This is a fascinating study of the impact of the Reformation idea of `civic righteousness' on the position of women in Augsburg. Lyndal Roper argues that its development, both as a religious credo and as a social movement, must be understood in terms of gender. Until now the effects of the Reformation on women have been regarded as largely beneficial: this book argues that such a view of the Reformation's legacy is a profound misreading, and that the status of women was, in fact, worsened.

The Holy Household is the first scholarly account of how the Reformation affected half of society. It greatly advances our understanding of the Reformation, of feminist history, and of the place of women in European society.