ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on concepts discussed in preceding chapter of this book. The book investigates the little-read religious texts of the reign of Mary Tudor, and analyses the often misunderstood theology and spirituality they contain. It considers possible strategies for religious renewal employed by the Marian church, as gleaned from these texts. Most importantly, the Marian church invented what is often called the Counter-Reformation: the Latin Church's militant responses to Protestant challenges to its doctrine and religious practices. The spirituality advocated by Marian authors also presaged what H. O. Evennett described as the 'powerful and distinctive traits' of Counter-Reformation spirituality. Important Marian strategies for reform, as found in these texts, also anticipated those of Tridentine Catholicism, beyond the nuanced expositions of such doctrines as purgatory. Bishops possessed a key role in religious renewal, especially in the censorship of religious books.
