Moderation and the Violence of the English Reformation: Questions for Ethan Shagan

“Everything in moderation” is still a popular adage today, suggesting prudence and temperance, but in early modern England, such a concept had decidedly darker roots. In The Rule of Moderation, author Ethan Shagan traces the paradoxical ideal of moderation, and how England came to represent reason, civility, and moderation through aggressive and even violent policies.