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UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA – COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS – SPRING SEMESTER 2016
HIST 5910 - Seminar:
Readings in Early Modern Europe
CRN 28616
Instructor: Michael S. Springer, Ph.D.
Time: 4:30-7:15 Tu
Location: CTL 240
Instructor Contact Information: My office is LAR 202I, which is located in the History and Geography
department on the second floor (northeast corner) of the Liberal Arts building. Office hours for Spring
Semester 2016 are M 2:00-3:30, Tu 3:30-4:30, Th 3:30-5:00, and F 2:00-3:30. I also am available outside of
these posted times by appointment. I can be contacted by phone at 974-5453 or by email at
mspringer@uco.edu to set an appointment.
Course Description: A reading seminar introduces students to key literature in a particular field of study,
in this case Early Modern European history. Students in this seminar will read, examine, and discuss key
scholarship related to the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. The purpose is to explore and
analyze trends in historical scholarship that focus on the period of transition from the medieval to the
modern world. Special attention will be given to important historiographical debates.
Expectations for Students: Each week, we will discuss important monographs or journal articles related
to the period. Students in this seminar are expected to:
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Complete the required readings prior to our class meeting each week;
Submit a short paper (500-750 words) before each class meeting discussing reactions to the
assigned readings for that week;
Participate in the in-class book discussions each week;
To complete at least two 45-50 minute presentations on selected reading material over the course
of the semester (you will sign up for these during the first class meeting);
And submit one original ten (10) page historiographical essay at the final class meeting.
Further instructions for the assignments are provided below.
Prerequisites: Graduate student enrollment. This course assumes some familiarity with Early Modern
Europe’s geography and history, including the Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, absolute
monarchy, and the Enlightenment. If you suspect your knowledge of this period may be insufficient,
please see the course instructor for recommendations on further reading.
Course Objectives: Students in this course will:
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Read and discuss important articles and monographs related to Early Modern Europe;
Develop knowledge about Early Modern European history appropriate for a graduate level
student;
Examine various scholarly methods and approaches including political, social, and cultural
histories;
Identify key historiographical debates related to Early Modern European history;
And further develop historical analysis, synthesis, and presentation skills commensurate with
graduate level education.
Required Reading: The required texts for this course are:
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Bloch, Marc. The Historian’s Craft: Reflections on the Nature and Uses of History and the Techniques
and Methods of Those Who Write It. Toronto: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1964.
Tracy, James D. ed. Luther and the Modern State in Germany. Truman: Sixteenth Century Journal
Publishers, 1986. ISBN 0940474077/978-0940474079.
Smith, William Bradford. Reformation and the German Territorial State: Upper Franconia, 1300-1630.
Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2008. ISBN 9781580462747.
Blickle, Peter. The Revolution of 1525: The German Peasants’ War from a New Perspective. Translated
by Thomas A. Brady Jr. and H.C. Erik Middlefort. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
1981. ISBN 9780801824722.
Dixon, C. Scott. The Reformation and Rural Society: The Parishes of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach
1528-1603. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN 0521893216/978-0521893213.
Wunderli, Richard. Peasant Fires: The Drummer of Niklashausen. Bloomington: Indiana University
Press, 1992. ISBN 9780253207517.
Gregory, Brad S. Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1999. ISBN 0674007042/9780674007048.
Pettegree, Andrew. Reformation and the Culture of Persuasion. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2005. ISBN 9780521602648.
Eisenstein, Elizabeth L. The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe. Second Edition.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 9781107632752.
Scribner, R. W. For the Sake of the Simple Folk: Popular Propaganda for the German Reformation
London: Clarendon Press, 1994. ISBN 098203268/9780198203261.
Pettegree, Andrew. The Book in the Renaissance. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010. ISBN
9780300110098.
Duffy, Eamon. The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England 1400-1580 New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1992. ISBN 9780300108286.
Zemon Davis, Natalie. Trickster Traveler: A Sixteenth-Century Muslim Between Worlds. New York:
Hill & Wang, 2006. ISBN 9780809094356.
Some journal articles are also required and are listed below in the weekly schedule. In addition, the
schedule includes “optional readings”, which are not required but are recommended if you want to know
more about the topic.
