A Survey of Early Modern and Modern Church History (CH9002Y)

Content

This unit develops the students’ historical methodology and research skills, building on fundamental learnings from the first survey (CH8001Y). Applying these skills, it surveys the history of the Church from the Renaissance to the present. Particular emphasis is given to the current historiography of the Long Reformation (14th to 18th Centuries) and its aftermaths, to the Enlightenment, colonialism, the Age of Revolutions, and the Religious developments of the 19th Century in church authority structures and ‘Social Christianity’, as a preface to interpreting twentieth century conflicts, reforms and renewal.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

CH8001Y or equivalent

Pedagogy

Lecture, seminars, tutorials

Indicative Bibliography

• Bettenson, Henry, and Chris Maunder, eds. Documents of the Christian Church. 3rd ed. London: Oxford University Press, 1999 (or other editions)
• Bireley, Robert. The Refashioning of Catholicism, 1450–1700. Washington, DC: CUA Press, 1999.
• Burleigh, Michael. Earthly Powers: Religion and Politics from the Enlightenment to the Great War. London: Harper Collins, 2006.
• Burleigh, Michael. Sacred Causes: The Clash of Religion and Politics from the Great War to the War on Terror. London: Harper Collins, 2006.
• Cameron, Euan. The European Reformation. 2nd ed. Oxford: OUP, 2012.
• Duffy, Eamonn. The Stripping of the Altars. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992.
• Howell, Martha and Walter Prevenier. From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001.
• Jenkins, Keith. Re-Thinking History. London: Routledge, 2002.
• Lindberg, Carter. The European Reformations. 2nd ed. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
• Wallace, Peter G. The Long European Reformation. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2004.

Assessment