HIST 213, Renaissance and Reformation Europe

Abstract

This course will survey the history of Europe from the 15th through the 17th century. While recognizing the various continuities of this period, the course will focus on the major changes that occurred in European society and culture over these three centuries, an era which is sometimes seen as one of transition from the medieval to the modern world. Among the changes that will be examines are the impact of new technologies; the expansion of Europe and the "discovery" of the "New World"; the intellectual developments of the Renaissance; the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation; the "revolution" in science; and the development of the nation state, in both "absolutist" and "constitutionalist" guises.