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The lecture outlines handed out in class will be posted after each lecture.
Click on the lecture title to see them.
| Sept. 4: |
Introduction: What is the Early
Modern Period? |
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Readings: Editor's Introduction, pp.
xvi-xx, Early Modern Europe. |
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| Part I: |
Social Structure and Points of
Continuity |
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Since the central task of a historian is to explain
change over time, I will be emphasizing those developments which gave
the this period its unique character. However, I do not want to emphasize
change at the expense of continuity. It is important to realize that
many of the developments we will discuss took place very gradually.
This is why it is not easy to draw simple chronological lines demarking
either the beginning of the Early Modern period or its end. In many
respects, the pattern of development in this period can be described
as evolutionary rather than revolutionary. This is why I begin the
course by focusing on the question of continuity and by outlining
the more constant elements of European society. |
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| Sept. 6: |
Gender, Households, and the Life-Cycle |
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Readings:
1) Mary Wiesner, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe, ch. 1-2.
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| Sept. 11: |
Rural Life |
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Readings:
1) The Western Experience, ch. 11, sec. I and III; ch. 14, sec. I,
ch. 16, sec. IV.
2) Early Modern Europe; Alison Rowlands, "The Conditions of Life
for the Masses", ch. 1, pp. 31-55
3)Mary Wiesner, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe, ch. 3 (up
to section on role in towns) |
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| Sept. 13: |
Urban Life |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 11, sec. I and III; ch. 12, sec. I; ch.
14, sec. I; ch. 16 sec IV
2) Early Modern Europe; ch. 1, Alison Rowlands, "The Conditions
of Life for the Masses", pp. 55-62
3) Mary Wiesner, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe, ch. 3, (from
sectoin on role in towns to the end) |
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| Sept. 18: |
Ruling Elites and Institutions. |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 11, sec. IV-V. |
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| Part II: |
The Age of the Renaissance: A New Outlook? |
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Nevertheless, this was a period when Europe was profoundly
transformed. We shall first examine the impact of the Humanists of
the Italian Renaissance, who were the first to proclaim they were
living in a new age. Next, we shall look at one of the singular seismic
events of European history, the Protestant Reformation. The religious
earthquake unleashed by Martin Luther not only shattered the religious
unity of Medieval civilization, but its aftershocks continued to rattle
European society for most of the 16th and 17th centuries and are still
continuing to be felt to this day. The Renaissance and Reformation
were two of the most important movements that shaped the Early Modern
period, and taken together they certainly can be seen as marking the
end of the Middle Ages. |
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| Sept. 20: |
The Renaissance: An Intellectual Revolution? |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch.12, sec. II-V
2) Early Modern Europe, ch. 2, Euan Cameron, "The Power of the
Word...", pp. 63-81. (up to section on "The word of Faith.." |
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| Sept. 25: |
The Renaissance State: Changing political realities |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 14, sec. III-V.
2) Early Modern Europe, ch. 2, Steven Gunn, "War, Religion, and
the State", pp. 102 -124 (up to section on "The impact of
religious change") |
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| Sept. 27: |
The Voyages of Discovery: The widening of horizons? |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 14, sec. II.
2) Early Modern Europe, prologue, Anthony Pagden, "Europe and
the World". |
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| Part III: |
The Reformation and its Aftermath: the division of
Christendom |
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| Oct. 2: |
Luther's Challenge to the Medieval Church |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 12, sec V; ch. 13, sec. I-II.
2) Early Modern Europe, ch. 2, Euan Cameron, "The Power of the
Word...", pp. 81-101. (from the section on "The word of
Faith.." to the end).
3) Mary Wiesner, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe, ch. 6 (up
to sec. on Protestant Reformation)
4) M. Luther's "Freedom of a Christian Man" in H. Hillerbrand
(ed.), The Protestant Reformation. (recommended) |
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| Oct. 4: |
Calvin's Message and the Counter Reformation |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 13, sec. III-IV.
2) Early Modern Europe, ch. 2, Euan Cameron, "The Power of the
Word...", pp. 81-101. (from the section on "The word of
Faith.." to the end).
3) John Calvin's "The Institutes of the Christian Religion"
in H. Hillerbrand (ed.), The Protestant Reformation. (recommended) |
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| Oct 9: |
Reformation and Popular Culture: Rise of Social Control |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 13
2) Early Modern Europe, ch. 2, Euan Cameron, "The Power of the
Word...", pp. 81-101.
