List of Abbreviations vi 1 Introduction 1 2 Defining the Reformation 8 3 Religious Life 34 4 The Anatomy of Reform 71 5 Reformation Politics 103 6 The Social Dynamics 130 7 Confessional Cultures 163 Appendix: Did Luther Post the Ninety-Five Theses ? 205 Further Reading 208 Index 220

"If you need to rid yourself of this idea, a good place to start would be to read this book". (Journal Religious History, 20 June 2014)

"I have no doubt that it will find a well-deserved place on the reading lists of many an undergraduate introduction to the Reformation. I will certainly be including it in mine." (Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 1 April 2013)

"Overall, an excellent book. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above." (Choice, 1 October 2012)

Reviewed in Times Higher Educational Supplement - 5 July 2012

"This book is an invaluable resource - both a reference for students and a quick crib for teachers caught short by reading-list deadlines." (Times Higher Education Supplement, 5 July 2012)

C. Scott Dixon is Senior Lecturer at Queen's University, Belfast. He is the author of numerous books and articles on early modern religious history, including The Reformation and Rural Society (1996), The Reformation in Germany (2002), and Protestants: a History from Wittenberg to Pennsylvania, 1517-1740 (2010).

C. S. Dixon, Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland