History 311: The Age of Reformation
Spring 2013: Mon/Wed 2:00-3:20pm (Wyatt 206)
Instructor: Katherine Smith
Email: kasmith2@pugetsound.edu
Phone: 879-3906 (ext. 3906)
Office hours: Wyatt 142: Tues. 11-1 and Fri. 1-2
(and other times by appointment)
Course Description: Modern people tend to think of the
Reformation in strictly religious terms, as the movement that divided
the medieval church into Catholic and Protestant camps. The scope
of what are more properly termed Europe’s Reformations was, in fact,
much broader: Luther’s initial attack on the Catholic Church in 1517
touched off a series of revolutions that divided states, rulers, and neighbors against one another and
ultimately altered the balance of power across Europe. The teachings of Protestant and Catholic
reformers transformed civic life, introduced new models of citizenship and government, and forever
changed the family lives of early modern Europeans. The course will focus on Northern Europe
during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, paying special attention to the course of the
Reformation in the German states, Swiss cantons, the Netherlands, France, and England.
Course Objectives: In the course of the semester, all students will have the opportunity to
 assess the impact of Europe’s Reformations on the institutions and culture of early
modern Europe, though close reading and discussion of a range of primary sources from
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
 become familiar with and evaluate the major historiographical debates associated with
the study of the Reformation through a reading of important works of scholarship
written from a variety of perspectives.
 consider how the legacy of the age of Reformation has shaped, and continues to shape,
our own institutions and values.
Texts: The required texts listed below are available for purchase at the university bookstore. Copies
of all except the Lindberg Sourcebook and course reader may also be borrowed for 2-hour periods from
Collins Library reserves.
• Carter Lindberg, ed., The European Reformations Sourcebook (Wiley-Blackwell, 2000) ISBN: 0631213627
• Carter Lindberg, The European Reformations, 2nd ed. (Wiley-Blackwell, 1996) ISBN: 1557865752
• Richard Wunderli, Peasant Fires: The Drummer of Niklashausen (Indiana University Press, 1992)
ISBN: 0253207517
• Robert Kingdon, Adultery and Divorce in Calvin’s Geneva (Harvard University Press, 1995) ISBN:
067400521X
• Eamon Duffy, The Voices of Morebath: Reformation and Rebellion in an English Village (Yale UP, 2003)
ISBN: 0300098251
• Peter A. Morton and Barbara Dähms, eds., The Trial of Tempel Anneke, Records of a Witchcraft Trial in
Brunswick, Germany, 1663 (U. of Toronto, 2005) ISBN: 1551117061
• History 311 Course Reader (= ‘CR’ in schedule of classes)
Course Format: Classes will generally begin with a brief lecture designed to give an overview of the
day’s topic and clear up any areas of confusion, but the bulk of class time will be devoted to
discussion in which all members of the class are expected to participate. There are a number of
ways to join the conversation in class: you might make notes of questions that come up in the
course of doing that day’s reading assignment, underline a passage in one of the sources that you
think we should examine more carefully, or respond to comments or questions raised by your
colleagues in the class.
Requirements and Evaluation:
All members of the class will be expected to attend class regularly, participate in discussions,
complete two analytical essays, three reflection pieces based on assigned readings, take an in-class midterm and write a final paper.
1) Class Participation: Students are required to attend class meetings and to keep up with all
reading assignments so that they can participate in discussions and activities. Be advised that than more
than two unexcused absences in the course of the semester will adversely affect your participation grade, and that
coming to class more than 15 minutes late constitutes an absence for that day. I reserve the right to
withdraw members of the class for excessive absences (normally defined as five or more unexcused
absences), so please inform me in advance if you know you will need to miss class for a reason that
warrants an excused absence (such as a documented serious illness, family emergency, or university
athletic event).