3) Mary Wiesner, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe, ch. 6 (from
sec. on Protestant Reformation to the end of the chapter) |
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| Oct. 11: |
Religious Conflict and the Witch Craze (first paper
is due) |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch.16, sec IV, from the part titled "Magic
and Rituals" to the end.
2) Mary Wiesner, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe, ch. 7. |
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| Oct. 16: |
Impact of the Reformation on the State |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 14, sec. IV; ch. 15, sec. I and II.
2) Early Modern Europe, ch. 2, Steven Gunn, "War, Religion, and
the State", pp. 124-135 (from the section on "The impact
of religious ch ange" to the end) |
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| Oct. 18: |
The Thirty Years War and the Crisis of the 17th Century |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 15, sec. II-VI, ch.16 sec. IV (population
trends)
2) Early Modern Europe, ch. 6, Jeremy Black, "Warfare, Crisis,
and Absolutism", pp. 206-219, (up to sec. on Absolutism) |
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| Oct. 23: |
Midterm Exam |
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| Oct. 25: |
Louis XIV and Absolutism: |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 17, sec. I
2) Early Modern Europe, ch. 6, Jeremy Black, "Warfare, Crisis,
and Absolutism", pp. 219-230 (from sec. on Absolutism to the
end of the ch.) |
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| Oct. 30: |
The Scientific Revolution: the waning of the force
of faith? |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch.16, sec. I-III.
2) Early Modern Europe, ch 5, Robin Briggs, "Embattled Faiths...",
pp. 171-206.
3) Mary Wiesner, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe, ch. 4. |
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| Part IV: |
The European Economy and the Rise of Capitalism |
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In the next two sections of the course, we will focus
on movements that shaped the modern era. First, we will discuss the
process that led to formation and expansion of a market and consumer
society. This development was critical stepping stone towards the
formation of the emergence of industrial societies later in the modern
period. We shall explore the origins of this economic transformation
as a way of grappling with that elusive concept of capitalism and
explaining its rise in Western Europe.
After discussing the roots of capitalism, we shall turn to look at
the impact of the Enlightenment on the state and society. One question
that we must address is the extent to which philosophes's critiques
of structure of the Ancien Regime helped pave the way for the American
and French Revolutions . These two political events, together with
the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in England, are seen as
marking the beginning of the Modern era. Although we will not examine
the course of the Revolutions, we will discuss their origins in the
17th and 18th centuries. We are still living with the legacies of
these developments, and to understand them fully we must first learn
about their roots in Early Modern Europe. |
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| Nov. 1: |
Th e Spirit of Capitalism |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 14, sec. I,and ch. 16, sec. IV(These readings
have little to do with theme of the class, but are necessary background
for Part IV) |
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| Nov. 6: |
Election Day Holiday |
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| Nov. 8: |
Rural Society and the Marketplace: Proto-Industrialization
and Agricultural Innovations. |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, Ch. 18, sec. I-III.
2) Early Modern Europe, Ch. 4, R. A. Houston, "Colonies, Enterprises,
and Weath..." |
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| Nov. 13: |
European Trade Empires: The New Hegemony |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 18, sec. IV
2) Early Modern Europe, Ch. 4, R. A. Houston, "Colonies, Enterprises,
and Weath..." |
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| Nov. 15: |
Consumer Society and the Moral Economy |
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Readings:
1) Early Modern Europe, Ch. 7, James Riley, "A Widening Market
in Consumer Goods".
2) Mary Wiesner, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe, (section
on Women as consumers and consumer culture) |
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| Part V: |
The Age of the Enlightenment |
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| Nov. 20: |
Enlightenment and the Rise of Civil Society |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 19, sec. I
2) Early Modern Europe, ch. 8, Norman Hampson, "The Enlightenment".
3) Mary Wiesner, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe, ch. 5 |
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| Nov. 22: |
Thanksgiving |
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| Nov. 27: |
High Culture and Popular Culture: A Growing Divide? |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 19, sec. II-III |
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| Nov. 29: |
Enlightened Absolutism (2nd paper is due) |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 17, sec. II-III. |
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| Dec. 4: |
England: An Alternative Model? |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 17, sec. IV. |
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| Dec. 6: |
War and the European State System |
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Readings:
1) Western Experience, ch. 17, sec. V; ch. 18, sec. IV; and ch. 20,
sec. I
2) Early Modern Europe, ch. 9, H. M. Scott, "Europe Turns East.." |
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