The Reformation: Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Modern Society

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, western Europeans shared a common religious identity as members of the Catholic church. By the early seventeenth century, European society had altered irrevocably, with this unity replaced by an array of conflicting denominations, churches and sects. This period, commonly known as the Reformation, was an era of unprecedented unrest and change in European history, with enormous and enduring significance for the political and cultural development of Europe. This module focuses on the political and socio-cultural impact of the Reformation. It will trace its beginnings in 1517, when the scholarly monk Martin Luther defied pope and emperor by refusing to retract his criticisms of catholic doctrines and devotions, such as indulgences. It will examine the origins of the protest, asking what longer term political, cultural and social trends contributed to its outbreak, and transformed an isolated intellectual debate into a revolution. It will also trace the rapid growth of support for dissent and reform, followed by the radicalisation and fragmentation of the new movement as it spread across the German lands, and into Switzerland, France, and the Low Countries. The political and social implications of the Reformation were thrashed out in revolts and wars, such as the Peasants' Revolt (1524), the French civil wars (1562), and the Dutch Revolt (1567), which will form case studies in the module. Other topics of study will include the impact of the Reformation on attitudes towards gender, sexuality, ethnicity and the position of minorities within European society. The module is taught through lectures and tutorials.