How far were ordinary people really impacted by the Reformation?

This enquiry takes as its starting point the different historiographical interpretations of the Reformation.

On one hand, ‘Whig’ historians would consider the Reformation as part of an inevitable process of change, arguing that the religious changes were accepted almost immediately. However, ‘revisionist’ historians suggest that the changes were accepted much less readily, and only came about through a protracted struggle.

Students are encouraged to gather evidence to substantiate and/or challenge these interpretations, by ‘meeting’ characters from the Tudor period.

Each character provides information about the impact of the Reformation in a local context, and a hyperlinked map offers an engaging way of students encountering this evidence.

All of the information provided by the characters is taken from historical sources and allows students to develop a better understanding of how the Reformation was manifest on a local level.