2007 Handbooks

The world of early modern Europe has been characterised by historians in terms of sharp contrasts - a world steeped in antiquity, yet also grappling with modernity; a world where secularising impulses generated by the Reformation, the broadening of scientific knowledge, increased literacy, and the expansion of empires existed at the same time when thousands of witches were burnt at the stake, 'men of reason' debated the existence of monsters and where trials were held to convict werewolves. The historiography of the period too is divided between historians who view the period as a time of rapid and revolutionary change 'the world turned up side down' or as a period of stagnation of 'history standing still'. This unit will examine the Early Modern World focusing particularly on the history of everyday life. Students will be asked to analyse the contradictory impulses that shaped Early Modern Europe, in all its strangeness and its familiarity 'from below' that is by examining the daily life of the masses. Through a focus on early modern belief systems, familial relations, social and cultural practices, values and attitudes, work and leisure, students will be asked to consider how 'modern' were Early Modern Europeans?