In the early sixteenth century, the ancient unity of western Christianity came to an end. Although many years would elapse before it acquired the name “Protestant Reformation,” this rupture fundamentally affected every aspect of society and culture in western Europe. How did this happen? Why did it happen when it did? How did this schism alter the lives ordinary people in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe? History 441/541 introduces students the causes, contours, and consequences of the Protestant Reformation, primarily as it affected subjects of the Holy Roman Empire and Switzerland, as they unfolded during the late fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries. The emphasis in course readings will be on primary documents, and will approach the subject on a broad front. In addition to traditional sources on the Reformation—key theological treatises by Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, and Jean Calvin, for example—we will also read and discuss samples of visual “propaganda” sources on the Reformation as it affected the relationship between secular and church authority, and documents on the Reformation as it related to marriage, communal life, and popular culture.

Typically, our meetings will alternate between lectures on Tuesdays and discussion of the readings on Thursdays, so it is imperative that you come to class prepared to ask questions, respond to them, and to discuss the assigned readings in common. Needless to say, attendance is required, and will constitute part of your final grade. For those of you who are taking this course as History 441, the requirements are as follows: (1) There will be no mid-term examination, only a comprehensive final examination. (2) Written work will consist of a book review or a short essay on an assigned topic (4-5 pages) due at in class at the end of week 4 (Friday, April 23), and a longer research paper (8-10 pages) due at our final session on Friday, June 4.

The topic for this second is open; however, you are required to use at least two outside sources—books or articles, primary or secondary—that are not included in the course readings. In order to save you from the disasters that inevitably accompany procrastination, you’ll also write a “prospectus” for your second paper. In this prospectus, you will briefly describe the paper’s content, and indicate the primary and/or secondary sources you intend to use. It is due in class on Friday, May 14. Students taking the course as History 541 are expected to produce a book review of 4-5 pages by mid-term and a research paper or literature review at the end of term, 15-18 pages in length.

Note well that the final examination will cover all assigned readings and lectures to date.  All work submitted in this course must be your own and produced exclusively for this course.  The use of sources (ideas, quotations, and paraphrases) must be properly acknowledged and documented.  For the consequences of academic dishonesty, refer to the Schedule of Classes published quarterly.  Violations will be taken seriously and are noted on student disciplinary records.  If you are in doubt regarding the requirements for this course, please do not hesitate to consult me.  Finally, all written work must be submitted on time; late work will be accepted only with documented medical justification.

If you have a documented disability and anticipate needing accommodations in this course, please make arrangements with me soon. Also, please ask the Counselor for Students with Disabilities to send me a letter verifying your disability

We will be using the following books in this course. All of them are available for purchase in the University Bookstore and are on reserve in Knight Library:

	Carter Lindberg, The European Reformation (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996).
	Hans J. Hillerbrand, ed., The Protestant Reformation (New York: Harper, 1968).
	John C. Olin, ed., The Catholic Reform: From Cardinal Ximenes to the Council of Trent, 1495-1563 (New York: Fordham University Press, 1990).
	A Course Readings Packet.

Week 1: An Age of Reforms

	Readings: Lindberg, chapters 1-2;  Olin, documents 1 & 3
	Course Packet Readings: The Reformatio Sigismundi (ca. 1438); “A German Clergyman’s Criticism of Rome” (ca. 1451); Peter Blickle, “From Resentment to Legal Autonomy”

Week 2: The “Luther Affair”

	Readings: Lindberg, chapters 3-4; Hillerbrand, documents 2-3
	Course Packet Readings: The Bull Exsurge Domine (1520); Luther, “The Pagan Servitude of the Church” (1520) [excerpt].

Week 3: Reformation in the Cities

	Readings: Lindberg, chapter 7; Hillerbrand, document 9
	Course Packet Readings: Bernd Moeller, “Imperial Cities and the Reformation”; Scribner, “Civic Unity and the Reformation in Erfurt”

Week 4: A Peoples’ Reformation?

	Lindberg, chapter 6; Hillerbrand, documents 6-7
	Course Packet Readings: Peter Blickle, “A Great, Unprecedented Upheaval”; “Luther, “Against the Robbing and Thieving Hoards of Peasants” (1525); Robert W. Scribner, “Demons, Defecation and Monsters”; A sampling of Reformation-era broadsheets.
	Mid-Term Essay Due on Friday, April 23

Week 5: Reformation and Secular Authority

	Readings: Lindberg, chapters 5, 9; Hillerbrand, document 5
	Course Packet Readings: Balthasar Hubmair, “On the Sword” (1527); Gerald Strauss, “Success and Failure in the Reformation”; General Reform and the Church in Bern, 1528 [excerpts].

Week 6: Was there a Crisis of Gender Relations in the Sixteenth Century?

Course Packet Readings: Joel Harrington, “Paternalism and Marriage Reform”; Lyndal Roper, “Going to Church and Street”; Luther, “On Marriage” (1530); The Marriage Law Code of Württemberg (1537).

Week 7: The Radical Reformations

	Readings: Lindberg, chapter 8; Hillerbrand, documents  10-14.
	Course Packet Readings: Thomas Müntzer, “A Highly Provoked Defense” (1524); Hans Hut, “On the Mystery of Baptism” (c. 1527); Norman Cohn, “The Anabaptist Kingdom of Münster (1535)”
	Term paper prospectus due on Friday, May 14

Week 8: Geneva and the “Second Reformation”

Readings: Lindberg, chapters 10-12; Hillerbrand, documents 15-18.

Week 9: Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reform?

Readings: Lindberg, chapter 14; Olin, pp.1-43, documents 4 & 5

Week 10: Reformation and Popular Culture

Course Packet Reading:

No meeting on Monday, May 31

Term Paper due on Friday, June 4