Dean John Colet of St Paul's: Humanism and Reform in Early Tudor England (International Library of Historical Studies): v. 49 - Hardcover

Arnold, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1845114361 ISBN 13: 9781845114367

Publisher: I.B. Tauris, 2007

Synopsis

Rare book

About this title

Review:

""There is no doubt that historians and theologians of the future will have to take serious note of Arnold's work...The interpretation of Colet's dealings with the clergy at St Paul's is likely to become the standard account for many years."" --Caroline Barron, Royal Holloway, University of London

Synopsis:

This is an important and original biography of John Colet, the leading humanist theologian in early Tudor England and the founder of St Paul's School in London. Taken at face value, the facts of John Colet's life, spanning the late 15th and early 16th centuries, appear to portray a successful, humanist clerical reformer, active in London on the eve of the English Reformation. In fact, as a cleric, John Colet was neither successful nor a reformer, nor were the reforms he attempted particularly welcome. His greatest achievement, and lasting legacy, was the foundation of his school. Thus, in the sphere of Christian humanist education, Colet was a success. However, in all his dealings, Colet considered the spiritual life to be of paramount importance and his ultimate aim was the deification of sinful humanity, not just for a few exceptional individuals, but for the entire Church. In this respect, Colet's ecclesiastical vision did not effect any significant change in the early sixteenth-century Church, although it nevertheless pointed to the possibility of a more spiritual, unified and holy Church.

Colet was a passionate and pious man who does not fall easily into any historical, intellectual or ecclesiastical category. Ultimately, he escapes identification with any other set of contemporaneous idealists because his vision was his own. This study offers a timely re-assessment of the life of a complex religious figure of pre-Reformation England.

About this edition

• Publisher: I.B. Tauris
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1845114361
• ISBN 13: 9781845114367
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272