2) Two Essays: These assignments will ask you to develop original arguments based on close
readings of primary sources and modern scholarship we will read in the course of the class. Detailed
explanations of each assignment will be handed out in class two weeks prior to the due dates. Essays
will be evaluated on their effectiveness in meeting the following criteria:
3) Three Reflection Pieces: These short pieces of writing should reflect on an issue or
question derived from the reading assigned for the days on which they are due. Everyone will be
assigned to a letter group (A-F) and your reflection pieces will be due on the days marked with this
letter in the syllabus. *Pick 3 out of your 4 letter-days to write reflection pieces. No late reflection pieces will be
accepted.
4) Mid-Term Exam: Our mid-term is scheduled for the whole class period on Wednesday,
March 13th. The exam will include an essay as well as a ‘blind reading’ of a primary source related to
the Reformation which we have not read (but which is related to other sources we’ve studied). Please
note that make-up exams will only be given in the case of documented medical or family emergencies.
5) Final Paper: Finally, in your final paper you will consider how historians define the
Reformation. Your task will be to create an edited collection of 8-10 primary sources produced in
Europe between c. 1450 and c. 1650 that introduces readers to what you, the editor, see as some of
the most important historical developments of this period. The final paper will consist of a title, a
table of contents, and an editorial introduction laying out the rationale for the collection, for a total of
8-10 typed, double-spaced pages. Final papers will be due in my office during exam week.
Grading Breakdown:
Class Participation – 14%
Analytical Essays – 36% (18% each)
3 Reflection Pieces – 12% (4% each)
Mid-Term Exam – 18%
Final Paper – 20%
____
100%
Grading Scale: All assignments and participation will be graded on a 100-point scale from A to F. Here
are the numerical equivalents of each grade: A (94-100); A- (90-93); B+ (87-89); B (84-86); B- (80-83);
C+(77-79); C (74-76); C- (70-73); D (67-69); D (64-66); D- (60-63); F (0-59).
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Other Policies:
Attendance: Regular attendance is essential to your success in this course, and you will find I take
attendance at every meeting. I understand that illness and emergencies occur in the course of a fourteenweek semester, and will not penalize you for missing up to three classes. If, however, you miss more
than this generous allotment, be advised that I will deduct ½ letter grade from your participation grade
for each additional absence. If you become gravely ill or have a family emergency that will take you out
of class, please provide me with documentation (or have the Office of Advising contact all your
professors) so I can excuse these absences. Please be advised that I reserve the right to withdraw any student from
the class for excessive unexcused absences, normally defined as more than 6 absences over the course of the semester.
Academic Honesty: All students are expected to abide by the guidelines concerning academic
honesty outlined in the Logger (at http://www.pugetsound.edu/student-life/student-resources/studenthandbook/academic-handbook/academic-integrity/) Violations of honesty in research (inventing or
falsifying sources or data) or writing (borrowing the arguments or words of others without attribution),
or the defacing or destruction of library materials will result in a grade of ‘0’ for the assignment in
question and, at the instructor’s discretion, dismissal from the course.
Emergency Information: Please review university emergency preparedness and response
procedures posted at www.pugetsound.edu/emergency/. There is a link on the university home
page. Familiarize yourself with hall exit doors and the designated gathering area for your class and
laboratory buildings. If building evacuation becomes necessary (e.g., earthquake), meet your
instructor at the designated gathering area so she/he can account for your presence. Then wait for
further instructions. Do not return to the building or classroom until advised by a university
emergency response representative. If confronted by an act of violence, be prepared to make quick
decisions to protect your safety. Flee the area by running away from the source of danger if you can
safely do so. If this is not possible, shelter in place by securing classroom or lab doors and windows,
closing blinds, and turning off room lights. Stay low, away from doors and windows, and as close to
the interior hallway walls as possible. Wait for further instructions.
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES_(readings listed below the due date and in recommended order)__
Wed, Jan. 23rd - Introduction to the Course
Mon, Jan. 25th - Approaches to Studying the Reformation
Lindberg, Reformations, Prefaces & Ch. 1: “History, Historiography…”
(CR, 2-15) Richard van Dülmen, “The Reformation and the Modern Age,” in The German Reformation:
Essential Readings, ed. C. Scott Dixon (London: Blackwell, 1999), 193-220.
