131-206 Government, Church & Universities in Reformation England, 1485-1560

Note

Available as 131-306 at 3rd-year level.

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Subject Description

This is a period of highly significant historical transformation in European history, and rich in the complexities of connections between government, religion and learning, and British links with continental Europe. For the past ten years these historical themes have been vigorously re-appraised. We begin with the end of civil war in 1485 and the reconstruction of government and civil service under Henry VII and Henry VIII, especially education and the 'Tudor revolution' in government. Woven into this study of government are church politics, theological doctrines, popular piety, religious disaffection and dissent, the condition of monasteries and nunneries and Protestant ideas in England. University learning and student life provides the third strand to this subject, including the influence of the humanities on government and reforms in government, church and society. There is an emphasis on research and the use of primary sources. Students are trained to use historical data, to base research on a firm grasp of the historical events, concepts of 'stability', 'tension' etc., modern theoretical approaches and to possess the scholarly techniques of assessing contexts, events, and change.

Assessment

Written work of no more than 5000 words.