Please note that you have several options available for acquiring the reading materials. You can purchase
the books at the UCO bookstore or from online vendors. Used copies of many of these titles are available
online for reasonable prices. You may also borrow the books from the Chambers Library, if available, or
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order them inter-library loan. You are responsible for having the books read by the date of our in-class
discussion.
Assignments and Grading
Assessment for the course is as follows:
 Attendance
 Weekly Reaction Papers (13)
 Book Presentation & Discussion Chair (2)
 Class Discussion Participation (14)
 Final Historiographical Essay
(1)
30 points
130 points
100 points
140 points
100 points
6%
26%
20%
28%
20%
The following grading scale will be employed:
A
90-100%
B
80-89%
C
70-79%
D
60-69%
F
0-59%
Weekly Reaction Papers: Students will write a short 2-page reaction paper over the required reading(s)
for that week’s class meeting. The student is required to address the following items in the reaction
paper:
a) An explanation of the author’s thesis and key arguments in the book;
b) Identify and discuss the methodology used, including the key arguments made and sources used
to prove the thesis;
c) And identify and discuss the book’s strengths and weaknesses.
Submissions must be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font (or similar), and be between 500-750
words in length. All citations must take the form of endnotes or footnotes, and follow the Chicago Manual
of Style. Submit the weekly assignment using the drop box on D2L by 8:00 am on Tuesday, the day of the
book discussion.
Suggestions on Writing Style: Avoid ambiguous terms in your papers. For example:
Avoid:
“This book is awesome.” (Do you mean you liked it? Or does this mean it
was physically large enough to inspire awe?)
Acceptable: “The author’s exhaustive research inspired me; she studied more than 300
primary documents gathered over a twenty-year period from archives in France, Italy,
and Germany.” (With this statement, it becomes clearer what is “awesome” about the
book!)
Some common terms to avoid:
 awesome;
 great;
 interesting;
 very;
 felt (as in “I felt the book was good.”);
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believe (as in “I believe the book was good.”);
and funny.
Book Presentation and Discussion Chair: Each class meeting will begin with a 45-50 minute presentation
on the week’s required reading(s), followed by an in-class discussion of the material. At least two
students will present the assigned book(s) each week. The presentations should include, but are not
limited to, the following:
a) a discussion of the author and his/her background;
b) an explanation and evaluation of the author’s thesis;
c) a brief summary and evaluation of the key arguments;
d) and a critique of the book.
 Does the title accurately reflect the contents? (For example, does the title promise coverage of a
particular time (1350-1600), whereas the book only uses 17th-century data? Does the title claim to
cover gender in Spain, while the contents concern only nuns in Toledo?
 What were the objectives of the author? Were they successfully achieved?
 Which sources and methodology had the author used? How effective was this?
 How effective is the presentation (both organization and writing style)?
 How does this work differ from earlier studies on the subject? How does it differ from other books
we have read in this class?
 Is the general argument of the book stated clearly and convincingly?
 How did other scholars react to the book? (You should use at least 2 scholarly book reviews, written
by historians, to answer this question.)[Note: This will not be possible with journal articles and
recently published works.]
The students presenting on the book will also serve as the chair for the ensuing class discussion. Please
have questions ready and come prepared to lead the discussion.
Grades will be assigned individually to each presenter for their contribution to the presentation and as
discussion chair. However, one letter grade will be deducted from both presenters for each 5-minute
period under the minimum time requirement of 45 minutes. If the presentation lasts 40 minutes, for
example, then one full letter grade will be deducted from each presenter’s final score. If you fear your
presentation may be short, bring extra material to discuss!
Class Discussion Participation: A portion of the overall course grade is based on participation in our inclass discussions. Points will be awarded for:
a) Demonstrating a knowledge of the book’s contents;
b) Contributing thoughtful comments that demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the book and its
contents;
c) Making thoughtful and meaningful observations about the book and its historiographical
context;
d) Offering insightful comments about the book’s thesis;
e) And participating in the group discussion about the week’s readings.
Final Historiographical Essay: Each student must submit one ten (10) page final historiographical essay.
