Early Modern History 1500-1700

The Early Modern strand introduces you to the latest developments in the study of British, European and World History between c. 1450 and 1700. From the Reformation and Counter-Reformation to the Enlightenment, we look at how the world was transformed by the new encounters between civilisations. We explore the visual and material culture of the Renaissance and Baroque, we ask how the idea of the self developed, we track changes in warfare and the growth of the state, and we examine how gender relations were transformed and social hierarchies challenged.

The core Historical Methods class will introduce you to the key historiographical debates that shape our discussions. We will critically examine how our field has been transformed by the challenges of global history, what concepts like “early modernity” or the ‘fiscal-military state’ might mean, and ego-documents and experience. We will consider how the work of thinkers like Lynn Hunt, Michel Foucault, or Norbert Elias have changed our field, and what challenges are posed by the history of gender.

As part of the Skills component of the course, you will be able to learn a language such as French, German, Italian, Spanish and many more. You can take dedicated Languages for Historians classes, specifically targeted to the needs of history scholars. All students can take the pre-term Latin Course (you will be contacted with details in the summer beforehand) and can continue to work on your Latin in groups for all levels during the year. You will be able to learn palaeography so that you can read manuscript and archival source materials. We have some of the most advanced digital humanities resources in the country, and you will be able to acquire the technical skills you need. And you can work on manuscripts and early books with the guidance of leading scholars.

Option courses particularly relevant to Early Modern History typically include:

Throughout the degree, students work towards a dissertation. Recent topics have included:

The effects of the English Reformation on socio-economic relations in early modern England
Academic life of Moscow University in the eighteenth century
Levels of female involvement within the sixteenth-century commercial environment in England
The growth of the professional diplomat in the long sixteenth century: an Eastern Mediterranean perspective
Sex and Subcultures in Arts Clubs and Societies in London in the 18th Century
Pauper petitions and survival strategies in 17th-century England
'Ragged, and Torne, and True': Conceptions and Depictions of Poverty in England and the Netherlands, 1500-1650
The Suffering Christ: piety and identity in print and prayer, 1450-1550
Performance of the Condemned: Newgate 1676-1772
Doubt and Conscience in the life and writings of Thomas More

Faculty and Research Culture

For more information on our academics and their subjects, please search within our people section.

We have a very lively research culture, with seminars, workshops, and discussion groups involving leading international scholars just about every day of the week. You can see what is on offer on the Centre for Early Modern Studies website, an interdisciplinary umbrella. The History Faculty is home to the major international project Cultures of Knowledge: Networking the Republic of Letters 1550-1750. It also houses the project ‘Everyday Life and Fatal Hazard in Sixteenth-Century England’. There is a large international research project on the Jagiellonian dynasty in the early modern period; and another major project entitled ‘Stories of Survival: Recovering the Connected Histories of Eastern Christianity in the Early Modern World’. There is a lively Centre for Early Modern Catholicism and we are engaged in the Oxford Centre for European History, and the the Centre for Global History. We work closely with the Ashmolean Museum, the Museum for the History of Science, and with the Bodleian Library. We also collaborate with our colleagues at Princeton, Muenster, Padua, Central European University Budapest, Basel and many other places to hold postgraduate workshops for doctoral and early career students.