A History of the Papacy During the Period of the Reformation

Mandell Creighton's five-volume study of the papacy during the Reformation was first published between 1882 and 1894. Lytton Strachey paid an indirect compliment to Creighton's work by remarking that 'the biscuit is certainly dry; but at any rate there are no weevils'. Creighton (1843-1901) was an academic and an ordained Anglican. Having studied at Oxford and spent time in the parish of Embleton in Northumberland, he was appointed the first Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge, became Bishop of Peterborough and ended his career as Bishop of London. Volume 1 (1882) describes the developments within the Catholic church that led to the 'Babylonian Captivity of the Popes' in Avignon, and then focuses on the Council of Constance (1414-18). Creighton juxtaposes very detailed accounts of the various popes with a narrative of the early reformation movements across Europe, from Oxford and Paris to Bohemia.