For this assignment I offer you two options:
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Option #1: Thematic Essay
For this option, you will write your historiographical essay on one of the themes discussed in this course
(the cultural and social history of printing, popular belief, or confessionalization). You may find specific
themes within these general areas. For example, you may want to write on the Reformation’s contribution
to state-building, which is part of the larger theme of confessionalization. Your essay must include at least
two books or articles from the course readings (required and optional texts) and at least three other works
not listed on our syllabus. (You must use at least three monographs for this assignment.) Since the focus
of this readings course is on social and cultural history, your essays should include:
a) an analysis of the historical trends concerning the particular subject;
b) the similarities and differences between the works you are comparing;
c) and the impact of social or cultural history on our understanding of this subject.
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Option #2: Author Essay
For this second option, you will write your historiographical essay on a particular author and his/her
contribution to the study of Early Modern Europe. For this essay, you will need to choose one of the
authors we have read this semester. Choose five works (at least three monographs) from the selected
author addressing a similar theme to discuss in your paper. Your essay should examine this author’s
contribution to knowledge on his/her particular area of study, so you should address the following in
your essay:
a) the focus of your particular author;
b) the historical trends in which you can situate this author’s work;
c) the contributions he/she has made to our knowledge about Early Modern Europe;
d) and the impact this author has made on the field.
Essays should be typed, double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font (or similar), and include a
cover page. All citations should take the form of endnotes or footnotes, and follow the Chicago Manual of
Style. See the course syllabus below for the paper due date and time.
Course Policies
Expectation of Work: It is expected that a full-time college student will spend time each week in class
attendance and study out of class approaching a 40-hour work week. A person employed on a full-time
basis should not simultaneously expect to maintain a full-time schedule. I expect that all students in the
seminar will:
 Complete the required readings prior to our class meeting each week;
 Submit a short paper (500-750 words) before each class meeting discussing reactions to the
assigned readings for that week;
 Participate in the in-class book discussions each week;
 To complete at least two 45-50 minute presentations on selected reading material over the course
of the semester (you will sign up for these during the first class meeting);
 And submit one original ten (10) page historiographical essay at the final class meeting.
Late Work Policy: Late work will not be accepted unless the course instructor has pre-approved it. This
means that you must contact the instructor before the deadline to discuss the reasons the deadline will be
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missed and a revised due-date for the work. All late work must be completed by Friday, 29 April 2016.
Absolutely no late work will be accepted after this date.
Attendance Policy: Attendance is compulsory and roll will be taken at each class meeting. Since
participation points are awarded each week, missed attendance will adversely impact your overall course
grade.
Expectation of Conduct: The classroom is a place for students to learn and to explore new ideas. Your
education at UCO is also an important part of your career development. Therefore, I expect all students to
observe the following courtesies in the classroom:
 No reading newspapers, books, magazines, Facebook, or other internet pages in class. The inclass time is for presentations and discussion, not for these other distractions.
 No cell phone use in class. Do not send or read text messages, check your voicemail, surf the
internet, or make phone calls. If you choose to bring your phone to class, please make sure it
is turned off and placed in your pocket or book bag. If your cell phone is on your desk I will
ask you to put it away.
 Conduct yourself in a professional manner. This means no shouting, yelling, or other
disrespectful behavior.
 Dress appropriately for the classroom. Avoid hats that hide your face, sunglasses, pajamas,
etc. Remember, you may need a recommendation letter from me some day and how you
behave in the classroom will influence what I can write.
 I do not mind eating and drinking in class, as long as it is not disruptive and does not prevent
others from hearing the lectures. If it is too noisy, I will ask you to put it away or to leave the
room.
 Discussion and debate is healthy and an important part of the learning process at a
university. Please be sure to treat everyone with respect even if you disagree with his or her
viewpoint. A classroom must be a safe environment for all students, so I ask that you treat
the instructor and all students with respect.
Plagiarism: UCO subscribes to the Turnitin.com plagiarism prevention service. Students agree that by
taking this course, all required assignments may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to
Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted assignments will be included as source
documents in the Turnitin.com restricted access references database for the purpose of detecting
plagiarism of such assignments. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of
Use posted on the Turnitin.com website. Turnitin.com is just one of various plagiarism prevention tools
and methods which may be utilized by your faculty instructor during the terms of the semesters. In the
UCO Student Handbook, there is a process for contesting any plagiarism allegations against you.
