Government, business and urban politics in late medieval Gloucester -- Gloucester's ecclesiastical community and education during the Middle Ages -- Gloucestershire's leading gentlemen before the Reformation -- The Gloucester Vale on the eve of the Reformation (1520-1540) -- Gloucester during the great transfer (1536-1551) -- The Gloucestershire gentry during the great transfer (1540-1551) -- Commonwealth and reform: Bishop Hooper in Gloucester (1551-1555) -- A troubled city (1555 and beyond)
Summary
Taking the Vale of Gloucester as a case study, the book refocuses attention onto issues left unfinished in the wake of current Reformation scholarship. By examining the connections between local gentry, city leaders, reformers, MPs, and royal court officials, it illuminates the broad network of political relationships that was essential to the success of Protestant reform. It demonstrates for the first time how commonwealth ideology galvanized many of these powerful leaders toward a new vision of reform that not only served their own material interests but also provided a new impetus and sense