The uses of English in printed religious texts c 1497-1547: Further evidence for the process and experience of reformation in England

This article proposes that the study of popular reading should be incorporated into the modern historiography of the (long) reformation process. It takes one section of the broader process of reformation for more detailed consideration, examining the uses of English in printed religious texts c. 1497–1547. Beginning in 1497 and taking printed texts as the focus is not intended as a dismissal of the extensive circulation of vernacular religious texts in manuscripts in the preceding centuries. I argue that we should look beyond the primer to other sources of English religious literature to understand more about popular religious reading experience across these years of reform. Looking to other sources acts as a reminder that, in order to understand more about popular religious reading during these years of reform and uncertainty, it is necessary to look not only at uses of English in general but also at the kinds of English being used. A selection of specific examples shows that, for the printed texts of c. 1497–1547, rhyming and macaronic (Latin and English) literature were in popular circulation. Between 1497 and 1547, while there were crucial changes in ideology, readers experienced significant continuities in the structure, content, and form of religious literature. The continuities across these fifty years are indicative of the fact that, alongside changing agendas and emphases, there were significant continuities in popular religious reading practice and experience throughout the long reformation.