Ronald Hutton's plum gems

The writings of Ronal Hutton are loaded with gems. Here are two from The Druids [2007].

page 7 :: “the Germans of the late fifteenth century were acutely aware both that they had achieved huge economic wealth and cultural sophistication and that the rest of western Europe, and especially the Italians, still regarded them as barbarians, in the style of the classical writers. This fuelled precisely the mixed sense of pride, ambition and resentment which was to make Germany the launch-pad of the European Reformation.”

That very perceptive comment – almost a throwaway line – just jumps out of the page. It is a precious gem I have not found elsewhere. Less complicated histories of the Protestant Reformation are usually couched solely in terms of the rebellious monk Martin Luther nailing his theses to the door of Wittenberg Church in protest against perceived abuses promulgated by the Roman curia. Hutton’s pointing to the seedbed adds a very cogent new perspective for which I, for one, am very grateful.

On a rather lighter note :: page 39 draws attention [yes, this is still relevant] to Dylan Thomas and his play for voices, Under Milk Wood, “set in the fictional and archetypal, small seaport town of Llarregub”; in consequential sequence, page 40 draws attention to Terry Pratchett’s Soul Music which “introduced a nation known as Llamedos, modelled on Wales.” Oh sod it! Bugger it! How come I’d missed that?

© francis cameron
oxford, 13 june 2007