Birth, Marriage, and Death: Ritual, Religion, and the Life-Cycle in Tudor and Stuart England - Hardcover

the volume will remain the essential beginning point for all future study of life-cycle rituals. It is useful for undergraduates and fundamental for all serious students and scholars. (Michael J. Galgano, Religious Studies Review, Vol 27, No 2, April 2001)

In this richly detailed and beautifully written study, Cressy examines the life-cycle religious rituals against the backdrop of the broader social and cultural tensions transforming England in early modern times ... The work soars in its thorough explanation of each ritual, unique cases, and changing practice over time. (Michael J. Galgano, Religious Studies Review, Vol 27, No 2, April 2001)

an engaging and scholarly study ... although this book claims to be social history (of which it is a fine example), it is so much more besides. The political, religious, cultural, and intellectual historian will be able to take a great deal away from this book, almost as much as his social colleague. (Andrew Chibi, Reformation.)

By taking as his parameters the late-Tudorbethan Reformation period and the aftermath of the glorious revolution, Cressy has provided the context that a lot of social history lacks. And what action-packed context it is! (Andrew Chibi, Reformation.)

A good book? Certainly. An edifying read? Without doubt. To be recommended? Highly and enthusiastically. (Andrew Chibi, Reformation.)

the great service that Cressy has done us by collecting this material and mapping the ritual of early modern England in such fascinating detail. (John Spurr, Besprechungen.)

Well versed in and eloquent about the theological implications of rituals and the limitations of social theory, Cressy allows neither to distract him from his primary task of describing these rituals in all of their rich diversity. His book is a treasure trove of information about early modern practices ... He is resourceful in finding ways to take his readers into private spaces like the birth room; he is innovative in his chapter on churching ... he is lucid and authoritative on subjects such as 'clandestine marriage' or puritan objections to Prayer Book ritual. Cressy will recount an incident - whether a rowdy funeral or a secret marriage - and then offer several possible interpretations without imposing a single definitive view. (John Spurr, Besprechungen.)

Professor Cressy has woven his marvellous tapestry of the experience of birth, marriage and death in Tudor and Stuart England. (John Spurr, Besprechungen.)

This is a big book on a huge subject ... and all for £25. (Christopher Haigh and Alison Wall, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol.50, No.3.)

There is a fascination, in the detail - rich, raw, well-marshalled, sometimes funny, often poignant. (Christopher Haigh and Alison Wall, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol.50, No.3.)

From childbirth and baptism through to courtship, weddings, and funerals, every stage in the life-cycle of Tudor and Stuart England was accompanied by ritual. Even under the protestantism of the reformed Church, the spiritual and social dramas of birth, marriage, and death were graced with elaborate ceremony. Powerful and controversial protocols were in operation, shaped and altered by the influences of the Reformation, the Revolution, and the Restoration.