Professor Eamon Duffy FBA
College positions: Emeritus Fellow
University position: Emeritus Professor of the History of Christianity
Subject: History; Theology
Group membership: Chapel Affairs Committee
Professor Eamon Duffy is the Emeritus Professor of the History of Christianity.
Professor Eamon Duffy FBA is an Irish historian and the emeritus professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Cambridge. He is also a fellow and former president of Magdalene College.
A leading authority in the history of Christianity during the Middle Ages and Reformation, Professor Duffy is best known for his influential 1992 book The Stripping of the Altars, which has significantly shaped the historiography of the Reformation. His recent work, John Henry Newman: A Very Brief History (2019), was published to coincide with the canonisation of the English theologian.
Specialising in 15th- to 17th-century religious history of Britain, Professor Duffy’s research has played a key role in revising the conventional view of late-medieval Catholicism in England. His scholarship challenges the image of the period as one of decline, instead portraying it as a vibrant cultural force.
In addition to his academic achievements, Professor Duffy served as a former member of the Pontifical Historical Commission. He also presented the BBC Radio 4 series 10 Popes Who Shook the World, broadcast weekdays from 22 October to 2 November 2007.
In 2004, Professor Duffy was elected as a fellow of the British Academy in recognition of his outstanding contributions to historical scholarship.
Research Interests
Professor Duffy's research and teaching interests centre on the history of late medieval and early-modern popular religious belief and practice, on Christian art and material culture, on the history of the English Roman Catholic community, and on the history of the papacy.
- Iconography and history of medieval and early modern Christian art
- Popular religion in the Middle Ages and the Reformation
- The History of the Papacy
KEY PUBLICATIONS
Humanism, Reform and the Reformation: The Career of Bishop John Fisher, Editor; co-edited with Brendan Bradshaw, 1989; transferred to digitally printed hardback and paperback in 2008, ISBN: 0521340349 (1989), ISBN: 978-0-521-34034-2 (2008, hardback), ISBN: 978-0-521-09966-0 (2008, paperback).
The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England 1400 to 1580, 1992; subsequent editions in 2005 and 2022, ISBN: 0-300-06076-9 (1992), ISBN: 978-0-300-10828-6 (2005), ISBN: 9780300254419 (2022).
Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes, Yale University Press, 1997; transferred to paperback in 1998, subsequent editions in 2002, 2006, and 2014, ISBN: 978-0-300-07332-4 (1997), ISBN: 0-300-07332-1 (1997), ISBN: 0300077998 (1998), ISBN: 0300091656 (2002), ISBN: 0300115970 (2006), ISBN: 978-0300206128 (2014).
The Voices of Morebath: Reformation and Rebellion in an English Village, 2001; transferred to paperback in 2003, ISBN: 978-0300091854 (2001), ISBN: 978-0300098259 (2003).
"The Shock of Change: Continuity and Discontinuity in the Elizabethan Church of England", in Anglicanism and the Western Catholic Tradition (2003, edited by Stephen Platten), ISBN: 1853115592.
Faith of Our Fathers: Reflections on Catholic Tradition, 2004; subsequent edition in 2006, ISBN: 978-0826474797 (2004), ISBN: 978-0826476654 (2006).
Walking to Emmaus, 2006, ISBN: 978-0860124238.
Marking the Hours: English People and their Prayers 1240–1570, 2006; transferred to paperback in 2011, ISBN: 9780300117141 (2006), ISBN: 9780300170580 (2011).
Fires of Faith: Catholic England Under Mary Tudor, 2009; transferred to paperback in 2010, ISBN: 978-0300152166 (2009), ISBN: 9780300168891 (2010).
Ten Popes Who Shook the World, 2011, ISBN: 978-0300176889.
Saints, Sacrilege and Sedition: Religion and Conflict in the Tudor Reformations, 2012; transferred to paperback in 2014, ISBN: 1441181172 (2012), ISBN: 9781472909176 (2014).
Reformation Divided: Catholics, Protestants, and the Conversion of England, 2017, ISBN: 9781472934369.
Royal Books and Holy Bones: Essays in Medieval Christianity, 2018, ISBN: 9781472953230.
John Henry Newman: A Very Brief History, 2019, ISBN: 978-0281078493.
A People's Tragedy: Studies in Reformation, 2020, ISBN: 978-1-4729-8385-5.