reporting to give us the underlying sentiment of the people who made the history. The growth of national identities, the influence of humanist and scholastic schools of thought and philosophy, and the emerging state/church separation are all analyzed with detail to show their influence on the reformation.

Few others have treated these topics with the detail and insight Prof. Ozment has provided. This and Durant's, The Story of Civilization: The Reformation : A History of European Civilization from Wyclif to Calvin : 1300-1564 (Story of Civilization) are the two books most recommended for understanding the reformation. Both provide an unmatched depth in the underlying causes that split the western church. Ozment's work is focussed on those causes a bit more than Durant's. Both together provide the best understanding available on the reformation.

From the religious angle, Prof. Ozment gives particularly good coverage to the counciliar and clerical marriage forces that influenced the reformation. From the political angle, Prof. Ozment details the rise of centralized authorities and nationalist identity that becomes ever more distrustful of the papacy. From the philosophical angle, Dr. Ozment identifies the backlash against scholastic thought in the humanist movement and how the latter influenced the reformers. In addition, Dr. Ozment is careful to identify the differences between the underlying philosophical views of the movement of Luther's influence and those influenced by Calvin, Zwingli, and Knox.

The connection with the easing of divorce laws gives us the context for understanding the reformation's affect on us today. So too the discussion of Calvinist-inspired resistance to tyranny in the movements influenced by John Knox. The continuity of egalitarian thought leading to today's understanding is also identified.

The treatment of the counter-reformation is fair and gives insight into the probability that it was less a response to protestant reforms and more an indigenous movement within the church that finally had the strength to overcome the inertia of a naturally conservative institution.

This is a brilliant and thorough work of the history of thought that shaped the western world. One of two (including Durant) that are a must.

I could not more highly recommend this exemplary work. The writing is extremely clear and precise, without becoming too dense or involved. The late-medieval intellectual movements that preceded the reformation are detailed and establish a helpful portrait of the pre-reformation climate. The details of important thinkers such as St. Augustine, William of Ockham, Duns Scotus, Thomas Aquinas and others are laid out as clearly (with nice diagrams in some cases) as could be hoped for.

Besides his unparalleled clarity, Ozment is fantastic at comparing different thinkers, their relations to their predecessors, and movements they were associated with. After reading this book you will easily be able to contrast the thought of Luther with Calvin, Aquinas with Augustine and many others. I think that this work is about as even-handed as can be, despite the complaints of one of the reviewers here. Ozment doesn't neglect the inconsistencies and painful parts of Luther's life (his condemnation of the peasants in 1525), and doesn't bash Catholics in any way. In fact, he is careful to point out that the "counter-reformation" is a somewhat misleading term, given that many within the Catholic church were consciously working towards reform as well, rather than merely reacting to protestant accusations.

This book belongs on anyone's shelf who has even a remote interest in the reformation and late medieval religious history. It is easy to follow, but rich in detail and replete with primary sources of great interest. When it comes to the age of reform, look no further.

Professor Ozment's book begins, and continues for its first 223 pages, as a creditable and accessible intellectual history of the period from the "high" Middle Ages to the beginning of the Reformation. One is unable to escape the feeling, however, that he is not at home in these centuries and that the doctrines which he must explain are a bit too "Catholic" for his taste. A perception amply confirmed both by what follows and especially by his concluding chapter, on "the legacy of the Reformation." The professor begins his chapter on "the mental world of" Martin Luther with an extensive review of Erikson's "Young Man Luther," although simultaneously questioning its validity and method and asserting the value of its conclusions. That is an apt warning of what will follow, for thereafter the book becomes little more than an apologia for Luther and the movement which he set in motion. There are few of the critical insights offered in the second part of the book comparable to those in the first, and a reader who wishes to feel affirmed in his own attachment to the ideologies of the Reformation will feel at home here. Someone who seeks critical insight into the ideas and religious yearnings which drove the Reformation will probably come away annoyed.