Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Describe the main debates and key concepts of the political, religious, cultural, and socio-economic history of the early modern period, and identify connections between them.
- Apply your knowledge and understanding of this period when completing assignments.
- Independently apply and reflect on the basic competences of a historian, in particular:
- Searching, selecting, and critically evaluating relevant literature, sources, and bibliographic tools.
- Summarising and analysing (academic) literature and sources.
- Writing an academic text in correct English.
- Expressing acquired knowledge and insights both verbally and in writing, in correct English
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This course offers an introduction to the early modern period (1500–1800), the three centuries sandwiched between the Renaissance and the French Revolution. This period witnessed fundamental changes that still shape our modern world. The Reformation of the sixteenth century shattered the unity of medieval Christendom, creating rival Catholic and Protestant churches that clashed in civil war. The invention of the printing press revolutionized communication, facilitating the exchange of new ideas about politics, faith, and science. Politically, rulers and states greatly extended their control over the territories and people they ruled, but by the 1780s this rise in state power would be fiercely contested by American, French, and Dutch revolutionaries. The early modern period also witnessed the rise of a global economy, which brought great wealth to Europe but also inflicted slavery, colonial domination, and economic inequality on non-Europeans populations. As the legacy of these developments can still be felt today, this module in early modern history will be essential to understanding the challenges that face our modern world.
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