Fascinating and attractive life of Bishop John Jewel [1522-1571]. During the English Reformation he, like many others, struggled to find his place in the rapidly evolving church. Doctrinally aligned with the Reformers, he represented the martyrs Nicholas Ridley and Thomas Cranmer formally before the court. He then seemed to conform by signing the Catholic Articles, only to then flee and align himself with Peter Martyr and others of the Continental Reformation. Returning, at last firmly embedded in the new "reformed" Church of England, he found himself uncomfortable with the emerging puritans. And the puritans’ extremes themselves caused some moderate reformers to return to a more rigid commitment to something that looked very un-reformation like. Jewel, however, stayed firmly planted in the middle. He was Reformed. Yes. He was not Catholic. But he was also not a Puritan. The Church must work with the Crown to establish Christ's reign and this demanded a national church. Fascinating history.

Le Bas, Charles Webb. The Life of Bishop Jewel. London. J. & G. Rivington. 1835. 345pp.

Original presentation leather elaborately tooled. Some rubbing, through at corners, but now consolidated and very attractive. Solid and clean on interior with some minor scattered foxing.