The Eve of the Reformation
Wed, Jan. 27th - The Rhythms of Life in the Fifteenth Century (A)
Wunderli, Peasant Fires, ch. 1-4
Sourcebook, docs. 1.7, 1.9-11, 1.18-19
Mon, Jan. 28th - Popular Discontent (B)
Wunderli, Peasant Fires, ch. 5-8
Sourcebook, docs. 1.22, 1.26-27, 2.5
(CR, 16-19) Late Medieval Ghost Stories, and a Pilgrim’s Journal, both ed. David Englander et al. in
Culture and Belief in Europe, 1450-1600 (London: Blackwell, 1990), 16-22.
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Wed, Jan. 30th - Learned Critiques of the Church (C)
Lindberg, Reformations, Ch. 2: “The Late Middle Ages” (skim 23-39; read 40-52 with care)
Sourcebook, docs. 1.8, 1.18-20, 1.29-31, 3.1-3.2
(CR, 20-23) Erasmus, “Julius Exclusus (Julius Excluded from Heaven),” in The Praise of Folly and Other
Writings, ed. and trans. Robert McAdams (New York: Norton & Co., 1989), 142-49.
The German Reformation
Mon, Feb. 4th - Luther’s Challenge (D)
Lindberg, Reformations, Ch. 3: “Dawn of a New Era”
Sourcebook, docs. 2.1-3, 2.6-10, 2.15-17, 2.19-21
Wed., Feb. 6th - The Challenge is Taken Up (E)
Lindberg, Reformations, Ch. 4: “Wait for No One”
(CR, 24-28) Andrew Pettegree, “The Dynamics of Conversion,” in The Reformation and the Culture
of Persuasion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 1-9.
Sourcebook, docs. 3.3-4, 3.6-7, 3.10-11
Mon, Feb. 11th - The German Reformation (F)
Lindberg, Reformations, Ch. 9: “Augsburg 1530 to Augsburg 1555”
Sourcebook, docs. 4.3-4, 4.9-12, 8.12-13, 8.18-19, 8.21
(CR, 29-63) Lyndal Roper, “Martin Luther’s Body: The ‘Stout Doctor’ and His Biographers,”
American Historical Review 115 (2010): 350-84.
The Radical Reformation
Wed, Feb. 13th - Reformation and Rebellion (A)
Lindberg, Reformations, Ch. 6: “The Reformation of the Common Man”
Sourcebook, docs. 14.6, 5.6, 5.10-11, 5.13-14, 5.16-18, 5.20-21
(CR, 64-71) Heiko A. Oberman, “The Gospel of Social Unrest,” in The German Peasant War, 1525, ed.
R.W. Scribner and Gerhard Benecke (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1979), 39-51.
Mon, Feb. 18th - The Anabaptists (B)
Lindberg, Reformations, Ch. 8: “The Sheep Against the Shepherds” (to p.207)
Sourcebook, docs. 7.1-2, 7.7-8, 7.10-12
(CR, 72-80) Bob Scribner, “Preconditions of Tolerance and Intolerance in Sixteenth-Century
Germany,” in Tolerance and Intolerance in the European Reformation, ed. Ole Grell and Bob Scribner
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 32-47.
Wed, Feb. 20th - Case Study: The Rise and Fall of Anabaptist Münster (C)
Lindberg, Reformations, Ch. 8: “The Sheep Against the Shepherds” (pp. 207-13 only)
Sourcebook, docs. 7.13-21
(CR, 81-90) R. Po-Chia Hsia, “Münster and the Anabaptists,” in The German People and the Reformation,
ed. R. Po-Chia Hsia (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1988), 51-69.
