Bossy specialised in the history of religion, particularly in that of Christianity during the Reformation period and beyond. According to some commentators, his approach fused together elements of disciplines such as sociology and theology.[5]
His Ph.D. thesis was written on the relations between French and English Catholics during the period of the Renaissance[6] which contained within it the seeds of later work regarding Michel de Castelnau.[7]
He moved to the University of York in 1979, where he was professor of History until his retirement in 2000. In 1993 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy.[3]
Works
The English Catholic Community, 1570-1850 (1979)
'The Mass as a Social Institution, 1200-1700' Past & Present, Vol. 100, Issue 1, 1 August (1983)
Christianity in the West, 1400-1700 (1985)
Peace in the Post-Reformation (1998)
Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair (1991; second edition 2002)[10]
Under the Molehill: An Elizabethan Spy Story (2001)
Disputes and Settlements: Law and Human Relations in the West (2003) – edited by Bossy[11]