People and piety

This international and interdisciplinary volume investigates Protestant devotional identities in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England. Divided into two sections the book examines the 'sites' where these identities were forged - the academy printing house household theatre and prison - and the 'types' of texts that expressed them - spiritual autobiographies religious poetry and writings tied to the <i>ars moriendi</i> - providing a broad analysis of social material and literary forms of devotion during England's Long Reformation. Through archival and cutting-edge research a detailed picture of 'lived religion' emerges which re-evaluates the pietistic acts and attitudes of well-known and recently discovered figures. To those studying and teaching religion and identity in early modern England and anyone interested in the history of religious self-expression these chapters offer a rich and rewarding read.