Calvin and the Genevan Reformation (no reflections due)
Mon, Feb 25th- Background
Lindberg, Reformations, Ch. 10: “The Most Perfect School of Christ” (234-247 only)
Sourcebook, docs. 9.1-16
Kingdom, Adultery and Divorce, Introduction and Ch. 1: “The Institutional Matrix”
Essay #1 on “Reformation, Freedom, and Tolerance in the Sixteenth Century” due
on Tuesday, Feb. 27th by 3pm in my office (Wyatt 142). See handout for assignment details.
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Wed, Feb. 27th - Reforming Marriage and Morality (D)
Kingdon, Adultery and Divorce, ch. 2-4
(CR, 91-96) Genevan Marriage Ordinance of 1546, and Letter to Christoph Fabri, both ed. and trans.
John Witte, Jr. and Robert M. Kingdon in Sex, Marriage, and Family in John Calvin’s Geneva (Grand
Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005), 51-61, 467-68.
Mon, Mar. 4th - Reforming Marriage and Morality, cont. (E)
Kingdon, Adultery and Divorce, ch. 5-7 and conclusion
(CR, 97-104) Calvin, Letter to an Anonymous Woman, Cases of marriage with unbelievers, and a
Case of Dancing, Drinking, and Debauchery at a Wedding, all ed. and trans. Witte and Kingdon,
Sex Marriage, and Family, 373-77, 473-78.
A World Turned Upside Down
Wed, Mar. 6th - The French Wars of Religion (F)
Lindberg, Reformations, Ch. 11: “Refuge in the Shadow of God’s Wings”
Sourcebook, docs. 10.11-12, 10.15-22
(CR, 105-125) Natalie Zemon Davis, “The Rites of Violence: Religious Riot in Sixteenth-Century
France,” Past & Present 59 (1973): 51-91.
Mon, Mar. 11th – Reform and Revolt in the Netherlands (no reflections due)
Lindberg, Reformations, Ch.12: “Blood of the Martyrs”
Sourcebook, docs. 11.3-4, 11.6-7, 11.10-11
Wed, Mar 13th - Mid-Term Exam
NB: The exam will consist of a ‘blind reading’ of a primary source which we haven’t read as a class
(but which is closely related to other sources and contexts we’ve studied), as well as a choice of two essays.
**Spring Break: No Classes the Week of March 18th-22nd**
The English Reformations
Mon, Mar. 25th - Beginnings (A)
Lindberg, Reformations, Ch. 13: “Reformations in England and Scotland”
Sourcebook, docs. 12.5-7, 12.15-16
(CR, 126) The Suppression of Glastonbury Abbey, from the Internet History Sourcebook
(CR, 127-130) William Roper, Life of Sir Thomas More (excerpts), ed. John N. King in Voices of the
English Reformation (Philadelphi: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), 260-67.
Wed, Mar. 27th - Conflicts and Compromises (B)
(CR, 131-147) Norman Jones, chapters 1-2 in The English Reformation: Religion and Cultural Adaptation
(London: Blackwell, 2002), 1-29.
Sourcebook, docs. 12.17-19
(CR, 148-53) “The Examination of Anne Askew,” in Voices of the English Reformation, ed. King, 231-41.
Mon, Apr. 1st - One Community’s Reformation: The Case of Morebath (C)
Duffy, Voices of Morebath, preface and ch. 1-4
Wed, Apr. 3rd - The Case of Morebath, cont. (D)
Duffy, Voices of Morebath, ch. 5-7
Sourcebook, docs. 12.21, 12.23
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The Reformation of Morality
Mon, Apr. 8th - Communal Life in Transition (E)
Lindberg, Reformations, Ch. 5: “Fruits of the Fig Tree”
Sourcebook, docs. 3.13, 4.1-13
Wed, Apr. 10th - Morality and Respectability (F)
(CR, 154-167) Lyndal Roper, “Discipline and Respectability: Prostitution and the Reformation in
Augsburg,” History Workshop Journal 19 (1985): 3-28.
(CR, 168-171) Martin Luther, On Prostitution, ed. and trans. Susan Karant-Nunn and Merry E.
Wiesner-Hanks in Luther on Women: A Sourcebook (Cambridge, 2003), 156-61.
