History of the British Isles 4: Reformations and Revolutions, 1500-1700

(9 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Reformation, Revolution, Restoration: Throughout this period political and religious authority were contested, challenged, and re-imagined afresh. Students taking this paper have the opportunity to examine a wide range of social, political and religious developments across all three British kingdoms and (by 1700) their growing Empire in the Americas. Historians are increasingly aware of the sophisticated political and religious culture which developed in this period, involving art, music and carefully staged rituals. Traces of the rich visual and artistic culture of the period can be seen across the city, in the Ashmolean and in many of the colleges, and students are encouraged to consider these sources alongside more traditional ones. Moreover, such a crucial period in British history has attracted some of the most passionate and engaged historians, and controversy over the nature of the Reformation, the flow of court politics, the causes of the civil war, and the events of the Glorious Revolution continues to arouse heated debate. No less important are questions of social and economic change, and historians now use the vast range of source materials in new and increasingly sophisticated ways.