A Brief Look at EuanCameron’s the European Reformation by Dr. Chretien Guidry
Euan Cameron’s The European Reformation takes a comprehensive look at the European Reformation and focuses on the movements which existed during this period in hopes of synthesizing the material. Although Cameron raises several points, his work centers on two basic arguments. The first argument is that the Reformation was not inevitable or even revolutionary, but instead the “texture” of religious conditions made the Catholic Church more vulnerable to critiques raised by reformers. By the use of the word texture, Cameron means the religious attitudes, ideas and actions taken by people of all sects during the 16th century. The second argument points out that although several paradoxes existed within the Reformation, a consistent theme did exist within the Reformation. This theme revolved around the idea of questioning the relationship between the community and God. As Cameron explains in his work, the Reformation did not consist of a single protest with definable goals and a single leader. Instead the Reformation contained a number of parallel movements which all centered around questioning the church, but pursued different approaches and avenues to do this.
Both arguments raised by Cameron are convincing and laid out well. To convince the reader, Cameron divides his book roughly into four main parts which concentrate on the religious conditions before the Reformation, the reformers, the coalition between reformers and politicians and what happened after the coalition collapsed . In the first segment of his book, Cameron is adamant about the idea that the Reformation did not come about due to “weaknesses” of the church. In fact, according to Cameron, the Catholic Church was actually quite strong in the early 16th century in how it handled local communities, internal reform and other domestic problems which came about. The ultimate cause of the Reformation for Cameron, is the idea that the Catholic Church is not the only way for one to reach salvation. Once people decided on an alternative choice for salvation the minor weaknesses of the church became major ones. These minor weaknesses consisted of the use of indulgences, the issuing of licenses, dishonest church officials and involvement in secular affairs.
Cameron’s use of source material is extensive and thorough. His sources range from several secondary works to primary documentation. Although a large volume of Cameron’s source material appears to be in English, there are several sources written in German, French and some Latin. The quantity and quality of Cameron’s sources indicate that he has effectively researched the Reformation, and that his arguments are well founded with legitimate documentation.
While Cameron’s The European Reformation centers on two main arguments, there are three important minor themes which certainly are worth mentioning. The first minor theme raised is that the secondary bureaucratic positions, which the church held and administered, played a vital role to the beginning of the Reformation. As European society became more educated and ready to handle such positions, the church refused to give these positions back to lay men which caused a friction between the church and lay society. A second minor theme is the debt that Luther owes to humanist. For Cameron, Luther’s works and writings came largely due to humanist methods and techniques, and without such methodology Luther’s ideas possibly would not have reached the level to which they did. Finally, the last minor theme elaborates on the idea that the Reformation was “an alliance born of flattery than one based on closely matched political interests or widely shared spiritual anguish” . Indeed, there were too many personal agendas held by German princes, French nobles and English rulers to form a consensus of ideas. Support for the Reformation was largely done on political motivations and image rather than real beliefs and shared religious ideals.
Bibliography
Euan Cameron, The European Reformation, (Oxford University Press, 1991).
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