Matthew Milner - The Senses and the English Reformation

The Senses and the English Reformation

at jonge child whan it gan wepe

Wi song sho lulled him a-slepe

at was so swete a melody

Hyt passet alle mynstralcy.

e nyghtyngale sang also

Hure wois is hors and noght er-to

Woso ende[n]deth to hure song

And leue e first an doth he wrong.

MATTHEW MILNER

First published 2011 by Ashgate Publishing

Published 2016 by Routledge
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Copyright 2011 Matthew Milner

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Milner, Matthew.

The senses and the English Reformation. -- (St Andrews studies in Reformation history)

1. Senses and sensation--Religious aspects-
Christianity--History--To 1500. 2. Senses and sensation-
Religious aspects--Christianity--History--16th century.
3. Reformation--England. 4. Reformation--Early movements.
5. Public worship--England--History--To 1500. 6. Public worship--England--History--16th century.

I. Title II. Series
264.0094209031-dc22

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Milner, Matthew.

The senses and the English Reformation / Matthew Milner.

p. cm. -- (St. Andrews studies in Reformation history)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7546-6642-4 (hardcover)

1. Senses and sensation--Religious aspects--Christianity.--History. 2. Worship--History. 3. Reformation--England. 4. England--Church history. I. Title.

BT741.3.M555 2010
264.001--dc22

2010038445

ISBN 9780754666424 (hbk)
ISBN 9781315553016 (ebk)

This book began as a passing thought in an honours seminar in 1999. Under the influence of Bob Scribners work on popular piety I wondered whether churchgoers reactions to the reformation of religious practices had more to do with changes in aesthetic experiences rather than necessarily always doctrinal content. The immediate question was how startling vernacular worship actually might have been to someone simply not accustomed to using their ears in that way. It was a nave thought, but one which ultimately brought me to a core element of my research how did early modern men and women reconcile their beliefs and assumptions about themselves and the world they lived in, and how did it organize their practices and behaviours? Tension between the two has been a fruitful site for getting into the often unarticulated corners of the early modern mind, as much as we can. Trying to triangulate experience and reconcile it to patterns of thought has proved an interesting historical inquiry, and it has benefited from a wide range of opportunities afforded by the support of numerous individuals and institutions. The research would not have been possible at all without a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship, a University of Warwick Postgraduate Research Fellowship, and a Universities UK Overseas Studentship which afforded me the opportunity to study abroad. For this generosity I will be forever grateful. Upon completion of the doctorate the support offered by fellowships at The Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in Toronto, and from the Making Publics Project at McGill, has given me the space, resources and support to follow through with rewriting the entire dissertation.

Upon arriving at Warwick in 2002 I was focused on an entirely different project I owe a debt of gratitude to Stephen Turner and Gary Waite for early discussions on how I could turn this passing thought into a bona fide historical inquiry. Peter Marshalls patience as I returned from the Christmas break with a wholly different topic and sought to refocus my research around it was a critical endorsement. His constructive, insightful and fully encouraging engagement with my research into sensation in Tudor England during and beyond the doctorate has been immeasurable. Peters scholarly acumen and pedagogical deftness brought the wide ranging and often messy world of the history of the senses and how it might fit into the well established literature on the English reformation into focus in a way which was always thoughtful and rigorous, and yet keenly supportive. I am honoured to have been one of his doctoral students. Others have had a hand in the remoulding of this work. Most definitively the thought-provoking comments and suggestions from my doctoral examiners, Miri Rubin and Diarmaid MacCulloch, have driven the transformation of this work from dissertation into monograph. Early interest in my research by Andrew Pettegree led directly to the very generous offer to accept my work for publication in this series. I owe specials debt of gratitude to Eric Carlson for his encouragement in rewriting the entire manuscript, and to Torrance Kirby for reading the entire thing through. Many others have also been generous enough to read over the reworked chapters; Mairi Cowan, Gary Waite, Marlene Eberhart, Vera Keller, Meredith Donaldson-Clark, Andrew Jacobs, Anna Gould and Cassandra Irving. Equally discussions on various aspects of my work with Beat Kmin, Steve Hindle, Bob Tittler, Sasha Handley, Jonathan Willis, Susan Cogan, Angela McShane, James Brown, Nik Unger, Rob Falconer, Laura Sangha, Alec Ryrie, John Craig, Richard Rex, Paul Yachnin, Julie Cumming, Wietse de Boer, Peter Goddard and Elizabeth Ewan have been invaluable. Inestimable thanks goes to my parents, my father who has read the entire manuscript, and my mother who has endured listening to the trials and tribulations of completing one. This work is dedicated to my grandparents without whom none of this would be possible.