Introductory description

This module looks at the different ways in which Europe and the Early Modern Period were conceived in the past and by historians, including notions of European identity and how historical concepts of ‘Europe’ and ‘Europeans’ form contemporary ideas about these concepts.

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.

Term 1
Week 1: Lecture 1. Introduction and rationale. Lecture 2. Historical Periodization
Week 2. Lecture 1. Christendom and Europe. Lecture 2. Pre-Modern Identities

Theme 1: The Familiar and the Unfamiliar
Week 3. Lecture 1. Families, Parents and Children. 2. Sex and Gender.
Week 4. Lecture 1. The Natural World. Lecture 2. The Supernatural World.
Workshop 1: Sources
Week 5. Lecture 1. Material Cultures of the everyday. Lecture 2. Food and Dress

Theme 2: Encounters
Week 7. Lecture 1. Africa in the C16th. Lecture 2. The Indian Ocean World and Asia.
Workshop 2: The Indian Ocean World and Asia
Week 8. Lecture 1. The Americas before Columbus. Lecture 2. European-American Encounters and Exchanges.
Week 9. Lecture 1: The Mediterranean. Lecture 2. Corsairs and Pirates.
Week 10. Lecture 1. Global Trade. Lecture 2. Global commodities

Term 2
Theme 3: Beliefs
Week 1. Lecture 1. Late Medieval Piety. Lecture 2. The Early Reformation
Week 2. Lecture 1. The Reformations. Lecture 2. Cultures of Protestantism
Week 3. Lecture 1. The Catholic Reformation in European and Global Context. 2. Encounters with non-Christians.
Week 4. Lecture 1. Popular Culture and belief Lecture 2. The Supernatural World.
Workshop 1: Sources
Week 5. Lecture 1. Unbelief, Scepticism and Atheism. Lecture 2. Religion, Science and Print
Workshop 3: Religion, Science and Print

Theme 4: Power
Week 7. Lecture 1. Power and Authority Lecture 2. Absolutism
Week 8. Lecture 1. Popular Politics. Lecture 2. Popular Rebellions and Protest
Week 9. Lecture 1: Race and Slavery. Lecture 2. The Discourse of Slavery
Workshop 4: Africans Encounter Europe and interconnections with the Atlantic World
Week 10. Lecture 1. The Ottomans Lecture 2. Russia and the Mughals/Marrathas

Term 3
Conclusions
Lecture 1. How was Europe shaped by the Enlightenment? Lecture 2. The later C18th revolutions
Lecture 2. Are Early Modernity and Europe useful concepts? Lecture 2. Conclusions.

Learning outcomes

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

• Understand some of the different ways in which Europe and the Early Modern Period were conceived in the past and by historians.
• Understand the encounters between Europeans and non-Europeans, and the relationships between them.
• Understand and apply key historical and historiographical terms.
• Describe the ways the Renaissance and Enlightenment shaped European thought.
• Use library resources (including online journals, electronic and online resources)
• Manage own learning for and in seminars, communicate with others, and engage in group work.
• Analyse primary and secondary written sources

Indicative reading list

• E. Cameron (ed.), Early Modern Europe: an Oxford History (1999)
• M. Greengrass, Christendom Destroyed: Europe 1517-1648 (2014)
• M. Konnert, Early Modern Europe (2006)
• B. Kümin (ed.), The European World, 1500-1800: An Introduction to Early Modern History (2nd edn, 2014) [companion book to this module written by Warwick historians]
• J. Merriman, A History of Modern Europe, Vol. 1: from the Renaissance to the Age of Napoleon (2nd edn, 2004) SLC
• D. Nicholas, The Transformation of Europe, 1300-1600 (1999)
• J.B. Collins & K. Taylor (eds.), Early modern Europe: issues and interpretations (2004)
• M. Wiesner-Hanks, Early modern Europe 1450-1789 (2nd edn, 2014)
• Miranda Kauffman, Black Tudors (2018)
• David Northup, Africa’s Discovery of Europe 1450-1850 (2009)
• Paula Findlen, Empires of Knowledge: Scientific Knowledge in the Early Modern World (2017)
• Anna Suranyi, The Atlantic Connection: A History of the Atlantic World, 1450-1900 (2015)
• John K. Thornton, A Cultural History of the Atlantic World, 1250-1820 (2012)

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Subject specific skills

See learning outcomes.

Transferable skills

See learning outcomes.