Catholic resources on the Reformation

[FairProspects]

In the interest of full disclosure, we are not Catholic, but I feel like our study of the Reformation has been too one-sided. Are there any good picture books or maybe longer books with individual chapters that make interesting read-alouds on the Reformation and come at it from a more Catholic perspective? We aren't going to spend a lot more time on it this go around, but I'd like to explore the complexity of this time period more than we have so far.

[RootAnn]

I'm finding quite a few good books for my Medieval study this year for my logic stage child by looking at the RCHistory booklists & cross-checking with the library system (and ultimately, Amazon.com). The ones I have found, however, wouldn't necessarily work for your age group because the ideas and themes are more appropriate for older kids. It takes some maturity to understand the different perspectives in the Reformation/Counter Reformation and how Church/State were so intertwined.

 

IMO, you'll have plenty of time to show different perspectives the next time through ... (That's what I'm working on this year with my oldest, actually. She'll have to read about one person or one event (like the 30 Years War) from different perspectives and then we'll discuss or she'll write a paper. Cool stuff.)

[*Michelle*]

With today being his feast day, I'm reminded of St. Thomas More. There aren't very many resources out there at a child's level, though. The main one (St. Thomas More of London Town) is from Neumann Press and they are, unfortunately, closing their doors after the death of their founder.

[SarahW]

I checked the St. Jerome School list (http://www.stjeromes.org/documents_school/The_Educational_Plan_of_St._Jerome_Classical_School.pdf p. 75) and they just have individual saints. Besides More's book they also have listed Edmund Campion, Hero of God’s Underground by Harold Gardiner. I'm not familiar with either book.

 

I can't think of any straight-up history book for this, sorry. But, honestly, the whole thing was pretty much fraught with warring personalities (even within both sides), so unless you want to get into political and economic factors, just knowing the main persons on both sides is a good start.

[FairProspects]

The Thomas More book looks great but unfortunately it is unavailable on Amazon with no used copies listed and my library doesn't carry it.

 

The St. Jerome school list is fascinating. I'm going to take some more time to study it and see what other books we might use. Thanks for posting!

[*Michelle*]

Oh, the one from St. Jerome's list is available! http://www.amazon.com/The-St-Thomas-More-London/dp/0898709326/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1371917086&sr=8-2&keywords=st.+thomas+more

[Violet Crown]

Both books are from the beloved Vision Books series

 

http://love2learnblog.blogspot.co.uk/2007/05/vision-book-series.html

 

... many of which have been reprinted by Ignatius Press. I've easily found the original hardcovers in used book stores or via bookfinder.com . If you want the Vision bios from the Counterreformation era, don't forget St. Ignatius and the Company of Jesus, by August Derleth, writer of the Cthulhu stories after Lovecraft's death.