Module Identifier HY35530  
Module Title MONKS, HERETICS & REFORMERS - CHURCH & SOCIETY BRITAIN & EUR  
Academic Year 2002/2003  
Co-ordinator Karen Stober  
Semester Intended for use in future years  
Next year offered N/A  
Next semester offered N/A  
Mutually Exclusive HA35530  
Course delivery Lecture   18 Hours 18 X 1 HOUR  
  Seminars / Tutorials   10 Hours 10 x 1 hour  
Assessment Semester Exam   3 Hours   60%  
  Semester Assessment   1 x 2,500 word essay, 1 x 4,000 word essay   40%  

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able to:
a) Assess critically the body of historical knowledge which discusses trends within the church and society in Britain and Europe during the period 1300-1600.
b) Comprehend and assess the different historical debates and analyses evident in related texts, ranging from the Middle Ages to recent scholarly works.
c) Read, analyse and assess a range of different types of historical evidence, including interdisciplinary evidence.
d) Comprehend the historical debates and problems regarding ecclesiastical and social during the period studied.
e) Discover and use original historical sources while appreciating their background, their age and their fragility.
f) Understand the importance of historical sites and appreciate their role as physical evidence.
g) Develop and lead historical debates.
h)   Work independently and as part of a group and take an active part in group discussions and presentations.
i)   Express understanding and discuss related issues through writing in an academic context.

Brief description

The three centuries which preceded and followed the Reformation in the sixteenth century represent a particularly exciting period of change and reform in the history of Britain and Europe. This module seeks to explain and discuss some of the events which lay at the heart of these changes within church and society during the late Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern period. The religious background of western society will be considered, including issues of church hierarchy and the main religious orders as well as some of the popular movements collectively known as ‘heretical’. Further issues to be discussed in the wider social, religious and political context include the Reformation itself and its impact upon society in Britain and Europe, the Counterreformation, and the Renaissance, with special consideration of certain key figures (e.g. Henry VIII, Martin Luther and Erasmus) and their roles in the events of the period. Among the sources used during this study will be a range of different types of contemporary writings, as well a visit to one or more related historical site(s), in order to introduce a wide variety of evidence relating to this colourful period.

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
E. Cameron (ed.). (1999) Early Modern Europe. Oxford
A.G. Dickens. (1966) Reformation and Society in Sixteenth-Century Europe. London
Eamon Duffy. (1992) The Stripping of the Altars – traditional religion in England 1400-1580. New Haven
J.R. Hale. (2000) Renaissance Europe. 2nd. Oxford
Bernard Hamilton. (1986) Religion in the Medieval West. London
Denys Hay. (1986) Europe in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. London
M. Lambert. (2002) Medieval Heresy. 3rd. Oxford
C.H. Lawrence. (1989) Medieval Monasticism. 2nd. London
C. Lindberg. (1996) European Reformations. Oxford
G.W. Searle. (1974) The Counter Reformation. London
R.W. Southern. (1970) Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages. London
R.N. Swanson. (1995) Religion and Devotion in Europe, c.1215-c.1515. Cambridge