(CR, 172-177) B. Ann Tlusty, “The Drunken Spirit,” in Bacchus and the Civil Order: The Culture of Drink
in Early Modern Germany (Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2001), 69-79.
(CR, 178-182) Matthäus Friderich, Against the Devil of Drink, ed. and trans. Beat Kümin and B. Ann
Tlusty in Public Drinking in the Early Modern Wrold: Voices from the Tavern, 1500, Vol. 2: The Holy
Roman Empire I (London, 2011), 435-42.
A Communications Revolution?
Mon, Apr. 15th - Propaganda and Popular Culture (A)
(CR, 183-201) R. W. Scribner, For the Sake of Simple Folk: Popular Propaganda for the German Reformation,
2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 1-13 and 37-58.
(CR, 202-205) Sixteenth-Century German Woodcuts, from Max Geisberg, The German Single-Leaf
Woodcut, 1500-1550, 4 vols. (New York: Hacker, 1974).
Wed, Apr. 17th - Printing the Reformation (no reflections due)
(CR, 206-226) Elizabeth L. Eisenstein, “Resetting the Stage for the Reformation,” in The Printing
Revolution in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 148-86.
(Web) Frontispiece and woodcuts from Book 5 of the 1563 edition of John Foxe’s The Acts and
Monuments, with commentary, available at:
http://www.johnfoxe.org/1563_titlepage.jpg (be sure to zoom in to view details!), and
http://www.johnfoxe.org/index.php?realm=more&gototype=modern&type=image&book=5 (scroll
down through all 10 woodcuts and commentary, and click on the images to view larger)
Essay #2 on “Reformation and Community” due on Friday, April 19th by
3pm in my office (see handout for details of the assignment)
Catholic Reformation
Mon, Apr. 22nd – A ‘Counter Reformation?’ (B)
Lindberg, Reformations, Ch. 14: “Catholic Renewal and Counter-Reformation”
Sourcebook, docs. 13.1-3, 13.10-15, 13.20
Wed, April 24th - Saints, Martyrs, and the Church Militant (C)
(CR, 227-242) R. Po-Chia Hsia, “The Triumphant Church” and “The Martyred Church,” in The
World of Catholic Renewal, 1540-1770 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 42-59, 80-91.
(CR, 243--246) Paolo Veronese’s Trial Before the Holy Tribunal (1573), in The Renaissance Reader, ed.
Kenneth Atchity (New York: Harper Perennial, 1996), 220-22.
(CR, 247-253) Theresa of Avila, Life (1565), in Culture and Belief in Europe, ed. Englander, 243-55.
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The Reformation of the Invisible World
Mon, Apr. 29th - Witchhunting (D)
(CR, 254-268) Stuart Clark, “Protestant Witchcraft, Catholic Witchcraft,” in The Witchcraft Reader, ed.
Darren Oldridge (London: Routledge, 2002), 165-179.
(CR, 269-285) Jacob Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer, Malleus Maleficarum (1486), and Johann Weyer,
De Praestigiis Daemonum (1563), both ed. William Monter in European Witchcraft (New York: Wiley &
Sons, 1979), 10-27 and 35-47.
Wed, May 1st - The Case of Tempel Anneke (E)
Trial of Tempel Anneke, Introduction (xii-xliii) & pp. 3-65.
Mon, May 6th - The Case of Tempel Anneke, cont. (F)
Trial of Tempel Anneke, pp. 66-151.
Legacies of the Reformation
Wed, May 8th - Representing the Reformation in the Twenty-First Century
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Discussion of film: Luther, dir. Eric Tell (2003, 113 min.): Viewing at a time and place TBA
Lindberg, Reformations, Ch. 15: “Legacies of the Reformation”
(CR, 286) Steven Ozment, Review of Luther, in The American Historical Review 109 (2004): 1662-63.
Final Papers are due on Tuesday, May 14th by 3pm in my office!
(see assignment for details on what needs to be turned in)
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