On the Spot: Alec Ryrie
‘Who is the most overrated person in history? Henry VIII. Nasty piece of work and not as clever as he thought he was.’
Why are you a historian of Christianity?
It is my own tradition, but fundamentally I care about understanding why people do what they do. That’s what the history of religion is all about.
What’s the most important lesson history has taught you?
To distrust simple answers and closed systems.
Which history book has had the greatest influence on you?
Keith Thomas’ Religion and the Decline of Magic.
What book in your field should everyone read?
Geoffrey Nuttall’s The Holy Spirit in Puritan Faith and Experience.
Which moment would you most like to go back to?
To see the face of Rabban Sauma, the Christian monk who was the first Chinese person to visit Europe, when he walked into Sainte-Chapelle in Paris in 1277.
Which historian has had the greatest influence on you?
Diarmaid MacCulloch.
Which person in history would you most like to have met?
Herodotus, the first historian and still the most fun.
How many languages do you have?
My Dutch and French are not terrible.
What historical topic have you changed your mind on?
How popular the English Reformation was. The sceptics have (mostly) won me round.
What’s the most exciting field in history today?
Global and imperial history. We’ve got past the political stone-throwing and can start to see the complexities.
What is the most common misconception about your field?
That it is about institutions and doctrines. It is about people.
Who is the most underrated person in history…
Martin Bucer, the almost-successful peacemaker of the Reformation.
… and the most overrated?
Henry VIII. Nasty piece of work and not as clever as he thought he was.
Is there an important historical text you have not read?
Spenser’s The Faerie Queen is impenetrable.
What’s your favourite archive?
Little ones, like the Moravian Church House Archives in London.
What’s the best museum?
The Faith Museum at Bishop Auckland in County Durham.
What technology has changed the world the most?
Fire! Obviously.
Recommend us a historical novel...
Has to be Wolf Hall.
... and a historical drama?
I love A Knight’s Tale. So much cleverer than you’ve any right to expect.
You can solve one historical mystery. What is it?
What was actually in the Sibylline Books?
Alec Ryrie is Professor of the History of Christianity at Durham University. His latest book is The World’s Reformation: How Protestantism Became a Global Religion (Yale University Press, 2026).