Illuminates the variety of ways in which communities were defined and operated across early modern Europe: as imposed by community leaders or negotiated across society; as defined by belief, behavior, and memory; as marked by rigid boundaries and conflict or by flexibility and change; and as shaped by art, ritual, charity, or devotional practices. 'Defining Community offers rich observation and analysis of community life, which will appeal to a broad spectrum of scholars.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History 'As a preliminary effort to assess the state of the field of communal studies, this volume of essays is a most welcome and appropriate addition to the literature.' Religious Studies Review 'This excellent collection of papers demonstrates how current cultural historians can do justice to a key idea and human experience by capturing its diversity, complexity, and subtlety. Here community is not sublime but historicized, and thus the volume deserves wide attention among scholars of culture and social interaction.' Sixteenth Century Journal 'The editors of this excellent volume are firstly to be commended for their informative introduction. They provide a very useful overview of recent research into community formation and definition in early modern Europe, stressing both the factors that allowed social, religious and political groups to assert their identity and also the many issues that made sustaining community cohesion an endlessly challenging task.' Reformation and Renaissance Review