This Special Subject investigates how seismic religious changes, a dramatic rise in the availability and consumption of goods, and new global connections transformed the nature and experience of religious material life in early modern Europe. It is inspired by Caroline Walker Bynum's path-breaking study, Christian Materiality (2011), which explored the material aspects of Christian practice in the late medieval period. We pick up where Bynum left off, in the age of Renaissance and Reformation. Focusing on the period 1450–1750, we investigate how artefacts can often provide their own bodies of material evidence about early modern religious practice, identities and belief, and about the nature of religious change, that can test, or even run counter to conventional, text-based narratives. Examining case studies from Central Europe (Bohemia and Germany) as well as research on other European territories, such as Italy and Britain, we will question the idea that Protestantism was a religion of the word, devoid of visual and material culture, and ask how religion was not just about the internal – beliefs, thoughts and ideas – but also consisted of 'external’ practices, rituals and objects. Through the introduction of new material approaches in case studies and source analysis we will explore debates around ‘popular’, ‘everyday’ and ‘local’ religion. The course emphasises the significance of cultural encounter and exchange between all agents of religious change in the early modern period. In keeping with broader trends in the history of religion, we examine the full range of religious material culture: from the use of objects prescribed by religious authorities to interactions with religious matter in the context of everyday lay beliefs. Participants will develop a broad understanding of the contexts of the Reformations and debates about ‘material religion’, as well as specific knowledge about cutting edge research into the everyday beliefs, practices and identities of individuals and communities in early modern Europe.
Contact Hours: 60
Private Study Hours: 540
Total Study Hours: 600
BA in History
Main Assessment methods
Coursework (Overall 40%)
- 2 x 4000-word research-based essays on a choice of set questions (30% each)
- 1 x 900-word book review (15%)
- 15-minute seminar presentation (15%)
- General seminar performance (10%)
Examination (Overall 60%)
- 2-hour exam: source analysis paper (50%)
- 2-hour exam: standard essay question paper (50%)
Reassessment methods
- One 3,000-word Essay (50%)
- One 2,500-word Source Analysis (50%)
The University is committed to ensuring that core reading materials are in accessible electronic format in line with the Kent Inclusive Practices.
The most up to date reading list for each module can be found on the university's reading list pages: https://kent.rl.talis.com/index.html
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Demonstrate a systematic understanding of religious change, the dramatic rise in the availability and consumption of goods, and new global connections (cultural encounter and exchange) in the early modern period and demonstrate the ability to bring these themes together.
2 Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the variety of religions, religious change and religious coexistence and conflict in early modern Europe and how this led to a range of approaches to material and visual culture.
3 Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the agents of religious material culture and how they contributed to religious change more generally in the early modern period.
4 Deploy material and visual sources confidently and accurately as evidence for historical argument, and to understand how this evidence might challenge or extend existing historical narratives.
5 Demonstrate a conceptual understanding of how material and visual sources can be used innovatively to access the religious beliefs, practices and identities of early modern men and women across society in their everyday lives.
6 Demonstrate a conceptual understanding of theories of material religion at the forefront of history, anthropology and sociology, and comment on their applicability to questions relating to the history of religion.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Carry out successful research projects independently, using initiative to consolidate and extend their historiographical and evidential knowledge where needed.
2 Engage in sophisticated historical debate, weighing evidence to change their own position or to persuade others.
3 Find and use evidence for early modern religious material culture in and outside the UK, and to deploy it critically in their research with an appreciation of its strengths and limitations.
4 Deploy evidence with an understanding about how singular artefacts fit into a macro-perspective and the larger context of historical change.
5 Evaluate critically different scholarly interpretations with reference to primary sources.
6 Communicate information in written and oral form about primary source materials, historiography and individual research in an appropriate manner for specialist and non-specialist audiences.
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