A collection of essays that continue with the topics and issues that John Bossy's past and present labours continue to illuminate. The focus is on the ideas of "Christianity" and "community", especially in the West, and the shift in relationship between the two in early modern history.

Contents: Introduction, Simon Ditchfield; Cathar peacemaking, Peter Biller; Contrasting cults: St Cuthbert of Durham and St Thomas of Canterbury in the 15th century, Barrie Dobson; Three Suffolk pieces, Colin Richmond; Guilds, purgatory and the cult of saints: Westlake reconsidered, Ken Farnhill; A Yorkshire religious house and its hinterland: Monk Bretton Priory in the 16th century, Claire Cross; The conservative voice in the English Reformation, Eamon Duffy; Bibles to ballads: some pictorial migrations in the Reformation, Margaret Aston; Merry England on the ropes: the contested culture of the early modern town, Patrick Collinson; All people that on earth do dwell. Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice: Protestantism and music in early modern England, Ian Green; The Black Legend of the Jesuits: an essay in the history of social stereotypes, Peter Burke; An early Christian school of sanctity in Tridentine Rome, Simon Ditchfield; Science and the theological imagination in the 17th century: baptism and the origins of the individual, Adriano Prosperi; Observations on Christian feasts and their histories, Jean-Louis Flandrin; Richard Mead’s communities of belief in 18th-century London, Ludmilla Jordanova; Church, community and culture in rural England, 1850-1900: J. C. Atkinson in the parish of Danby in Cleveland, William Sheils; St Francis and modern English sentiment, Mary Heimann; John Bossy: a personal appreciation, Peter Jupp; Select bibliography of the writings of John Bossy, Ken Farnhill; Index.