SoS #33 | Alex Ryrie: The English Reformation and Shakespeare

This is a talk with Alec Ryrie, FBA, of Durham University about the relationship between Reformation religion and Shakespeare and Marlowe. In this talk Alec reflects on drama and emotion in Protestantism during the 16th and 17th centuries in England and on purgatory, ghosts, souls, atheism, and church ritual.  Alec is a historian of Protestant  Christianity in general and of religion in early modern England and Scotland in particular. He has written extensively on the English Reformation and the history and impact of Protestantism in England and Scotland and across the globe. His most recent book is ‘Unbelievers: An Emotional History of Doubt.’  He has spoken on the cultural, social, political and emotional history of religion and on other subjects, including faith and doubt;  martyrdom, violence and religious warfare; magic and deception; moderation and radicalism; childhood religious experience; and liturgy and prayer. Alec is also a reader (lay minister) in the Church of England and serves as a Gresham College Professor of Divinity.