Transformative Learning: This course contributes to UCO’s mission to help students learn by providing
transformative experiences so that they may become productive, creative, ethical, and engaged citizens
and leaders contributing to the intellectual, cultural, economic, and social advancement of the
communities they serve. The course addresses the five core areas of transformative learning:
1. Students will develop leadership skills by examining organizing and directing group
presentations and discussions in class.
2. Participants in this course will build discipline knowledge through research, creative,
and scholarly activities such as the book presentations and the historiographical essay.
3. The course will emphasize service learning and civic engagement through a discussion of the
political history of early modern Europe.
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Students will develop global and cultural competencies by studying the history of early modern
Europe and its impact on the West.
Finally, this course addresses health and wellness by encouraging a healthy environment for
scholarly debate and discussion.
To view the Student Information and Syllabus Attachment, visit the Academic Affairs website
(http://www.uco.edu/academic-affairs/index.asp) and click on the link for the Student Information Sheet
for Academic Year 2015-16. This document provides important information including deadlines for the
semester, information about withdrawing from classes, and the university’s inclement weather policy.
Schedule
Week 1
Jan. 12
Course Introduction
Week 2
Jan. 19
The Cultural and Social History of Printing: The Printing Revolution
Required Reading:
(1) Bloch, Marc. The Historian’s Craft: Reflections on the Nature and Uses of History and the
Techniques and Methods of Those Who Write It. Toronto: Knopf Doubleday Publishing
Group, 1964.
Optional Readings:
(1) Woolf, Daniel, ed. The Oxford History of Historical Writing. 5 Vols. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2011-12.
Week 3
Jan. 26
Confessionalization
Required Reading:
(1) Harrington, Joel and Helmut Walser Smith. “Confessionalization, Community and
State Building in Germany, 1555-1870.” The Journal of Modern History 69 (March 1977):
77-101.
(2) Tracy, James D., ed., Luther and the Modern State in Germany. Truman: Sixteenth
Century Journal Publishers, 1986.
Optional Readings:
(1) Headley, John M. Hans Joachim Hillerbrand, Anthony J. Papalas, eds.
Confessionalization in Europe, 1555-1700: Essays in Honor and Memory of Bodo Nischan.
Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2004.
Week 4
Feb. 2
Confessionalization
Required Reading:
(1) Smith, William Bradford. Reformation and the German Territorial State: Upper Franconia,
1300-1630. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2008).
Optional Readings:
(1) Schilling, Heinz. Civic Calvinism in Northwestern Germany and the Netherlands:
Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries. Truman: Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, 1991.
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Week 5
Feb. 9
Confessionalization: Challenges to a Theory
Required Reading:
(1) Blickle, Peter. The Revolution of 1525: The German Peasants’ War from a New Perspective.
Translated by Thomas A. Brady Jr. and H.C. Erik Middlefort. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1981.
Optional Readings:
(1) Scott, Tom. Freiburg and the Breisgau: Town-Country Relations in the Age of the
Reformation and Peasants’ War. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986.
(2) Wunderli, Richard M. Peasant Fires: The Drummers of Niklashausen. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1992.
Week 6
Feb. 16
Confessionalization: Challenges to a Theory
Required Readings:
(1) Dixon, C. Scott. The Reformation and Rural Society: The Parishes of Brandenburg-AnsbachKulmbach 1528-1603. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
(2) Wunderli, Richard M. Peasant Fires: The Drummers of Niklashausen. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1992.
Optional Reading:
(1) Headley, John M., Hans Joachim Hillerbrand, and Anthony Papalas, eds.
Confessionalization in Europe, 1555-1700: Essays in Honor and Memory of Bodo Nischan.
Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004.
(2) Karant-Nunn, Susan. The Reformation of Ritual: An Interpretation of Early Modern
Germany. London: Routledge, 1997.
Week 7
Feb. 23
Reform from Below: Shaping Popular Belief and Practice
Required Reading:
(1) Gregory, Brad S. Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999.
Week 8
Mar. 1
Reform from Below: Shaping Popular Belief and Practice
Required Reading:
(1) Pettegree, Andrew. Reformation and the Culture of Persuasion. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2005.
