"Europe's Reformations establishes a new standard for historians of the early modern era. In recent decades, Reformation scholars have dismantled the idea that the Middle Ages came to an abrupt end in 1517, with Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses. Prominent historian James D. Tracy is the first scholar to synthesize this new understanding of the continuities between medieval Catholic Europe and the multiconfessional sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Tracy demonstrates that before and after 1517, religious belief was not just a matter of doctrine - it was also shaped by princely commands and by the social parameters of the local communities in which ordinary men and women lived.".

"Europe's Reformations stands apart from previous histories by giving due attention to each of these spheres of life and to their complex relationships with each other. Tracy illustrates how Reformation-era religious conflicts titled the balance in church - state relations in favor of the latter, so that the secular power was able to dictate the doctrinal loyalty of its subjects.".

"This book belongs in the library of all scholars, students, and general readers interested in the origins, events and legacy of the early modern period."--BOOK JACKET.