HISTORY 423: RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION
Spring 2009
TR 6:10 - 7:50 p.m., KH B4015
PROF. SCOTT WELLS
E-mail: swells2@calstatela.edu
Office Location: KH A4026
Office Phone: (323) 343-2025
Office Hours: Tuesdays/Thursdays 1:30-2:30 and 5:15-6:00; Wednesdays 5:30-6:00
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The early modern era witnessed a dramatic acceleration in the pace of social and cultural change
in the Mediterranean and northern European worlds. In this course, we will identify and
investigate the principal ways in which European life was radically reshaped during what
historians sometimes call “the long sixteenth century” of renaissance and religious reform (ca.
1450 to 1618). We will also explore the medieval roots of these developments and the specific
impact of such events as the introduction of the printing press, the expansion of the Ottoman
Empire, and the European encounters with Amerindian societies. Class meetings and course
work will incorporate discussion and analysis of a range of contemporary sources, focused
particularly on developments in the Holy Roman and Iberian empires ruled by members of the
Habsburg dynasty (including Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America, and the Indian
Ocean world).
REQUIRED COURSE BOOKS:
The six required course books are available for purchase at the CSULA Bookstore.
1. Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation: A History (Penguin, 2005).
2. Olympia Morata, The Complete Writings of an Italian Heretic, edited/translated by Holt N.
Parker (University of Chicago Press, 2003).
3. Katharina Schütz-Zell, Church Mother: The Writings of a Protestant Reformer in SixteenthCentury Germany, edited/translated by Elsie McKee (University of Chicago Press, 2006).
4. The Spanish Inquisition, 1478–1614: An Anthology of Sources, edited/translated by Lu Ann
Homza (Hackett Publishing Company, 2006).
5. José de Acosta, Natural and Moral History of the Indies, translated by Frances López-Morillas
(Duke University Press, 2002).
6. Luis Vaz de Camões, The Lusiads, translated by Landeg White (Oxford University Press,
1997).
ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING
Class Attendance and Participation: 20% of total course grade
Make sure to complete the assigned readings in advance of the class meeting and come prepared
with notes and questions. You are expected to participate regularly in in-class discussion and
writing assignments to receive full credit for this portion of the course grade.
First Essay: 40% of total course grade
You will be required to write an essay of ten to sixteen typed, double-spaced pages defining and
describing what you identify through course readings and lectures as the key aspects of the
Reformation in the Holy Roman Empire during the first half of the sixteenth century. You will
be required to utilize and analyze data from Diarmaid MacCulloch’s The Reformation, as well as
from the contemporary writings of and about two prominent evangelists of the period: Olympia
Morata and Katharina Schütz-Zell. The principal topics for this essay are listed below in the
course outline from April 7 to April 30, but further detailed guidelines will be provided in class
over the first half of the quarter.
This first essay is due at the start of class on May 5. Essays handed in late will automatically be
penalized with a 10% reduction in grade
Second Essay: 40% of total course grade
You will be required to write an essay of ten to sixteen typed, double-spaced pages defining and
describing what you identify through course readings and lectures as the key aspects of culture
and society in the Iberian world during the period of Renaissance and Reformation, when
Habsburg Spain was dominant political, economic, and military power in Europe, and when
Portugal and Castile were establishing empires of global reach in Africa, the Americas, and Asia.
You will be required to utilize and analyze data from a range of contemporary sources, including
records from the archives of the Spanish Inquisition (anthologized and translated by Lu Ann
Homza), The Natural and Moral History of the Indies by the Jesuit scholar and colonial
administrator José de Acosta, and Luis Vaz de Camões’ epic poem The Lusiads on Vasco da
Gama’s expedition to India. The principal topics for this essay are listed below in the course
outline from May 5 to June 4, but further detailed guidelines will be provided in class over the
second half of the quarter.
This second essay is due on June 11 between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. in KH A4026 (Prof. Wells’
office). Essays handed in late will automatically be penalized with a 10% reduction in grade
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As with all your courses at Cal State L.A., you are required to adhere to the University's policy
on academic honesty, which can be found at the following website:
http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/stuaffrs/Academic_Honesty.htm
COURSE OUTLINE
April 2
Defining Renaissance, Reformation, and ‘Early Modern’
April 7
Religion, Humanism, and Politics in Fifteenth-Century Europe
Read for discussion:
Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation, pp. 3–105.
April 9
The Religious Revolution of Martin Luther
Read for discussion:
Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation, pp. 106–212.
April 14
The Politics and Theology of Christian Reformation, 1530–1570
Read for discussion:
Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation, pp. 213–306.
April 16
The Humanist Roots of Evangelical Christianity
Read for discussion:
Olympia Morata, Complete Writings, pp. 1–54 and 61–105.
April 21
Persecution, Migration, and Communication in Reformation Europe
Read for discussion:
Olympia Morata, Complete Writings, pp. 104–225.
April 23
The Protestant Household
Read for discussion:
Katharina Schütz-Zell, Church Mother, pp. 1–33 and 34–96.
April 28
Teaching the Gospel / The Popular Reformation
Read for discussion:
Katharina Schütz-Zell, Church Mother, pp. 96–173
April 30
Protestant Divisions and Polemic
Read for discussion:
Katharina Schütz-Zell, Church Mother, pp. 175–234.
May 5
The Iberian World in the Age of Philip II
FIRST ESSAY DUE AT START OF CLASS
May 7
NO CLASS MEETING
May 12
Spanish Inquisition Records as Historical Sources
Read for discussion:
Lu Ann Homza, The Spanish Inquisition, pp. ix–xxxvii and 13–60.
May 14
Humanists, Conversos, and Alumbrados
Read for discussion:
Lu Ann Homza, The Spanish Inquisition, pp. 80–152.
May 19
Religious Dissidence and Rebellion
Read for discussion:
Lu Ann Homza, The Spanish Inquisition, 164–220 and 238–266.
May 21
Renaissance Humanism in an Iberian World Context
Read for discussion:
José de Acosta, Natural and Moral History of the Indies, pp. 1–74.
May 26
Natural Philosophy and Renaissance Empiricism
Read for discussion:
José de Acosta, Natural and Moral History of the Indies, pp. 161–249.
May 28
Ethnography, Religion, and Empire in the Sixteenth Century
Read for discussion:
José de Acosta, Natural and Moral History of the Indies, pp. 250–377.
June 2
The Classical World in the Renaissance Imagination
Read for discussion:
Luis Vaz de Camões, The Lusiads, pp. ix-xxvi and 3–118.
June 4
The Islamic World in the Renaissance Imagination
Read for discussion:
Luis Vaz de Camões, The Lusiads, pp. 119–228.
June 11
SECOND ESSAY DUE BETWEEN 5:00 AND 7:00 P.M. AT KH A4026.