Pedro de Ribadeneyra’s 'Ecclesiastical History of the Schism of the Kingdom of England': A Spanish Jesuit’s History of the English Reformation(8 Jesuit Studies)

In 1588, the Spanish Jesuit Pedro de Ribadeneyra published a history of the English Reformation, which he continued to revise until his death in 1611. Spencer J. Weinreich’s translation is the first English edition of the History, one fully alive to its metamorphoses over two decades. Weinreich’s introduction explores the text’s many dimensions—propaganda for the Spanish Armada, anti-Protestant polemic, Jesuit hagiography, consolation amid tribulation—and assesses Ribadeneyra as a historian. The extensive annotations anchor Ribadeneyra’s narrative in the historical record and reconstruct his sources, methods, and revisions. The History, long derided as mere propaganda, emerges as remarkable evidence of the centrality of historiography to the intellectual, theological, and political battles of early modern Europe.

About the Author :
Spencer J. Weinreich is a postgraduate student in ecclesiastical history at the University of Oxford, where he is an Ertegun Scholar. His work has appeared in Early Science and Medicine, Names, and the Journal of Ecclesiastical History.

Review :
“Weinreich’s handling of Ribadeneyra’s text(s) is exemplary. He provides an accurate, elegant, fluid translation […] a truly remarkable achievement.” Freddy C. Dominguez, University of Arkansas. In: Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu, Vol. 86, No. 171 (2017), pp. 219–221. “Weinreich’s translation of Ribadeneyra’s hefty work reads easily, and is footnoted throughout in helpful detail. There are several useful documents in the appendices and a biblical as well as a general index. At 110 pages Weinreich’s introductory essay is a short monograph in itself, full of insightful discussion. All in all, the volume represents a remarkable achievement on the part of a very early career scholar, and one hopes that it will be widely consulted and cited.” Peter Marshall, University of Warwick. In: The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 70, No. 3 (July 2019), pp. 636–637. “In addition to a clear sense-for-sense translation that renders masterful early modern Spanish rhetorical flourishes into elegant English, Weinreich’s volume features a wide array of valuable critical tools. Its bibliography and set of notes are almost encyclopedic. […]. Weinreich’s volume is an essential resource not only for those wishing to study British Catholicism from a more global, transnational perspective, but also for those examining early modern European ecclesiastical histories.” Deborah Forteza, Grove City College. In: British Catholic History, Vol. 34, No 1 (May 2018), pp. 175–177. “The treatment of historical, biographical, and bibliographical context is extremely thorough, in both the introduction and the annotations. Weinreich’s diligence re-introduces an eloquent voice into the debate about late sixteenth-century European politics and religious history.” Victor Houliston, University of the Witwatersrand. In: The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 104, No. 3 (Summer 2018), pp. 550–551. “Ribadeneyra could do no better than to be Englished by Weinreich, in a book that promises to transform our understanding of early modern religious history through one of its most learned, prodigious, and impassioned voices.” Sarah Covington, CUNY. In: Journal of Jesuit Studies, Vol. 5, No. 4 (2018), pp. 689–691. “Esta traducción se convertirá [...] en un texto de referencia para los estudios sobre la Reforma en el mundo académico anglosajón”. Javier Burguillo, Universidad de Salamanca. In: Studia Aurea, Vol. 12 (2018), pp. 357–372.