§03§ §16§Europe is increasingly multi-ethnic and multi-faith, as well as multi-cultural. Western democracies now comprise a plurality of fundamental opinions and inherited cultures; it is not clear how (or if!) they can be related to each other without involving either oppression or anarchy. This debate requires historical understanding and a contemporary grasp of the points at issue amongst different cultures. By virtue of their proximity and frequent historical interaction, Britain and France lend themselves to comparative study. The studies in this volume collectively demonstrate that the affairs of religious minorities in these two countries were not only of concern to themselves and their national established churches. Rather, over a long-term period, they had a sustained impact on many other issues. All chapters illustrate the problematic shift from a persecutory to a pluralistic mentality. §02§The Editors: Richard Bonney is Emeritus Professor of Modern History at the University of Leicester and Chairman of the Europe-Islamic World Organization. The Founding Editor of French History, he was formerly President of the Society for the Study of French History and Director of the European State Finance Project, and is a non-stipendiary priest in the Church of England. He has published numerous books on European, political, financial and religious history. His latest book is Jihad: From Qur'an to bin Laden (2004). D.J.B. Trim is Lecturer in History at Newbold College, and Visiting Research Fellow, School of History, at the University of Reading. He has published numerous papers and edited The Chivalric Ethos and the Development of Military Professionalism (2003) and Cross, Crown and Community: Religion, Government and Culture in Early Modern England 1400-1800 (Peter Lang, 2004). §02§The Editors: Richard Bonney is Emeritus Professor of Modern History at the University of Leicester and Chairman of the Europe-Islamic World Organization. The Founding Editor of French History, he was formerly President of the Society for the Study of French History and Director of the European State Finance Project, and is a non-stipendiary priest in the Church of England. He has published numerous books on European, political, financial and religious history. His latest book is Jihad: From Qur'an to bin Laden (2004).§ D.J.B. Trim is Lecturer in History at Newbold College, and Visiting Research Fellow, School of History, at the University of Reading. He has published numerous papers and edited The Chivalric Ethos and the Development of Military Professionalism (2003) and Cross, Crown and Community: Religion, Government and Culture in Early Modern England 1400-1800 (Peter Lang, 2004).
