Chipping Local History Society

 

This lecture will explore the cause, course and consequence of the Reformation of the 16th-17^th centuries, both at a European level and how it affected Lancashire. It will look at how communities across religious divides were affected by the changes brought about by the Reformation, how individual and societal relationships with the divine were understood in different ways and how the Reformation has affected, and continues to affect, the historical development of modern Western civilisation. This lecture was first delivered to critical acclaim on the 500^th anniversary of the publication of Martin Luther's 95 Theses (1517) in 2017, within the Shire Hall at Lancaster Castle, and much of the content reflects the experiences of religious and political prisoners who passed through its walls. The intention of this lecture is therefore to place religious developments in Lancashire within the wider context of the 16th-17^th century European Reformation as much as to honour the significance of the religious movements within the county in their own right.