Optional Readings:
(1) Pettegree, Andrew. The French Book and the European Book World. Leiden: Brill, 2007.
(2) Gilmont, Jean-François, ed. The Reformation and the Book. Translated by Karin Maag.
Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998.
(3) Watt, Tessa. Cheap Print and Popular Piety. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1991.
Week 9
Mar. 8
Reform from Below: Shaping Popular Belief and Practice
Required Readings:
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(1) Eisenstein, Elizabeth L. The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Optional Readings:
(1) Hirsch, Rudolf. Printing, Selling, and Reading 1450-1550. London: Harrasowitz, 1967.
(2) Febvre, Lucien and Henri-Jean Martin. The Coming of the Book: The Impact of Printing,
1450-1800. London, 1976.
Week 10
Mar. 15
Spring Break
Week 11
Mar. 22
Cultural and Social History of Printing: The Printing Revolution
Required Reading:
(1) Scribner, R. W. For the Sake of the Simple Folk: Popular Propaganda for the German
Reformation. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994.
Optional Readings:
(1) Crofts, Richard A. “Books, Reform and Reformation.” Archiv für
Reformationsgeschichte 71 (1980): 21-36.
(2) Usher Chrisman, Miriam. Conflicting Visions of Reform: German Lay Propaganda
Pamphlets, 1519-1530. New York: Humanities Press, 1996).
Week 12
Mar. 29
The Cultural and Social History of Printing: Printing and People
Required Reading:
(1) Pettegree, Andrew. The Book in the Renaissance. New Haven: Yale University Press,
2010.
Optional Readings:
(1) Crofts, Richard A. “Printing, Reform, and the Catholic Reformation in Germany
(1521-1545).” The Sixteenth Century Journal 16, No. 3 (Autumn, 1985): 369-81.
(2) Pettegree, Andrew and Matthew Hall. “The Reformation and the Book: A
Reconsideration.” The Historical Journal 47, No. 4 (2004): 758-808.
Week 13
Apr. 5
Historiographical Essay
No class meeting in lieu of individual meetings with the course instructor to discuss
progress on the final historiographical essay.
Week 14
Apr. 12
Reform from Below: Shaping Popular Belief and Practice
Required Reading:
(1) Pettegree, Andrew. “A. G. Dickens and his critics: a new narrative of the English
Reformation.” Historical Research 77, No. 195 (February 2004): 39-58.
(2) Haigh, Christopher. “The Continuity of Catholicism in the English Reformation.”
Past and Present 93 (November, 1981): 37-69.
(3) Haigh, Christopher. “Success and Failure in the English Reformation.” Past and
Present 173 (November, 2001): 28-49.
Optional Readings:
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(1) Dickens, A.G. The English Reformation. London: Schocken Books, 1967.
(2) Haigh, Christopher, ed. The English Reformation Revised. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1987.
Week 15
Apr. 19
Reform from Below: Shaping Popular Belief and Practice
Required Readings
(1) Duffy, Eamon. The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England 1400-1580.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992.
Optional Readings:
(1) Scarisbrick, J. J. The Reformation and the English People. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1984.
(2) Kümin, Beat. The Shaping of a Community: The Rise and Reformation of the English Parish,
c.1400-1560. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1996.
(1) Burgess, Clive. “London Parishioners in Times of Change: St. Andrew Hubbard,
Eastcheap, c.1450-1570.” Journal of Ecclesiastical History 53 (2002): 38-63.
Week 16
Apr. 26
Europeans and the Broader World
Required Readings
(1) Zemon Davis, Natalie. Trickster Traveler: A Sixteenth-Century Muslim Between Worlds.
New York: Hill & Wang, 2006.
Optional Readings:
(1) Johnson, Christine R. The German Discovery of the World: Renaissance Encounters with
the Strange and Marvelous. University of Virginia Press, 2008).
(2) Abulafia, David. The Discovery of Mankind: Atlantic Encounters in the Age of Columbus.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008.
Final papers are due by 5:00 pm on Friday, April 29th, 2016. Please submit your papers to the course
instructor using the Dropbox link on the course D2L page.