The Reformation

This course is designed to be a survey and analysis of the European Reformations, both Protestant and Catholic, that took place between approximately 1500 and 1700. In this course we will try to make sense of a number of themes in Reformation history, including but not limited to: the nature of religious belief in a historical context; the relationship between church and state; the meaning and experience of reform at different social and economic levels; persecution and toleration; discipline and order; and the influence of reform on gender roles, the family, and the household. Although students are not expected to understand the complex historiography of the Reformation entirely, we will engage many of the larger historical debates in lectures and in secondary source readings, and I hope that students will come away from this course with a larger appreciation for the profession and practice of history itself. Finally, the use of primary sources is crucial to understanding the history of any people, society, or political unit. In this course, we will read a number of primary sources in order to help us get at the heart of Reformation history.