Among social historians focusing on religion in the early modern world, one of the topics of ongoing interest has been the issue of social and religious discipline. The survival of sources such as minutes and accounts of the work of church tribunals from the period has only deepened the level of engagement. But in most cases, studies focus only on one confessional group or disciplinary body. Several excellent works analyzing Reformed consistories and kirk sessions have appeared within the last decades, such as Raymond Mentzer, ed., Sin and the Calvinists: Morals Control and the Consistory in the Reformed Tradition (Truman State University Press, 1994) and Michael Graham, The Uses of Reform: “Godly Discipline” and Popular Behavior in Scotland and Beyond, 1560–1610 (Brill, 1996). Other excellent studies of the Inquisition, whether in Spain, Portugal, Italy, or the New World, have also appeared, including Francisco Bethencourt, The Inquisition: A Global History 1478–1834 (Cambridge University Press, 2009) and Henry Kamen, The Spanish Inquisition: An Historical Revision (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1997).

Charles Parker and Gretchen Starr-Lebeau have built on these earlier studies to take an innovative two-track approach to investigating the forms of church discipline in Roman Catholic and Reformed churches from the Reformation onwards. The editors of this volume have brought together a stellar cast of twenty-six scholars and have organized the work thematically, having specialists on the inquisitions and experts on Reformed church discipline go head to head in each section. Themes covered in the work include gender, jurisdictional issues and regional differences, the varied approaches and levels of agency of both those accused and their judges, the challenges inherent in interpreting the records of these disciplinary bodies, and the reasons for the decline in both inquisitions' and consistories' powers over time. Contributions from Mark Meuwese and Allyson Poska for the Atlantic world and Hendrik Niemeijer and Bruno Feitler for Asia expand the analysis of these disciplinary bodies' impact beyond European borders. In Asia and the Americas, some of the challenges facing consistories and inquisitions were similar: large territories, not enough personnel, multi-faith communities, and lack of consensus as to which groups fell under the purview of church discipline.

This comparative thematic study works particularly well when the theme is one that fits both disciplinary bodies equally. Jeff Watt and Allyson Poska's discussion of gender issues, in consistories and inquisitions, respectively, works particularly effectively. In other cases, the selected theme makes much more sense in one context than in the other. For instance, the section on negotiating penance (Karen Spierling for the consistories and John Chuchiak for the inquisitions) worked much less well in the context of the inquisitions. In the consistories or kirk sessions, where the lay elders and those brought before the consistory came from the same locale and lived and worked in the same communities, negotiating a mitigation of any sanctions or reparations made sense. For the inquisitions, the power differential between the clerical judges heading a formidable organization and the people appearing before them made negotiation unlikely. Some of the accused attempted a one-sided bargaining with the inquisitors, but that hardly constituted negotiation since all the power was in the inquisitors' hands.

Among the most interesting pairings are the section “Judges and Shepherds” (William Naphy for the consistories and Kimberly Lynn for the inquisitions), the section “Inquisition and Consistory Records” (Christian Grosse for the consistories and Kim Siebenbüner for the inquisitions), and the “Victims as Actors” section (Timothy Fehler for the consistories and Lu Ann Homza for the inquisitions). In each of these contributions, the writer carefully made distinctions and highlighted factors that added layers of complexity to any analysis.

Unlike many edited volumes, this one is built around a very strong comparative axis and all of the contributions are directly related to the central topic of church discipline. William Monter's conclusion is worth further thought. He argues that the more locally focused Reformed disciplinary bodies had a stated emphasis on reconciliation and reintegration of the penitent into his or her faith community over time. In contrast, the inquisitions had a more top-down structure and were particularly concerned about the possible spread of heresy or religious hypocrisy. Comparisons between the two bodies thus call for careful evaluation of their at times divergent aims.

The work includes a helpful introduction and conclusion and a detailed bibliography that mirrors the thematic approach of the volume as a whole. There are also four maps at the start, but three out of four suffer from being printed in too small a format. Even printing them in landscape rather than in portrait form would have helped. Apart from this issue, the work has been carefully edited. Students and scholars interested in social discipline will find this edited collection to be an invaluable resource.