Curiosities of Christian History Prior to the Reformation — Text and Context

A Preface That Sets the Rules

The preface is essential for understanding how to read the book. Paterson writes that from Christ to the Reformation there were “no Dissenters—only traitors and heretics,” yet he insists the “Christian temperament can be traced through all the centuries.” This framing tells the reader to expect a focus on shared human experience—aspirations, misgivings, trials—rather than on theological battles. The author’s voice is that of a collector, not a polemicist. He explicitly excludes “most of the wordy war of doctrines” and “most of the atrocities of persecutors and inquisitors,” which means the excerpts that follow are deliberately curated for sympathy rather than shock. A first-time reader should note that the book’s title word “Curiosities” signals an antiquarian, anecdotal approach, not a systematic history.

Bonfires of Vanities as Recurring Set Pieces

Several excerpts describe public bonfires of luxury goods, a motif that appears across different centuries and preachers. In 1429, Brother Richard’s sermon led Parisians to burn “card and billiard tables” and women’s “gaudy ornaments.” Friar Jerome at Florence had children collect “profane books and pictures,” then built a pyramidal scaffold for a ceremonial burning. Bernardine of Sienna made an “enormous bonfire” of pictures, musical instruments, false hair, and extravagant dresses on the Capitoline Hill. John Capistran at Nuremberg and Breslau burned cards and dice. These episodes share a structure: a charismatic preacher denounces vice, the crowd surrenders objects, and a public fire consumes them. The repetition suggests Paterson valued these stories as vivid illustrations of popular piety and reform.

The Preacher as Protagonist and Paradox

The excerpts consistently highlight individual preachers—their eloquence, their power over crowds, and their ambiguous fates. Bernardine of Sienna, who “shone in his denunciations” of gaming and magic, was later “charged with heresy and idolatry” for an ornament he invented as a devotional aid. He dutifully gave it up when the Pope pronounced against it, and was canonised after his death. John Capistran, after burning cards and dice, “exerted his eloquence in a most intolerant manner against the Jews,” leading to burnings in Silesia. Thomas Conecte, a Carmelite monk, “discoursed vehemently on the vices of the clergy” and female head-dresses. These portraits are not uniformly heroic; Paterson includes the troubling consequences of their zeal. The reader is left to weigh the reformers’ fervour against their intolerance.

Structure: A Topical, Not Chronological, Arrangement

The table of matters shows that the book is organised by topic, not by strict chronology. Chapter I covers the Virgin Mary, Holy Family, Christ, and the Crucifixion; later chapters move through disciples, martyrs, hermits, monks, and friars. The excerpts provided come from a section on friars, but the preface indicates the book spans the first fourteen centuries. This topical arrangement means a reader can dip into chapters of interest without needing to follow a timeline. Paterson’s method is to gather “from many histories, annals, chronicles, and biographies” and present them as self-contained anecdotes. The word “Curiosities” in the title reinforces that the book is meant for browsing, not sequential study. Each entry is a brief memorial, not a chapter in a continuous narrative.

Paterson’s collection rewards a reader who treats each anecdote as a window into a specific moment, not as a comprehensive argument. The bonfires, the preachers’ careers, and the author’s own prefatory remarks all point to a work that values human interest over doctrinal precision. A first-time reader might start with the preface, then sample a few entries from different chapters to gauge the range of tone—from the miraculous to the mundane. The book’s strength lies in its concrete, often surprising details, not in any overarching thesis.

Leafing through Paterson’s little stories of bonfires and headdresses, I felt the past soften into voices. That gentle, anecdotal warmth lingered, and it made me reach for The Eve of the Reformation Studies in the Religious Life and Thought of the English people in the Period Preceding the Rejection of the Roman jurisdiction by Henry VIII — Themes and Context. Where one sketches, the other quietly fills in the colour, still unhurried, still human.