 Cover of 2003 edition | |
| Author | Eamon Duffy |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | English Reformation, Morebath, Prayer Book Rebellion |
| Publisher | Yale University Press |
Publication date | 2001 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback, paperback) |
| Pages | xvi + 232 |
| ISBN | 9780300091854 |
The Voices of Morebath: Reformation and Rebellion in an English Village is a 2001 non-fiction history book by Eamon Duffy and published by Yale University Press about Morebath, England, during the English Reformation and Tudor period of the 16th century. Using the detailed churchwarden's accounts maintained by Sir Christopher Trychay, the vicar of Morebath's parish, Duffy recounts the religious and social implications of the Reformation in a small conservative Catholic community through the reign of Henry VIII, during the violent 1549 Prayer Book Rebellion, and into the Elizabethan era. Trychay's accounts–first reprinted in 1904–had been used in other scholarly works and was first encountered during Duffy's research for his 1992 The Stripping of the Altars on pre-Reformation English traditional religion. The Voices of Morebath depicts both Morebath and Trychay through their strong early resistance to the Reformation to their eventual adoption of new religious norms under the Protestant Elizabethan Religious Settlement.
The Voices of Morebath was praised for its coverage of parochial and local matters, particularly its personal treatment of Trychay. It drew critiques for instances where Duffy uses examples from Morebath to engage in broader discussions, with other reviewers noting that Duffy conceded these limitations. Though popular, the book was appraised as overly complex for the broad audience it had been written and marketed towards. Lucy Wooding, a historian of the Tudor period, called the work "invaluable" as "a contribution to debate on the English Reformation" and suggested that Duffy's own views had developed during his time writing the book. Robert M. Kingdon, a historian of the Reformation, acknowledged that the number of wider conclusions that could be drawn from the book was limited but lauded Duffy's "remarkable empathy and impressive technical research skills". In 2002, The Voices of Morebath won the Hawthornden Prize and was shortlisted for both the Samuel Johnson Prize and British Academy Book Prize.