ABSTRACT
A survey of the period of religious reformation between the late fourteenth century and the mid-seventeenth century makes it obvious that a force akin to nationalism played a crucial role in religious change. Historians are, rightly, cautious in applying an essentially modern concept like nationalism to the early modern period. The nebulous force of early modern nationalism vitally required for its actualisation the tangible figure of the sovereign prince. The classical Reformation gave this figure a deeper dimension in the character of the godly prince, the initiator of reformation. Religious radicalism throve in cities because cities provided a religiously sophisticated and independent-minded laity able to understand and adopt radical perceptions of Christianity. Religious radicals also sometimes saw in the city favourable opportunities to realise an elusive yet desirable ecclesiology, that of the elect church visibly set up and made identical with a community.
