HI31R-30 The Elizabethan Reformation
Introductory description
This module explores the impact and significance of religious developments in England in the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603), with the aim of showing how they transformed society, culture and politics at both national and local levels. It was during these decades that England finally became a ‘Protestant country’, though the process was controversial and unstable, producing dissent and rebellion, as well as a fair degree of de facto pluralism and some qualified toleration of difference.
Module aims
Students will be expected to engage with the legal, liturgical and doctrinal aspects of this transformation, but also to assess it as a process of cultural transition, involving accommodation and negotiation between rulers and ruled, and between neighbours. The recent historiography of the Elizabethan Reformation (and of its sub-fields like Puritanism and Catholicism) has been particularly lively and contentious, and as the module develops, students will increasingly familiarize themselves with this literature, and demonstrate a capacity to assess it critically.
Students will also be introduced to a range of different types of primary source - literary and polemical texts, administrative records of church and state, private letters and memoirs - which students will learn to interrogate and contextualize effectively. Students on the module will be able to deploy the skills and knowledge they are acquiring in the researching and writing of a dissertation linked to the themes of the module.
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.
Autumn Term
Week 1. Introduction
Week 2. The Elizabethan ‘Settlement’
Week 3: The Elizabethan Settlement - documents
Week 4. Reform and Enforcement in the 1560s
Week 5: Reform and Enforcement in the 1560s - documents
Week 6: Reading Week
Week 7. The Birth of Puritanism
Week 8: no seminar
Week 9: The Birth of Puritanism - documents
Week 10. The Crisis of 1568-70
Spring Term
Week 1: The Crisis of 1568-70 – documents
Week 2. From Majority to Minority: the Catholic Experience
Week 3: From Majority to Minority - documents
Week 4. Culture Wars: Puritans and Antipuritans
Week 5: Culture Wars: Puritans and Antipuritans - documents
Week 6: Reading Week
Week 7. Conformity and Popular Religious Culture
Week 8: Conformity and Popular Religious Culture - documents
Week 9. A New Reign and the Legacy of the Old
Week 10: A New Reign and the Legacy of the Old - documents
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate a systematic knowledge and understanding of the key social, political and cultural developments of the Elizabethan Reformation
- Critically analyse and evaluate a broad range of primary sources (including literary and polemical texts, administrative records of church and state, private letters and memoirs) relating to the Elizabethan Reformation
- Effectively communicate ideas, and make informed, coherent and persuasive arguments, relating to the history of the Elizabethan Reformation
- Critically review and consolidate theoretical, methodological, and historiographical ideas relating to the history of the Elizabethan Reformation
Indicative reading list
- Haigh, Christopher, English Reformations: Religion, Politics, and Society under the Tudors (Oxford, 1993)
- Heal, Felicity, Reformation in Britain and Ireland (Oxford, 2003)
- Hughes, Philip, The Reformation in England (vol. 3, 1954, or single vol. edn, 1963)
- MacCulloch, Diarmaid, The Later Reformation in England (1990 and 2nd ed. 2002)
- Marshall, Peter, Reformation England 1480-1642 (2003 and 2nd ed. 2012)
- Marshall, Peter, Heretics and Believers: A History of the English Reformation (New Haven and London, 2017)
- Ryrie, Alec, The Age of Reformation: The Tudor and Stewart Realms, 1485-1603 (London, 2009; 2nd edition, 2017)
View reading list on Talis Aspire
Subject specific skills
See learning outcomes.
Transferable skills
See learning outcomes.
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Seminars | 18 sessions of 2 hours (12%) |
| Tutorials | 4 sessions of 1 hour (1%) |
| Private study | 260 hours (87%) |
| Total | 300 hours |
Private study description
History modules require students to undertake extensive independent research and reading to prepare for seminars and assessments. As a rough guide, students will be expected to read and prepare to comment on three substantial texts (articles or book chapters) for each seminar taking approximately 3 hours. Each assessment requires independent research, reading around 6-10 texts and writing and presenting the outcomes of this preparation in an essay, review, presentation or other related task.
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You must pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group D1
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
|||
| Seminar contribution | 10% | No | |
Reassessment component |
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| 1000 word reflection | Yes (extension) | ||
Assessment component |
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| 1500 word essay | 10% | Yes (extension) | |
Reassessment component is the same |
|||
Assessment component |
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| 3000 word essay | 40% | Yes (extension) | |
Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| 7 day take-home assessment | 40% | No | |
Reassessment component is the same |
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Feedback on assessment
Written feedback provided via Tabula; optional oral feedback in office hours.
Courses
This module is Optional for:
- Year 3 of UENA-VQ32 Undergraduate English and History
- Year 4 of UENA-VQ33 Undergraduate English and History (with Intercalated year)
-
UHIA-V1V8 Undergraduate History and Philosophy (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 3 of V1V8 History and Philosophy (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 4 of V1V8 History and Philosophy (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 3 of UHIA-V1V7 Undergraduate History and Philosophy (with a term in Venice)
-
UHIA-VM14 Undergraduate History and Politics (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 3 of VM14 History and Politics (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 4 of VM14 History and Politics (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 3 of UHIA-VM13 Undergraduate History and Politics (with a term in Venice)
-
UHIA-VL16 Undergraduate History and Sociology (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 3 of VL16 History and Sociology (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 4 of VL16 History and Sociology (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 3 of UHIA-VL15 Undergraduate History and Sociology (with a term in Venice)
This module is Core option list A for:
- Year 3 of UHIA-V102 Undergraduate History (Renaissance and Modern History Stream)
This module is Option list A for:
- Year 3 of UHIA-V100 Undergraduate History
- Year 4 of UHIA-V101 Undergraduate History (with Year Abroad)
This module is Option list B for:
- Year 3 of UHIA-V100 Undergraduate History
- Year 4 of UHIA-V101 Undergraduate History (with Year Abroad)
- Year 3 of UHIA-V1V5 Undergraduate History and Philosophy
- Year 4 of UHIA-V1V6 Undergraduate History and Philosophy (with Year Abroad)
- Year 3 of UHIA-VM11 Undergraduate History and Politics
- Year 4 of UHIA-VM12 Undergraduate History and Politics (with Year Abroad)
- Year 3 of UHIA-VL13 Undergraduate History and Sociology
- Year 4 of UHIA-VL14 Undergraduate History and Sociology (with Year Abroad)