Text and Controversy from Wyclif to Bale: Essays in Honour of Anne Hudson

Text and Controversy from Wyclif to Bale reflects and develops Anne Hudson’s pioneering work in textual criticism and religious controversy from the late medieval period to the Reformation. Written by newly emergent as well as internationally recognised scholars, the volume explores the wide spectrum of religious thought and practices between c.1360 and c.1560. Many essays, following the methodology of Anne Hudson’s scholarship, engage in the close study of manuscripts and archival holdings, disclosing new material and offering significant re-evaluation of documentary evidence and neglected texts. At a time of urgent calls for the reform of the Church, both in Britain and in mainland Europe, the voices of heresy can not always be distinguished from those of orthodox critics. Anne Hudson’s coinage of the term ‘grey area’ to describe the indeterminate boundary between radical orthodoxy and heterodoxy provides the lead for investigations into theological debate, devotional habits, and censorship. The volume significantly redefines our understanding of texts, history, and controversies from Wyclif to Bale.