The early modern parish church

 

Project summary

Even in today's largely secular society parish churches are still readily identifiable (and often popular) landmarks within the rural and urban environment. However, the parish church was only one centre within the religious landscape, which itself was full of signs of the holy, such as wells, shrines, crosses and pilgrimage sites. This project will examine the relationship between the parish church and these religious sites, which were within their parochial jurisdiction.

For more details please go to the project summary document

Progress and Highlights

Year 1

• A literature survey of the dioceses of Schleswig and Le Mans were completed based on secondary sources and a search of the archival material that is available for this project was undertaken.

• Churches were identified that would be eligible for further examination and sampling within this project.

• Work progressed on the dioceses of Cambrai and Oxford with the compilation of bibliographies and a similar process of identification of case studies for further investigation within this project.

• The team began working with digital cameras through training days and worked on establishing the criteria needed for the construction of an image database in connection with this project.

Year 2

• The research undertaken principally by the two research assistants have revealed interesting synergies in the place of the parish church within the religious/sacred landscape of early modern Europe.

• The research has indicated the renewed importance of the parish church in relation to places of pagan worship or other ancient cultic sites during this period and it is hoped that, as the results of this research are analysed, some of these findings will be developed and disseminated in the form of conference papers and articles.

• The initial findings of the research have demonstrated that this project will contribute to the academic debate over ‘continuity and change’ during the Reformation. The perception that there was a radical change from modes of Catholic worship, with decorated buildings and furnishings reflecting the more elaborate liturgical forms, to a simpler and plainer church interior is being questioned. The degree to which religious furnishings remained or were reused suggests that there was a remarkable degree of continuity in some areas. Emerging from this it seems that the traditional assumption that at the Reformation, the ‘Word’ replaced the ‘image’ is too simple a construction and that Protestantism was far more orientated towards material culture than has been previously acknowledged.

• A series of public lectures have been given this summer in Norwich in connection with the project.

• A conference is being planned to take place at Worcester College, Oxford on 6-8 April 2009.