John Bale

This study examines the life and works of John Bale, the leading playwright of the English Reformation. At first a Catholic in the Carmelite order, Bale converted during the later years of Henry VIII to Protestantism and began writing plays and polemical works that made him a leading figure in the Reformation and one of the most effective proponents of the Protestant cause in England. Peter Happe argues that when carefully read, Bale’s work is as political as it is religious, and these creative works, especially his drama, take on an enormous power when read in this way.