Introductory description

This second-year early modern option module will explore the attempts of early modern monarchs and governments to gain hegemony over the British Isles and establish an imperial dominion beyond the Atlantic.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Preliminary session: A New British History?
Elizabeth, Mary and the politics of religion in the British Isles
‘A Perfect Union’?: James VI and I and his three kingdoms 1567-1625
The Gaelic world 1558-1625
Maps of Ireland and Scotland used in lecture
The Creation of British America
Wales and the Making of the British Nation
Charles I and the road to Civil War
Radicalism, rebellion, revolution and regicide 1642-1649
Protestantism and national identity 1603-1649
James II and the 1688 Revolution in Britain and America
Crown, Parliament, the 'Revolutionary' settlement; long-essay skills
Ireland and the Stuart monarchy 1660-1702
The Darien design and the context of Scottish imperialism
The Act of Union and the birth of the British state
Courts, capitals and cities: the structure of British politics
Conclusions: A British Nation?
Revision

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• To gain an understanding of the historical dynamics that connected the three British kingdoms and the emergent empire in America.
• To explore the relationship between religion, politics and national identity.
• To examine the ‘British problem’ comparatively, alongside the experience of other European states, empires and kingdoms.
• To develop enhanced research, writing and communication skills through essays and oral discussion in seminars.
• To provide a strong foundation for students undertaking advanced options featuring seventeenth and eighteenth-century political and religious themes

Indicative reading list

 David Armitage, The Ideological Origins of the British Empire (2000) (e-book)
 Brendan Bradshaw and John Morrill, The British Problem 1504-1707: State formation in the Atlantic Archipelago (1996)
 B. Bradshaw and P. Roberts (eds.) British Consciousness and Identity: the making of Britain (1998) (ebook).
 S. Ellis & S. Barber (eds.) Conquest and Union: Fashioning a British State, 1485–1725 (1995) (ebook)
 Glenn Burgess, The new British history: founding a modern state 1603-1715 (1999)
 Nicholas Canny, Making Ireland British 1580-1650 (2001)
 Nicholas Canny, ed., The Oxford History of the British Empire: I, The Origins of Empire (1998)
 Tony Claydon and Ian McBride, Protestantism and National Identity: Britain and Ireland c. 1650-c.1850 (1998) (e-book)
 Barry Coward, The Stuart Age (2014) (ebook)
 Barry Coward, A Companion to Stuart Britain (2007) (ebook)
 T.M. Devine, Scotland’s Empire 1660-1815 (2003)
 J.H. Elliott, Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America 1492-1830 (2007)
 J. H. Elliott, 'A Europe of Composite Monarchies', Past & Present, 137 (1992) (JSTOR)
 Colin Kidd, British Identities before nationalism: ethnicity and nationhood in the Atlantic World 1600-1800 (1999) (e-book)
 M. Kishlansky, A Monarchy Transformed: Britain 1603-1714 (1996)
 Bruce Lenman, England’s Colonial Wars 1550-1688: Conflicts, Empire and National Identity (2001)
 J.G.A. Pocock, ed., Three British Revolutions: 1641, 1688, 1776 (1980)
 John Robertson, ed., A Union for Empire: Political Thought and the Union of 1707 (Cambridge, 1995)
 Laura Sangha and Jonathan Willis, Understanding Early Modern Primary Sources (2016)

Subject specific skills

-To gain an understanding of the historical dynamics that connected the three British kingdoms and the emergent empire in America.
-To explore the relationship between religion, politics and national identity.
-To examine the ‘British problem’ comparatively, alongside the experience of other European states, empires and kingdoms.
-To provide a strong foundation for students undertaking special subjects featuring seventeenth and eighteenth-century political and religious themes

Transferable skills

-To develop enhanced research, writing and communication skills through essays and oral presentations in seminars.