Course Calendar
Jump to: March
| April | May
Please note: topics and readings
for the remainder of the semester will be determined on Feb. 5.
| Tues.
1/29 |
Introduction
to the course |
| Thurs.
1/31 |
Investigating
the history of early modern Europe |
| Tues.
2/5 |
Setting
the agenda for the semester |
| |
Your
first assignment is to skim Hale, The civilization of Europe in
the Renaissance, and come up with a list of five topics
that you want to learn more about in this course. For each topic,
you should write a few sentences in your journal justifying its importance.
You do not need to read the relevant sections carefully, though you
might want to do so. In class today we will discuss topics and work
out a tentative plan for the semester. I will then revise the list
(after all, I have been studying this period for a long time), work
out readings, and put some readings on reserve. I will hand out a
calendar for the rest of the semester by Feb. 12. |
| Thurs.
2/7 |
The
birth of "Europe" |
| |
Read: Hale,
pp. 3-50 (chapter 1). |
| Tues.
2/12 |
The
Praise of Folly: rhetoric and irony in the Northern Renaissance |
| |
Turn
in your journal at the end of class. It will be returned Thursday. |
| |
Read: Erasmus,
"The Praise of Folly," pp. 3-87, and the chronology, pp.
339-340. "Folly" is a complex, difficult text: plan to spend
a lot of time lingering over it. It will repay your effort. |
| Thurs.
2/14 |
The
Praise of Folly: humanists vs. scholastics |
| |
Read: Erasmus,
"Letter to Martin Dorp" (1515), pp. 228-251. |
| Tues.
2/19 |
NO
CLASS (Monday schedule in effect) |
| Thurs.
2/21 |
Reform
vs. Reformation |
| |
Read: Luther
N.B. There is a lot of general background reading to Luther. Most
of the themes will be familiar from our discussions of Erasmus’s
"Praise of Folly" and letter to Martin Dorp. Read the background
materials relatively quickly.
For general background, read: Hale, 112-127.
On the pre-reformation Church, read: Reader, 615-652 (Poggio, Nicholas
of Cusa, Pius II, Savonarola, Guicciardini); Erasmus, 142-173 (Julius
Excluded from Heaven).
On the renewal of Christian piety, read: Reader, 712-721 (Thomas à
Kempis, Erasmus); Erasmus, 117-127 (Paraclesis); Reader, 84-86 (Lefèvre
d’Étaples). |
| Tues.
2/26 |
Free
will and predestination |
| |
Read: Erasmus,
127-141 (Foreword to the third edition of his New Testament); Reader,
677-711 (Erasmus, Luther, Knox). |
| Thurs.
2/28 |
Responses
to the Reformation |
| |
Last
day to choose the term paper option. |
| |
Read: Reader,
652-676 (Valdés, Rideman, Pole, Knox); Erasmus, 212-222 (An
Inquisition into Faith); Montaigne, 200-204, 242-244 (book 1, chapters
27 and 32). |
| Tues.
3/5 |
European
states and diplomacy
Read: Hale, 51-93 (chapter 2); Reader, 263-327 (Machiavelli, Guicciardini,
Bacon, Cavalli, Suriano); Montaigne, 77-80 (book 1, chapter 17). |
| |
Turn
in your journal at the end of class |
| |
|
| Thurs.
3/7 |
The
divisions of Europe |
| |
Read: Hale,
94-142 (chapter 3); Reader, 65-69 (Jean de Montreuil); Erasmus, 88-116
(Complaint of Peace), 259-264 (Letter to Peter Tomiczi); Reader, 365-371
(Vitoria); Montaigne, 73-76 (book 1, chapters 15-16), 453-456 (book
2, chapter 9). |
| Tues.
3/12 |
Europe
and "the Turk" |
| |
Read: Reader,
70-78 (Bessarion, Pius II), 244-257 (Busbecq), 372-375 (Postel).
Review Hale, 38-42. |
| Thurs.
3/14 |
MIDTERM
(in class, closed book, notes allowed) |
| Tues.
3/26 |
On
the move: merchants, merchandise, and money |
| |
Topic
and list of sources for paper due |
| |
Read: Hale,
143-184 (chapter 4); Reader, 165-207 (Dei, Von Harff, Maximilian I
and Fugger, Deloney, Guicciardini, Bodin). |
| Thurs.
3/28 |
On
the move: travelers and books |
| |
Read: Erasmus,
251-259 (Letter to Beatus Rhenanus); Reader, 208-213, 218-233, 396-401
(Pius II, Venetian Relazione, Skelton, Dürer, Aldus). |
| Tues.
4/2 |
The
cultural Renaissance |
| |
Read: Hale,
189-281 (chapter 5); Montaigne, 331-336 (book 1, chapter 49), 457-471,
779-780 (book 2, chapters 10 and 24). |
| Thurs.
4/4 |
The
humanist reform of education |
| |
Read: Reader,
414-420 (Rabelais); Montaigne, 150-199 (book 1, chapters 25-26). |
| Tues.
4/9 |
Cultural
adaptation; or, making the Renaissance one’s own |
| |
Narrative
outline of paper due |
| |
Read: Hale,
282-350 (chapter 6). |
| Thurs.
4/11 |
The
notion of civility |
| |
Read: Hale,
355-419 (chapter 7). |
| Tues.
4/16 |
Civility
and civilization |
| |
Turn
in your journal at the end of class |
| |
Read: Montaigne,
228-241, 252-256 (book 1, chapters 31 and 36), 1017-1037 (book 3,
chapter 6); Reader, 146-157 (Martire, Monardes, Léon). |
| Thurs.
4/18 |
The
perfect gentleman |
| |
Read: Castiglione,
book 1; Reader, 340-347 (Della Casa); Montaigne, 288-299 (book 1,
chapter 42), 1044-1069 (book 3, chapter 8). |
| Tues.
4/23 |
Women
and civility |
| |
Read: Castiglione,
book 3; Montaigne, 842-849 (book 2, chapter 35), 922-934, 947-1016
(book 3, chapters 3 and 5).Draft of paper due |
| Thurs.
4/25 |
How
the other half lived |
| |
Read: Hale,
420-463 (chapter 8); Reader, 214-218 (Cahier), 234-241 (Kirchmair
and Geismayr). |
| Tues.
4/30 |
Confessionalization,
Inquisition, and church discipline |
| |
Read: Hale,
464-508 (chapter 9); Reader, 258-262 (Fugger Newsletter), 733-753
(Latimer, Calvin, St. Teresa of Avila); Montaigne, 355-365 (book 1,
chapter 56). |
| Thurs.
5/1 |
The
state and the subject |
| |
Read: Reader,
109-116 (Lipsius); 347-365 (Vives, Starkey); Montaigne, 300-302 (book
1, chapter 43), 759-763 (book 2, chapter 19). |
| Tues.
5/7 |
Natural
philosophy, natural history, and natural magic |
| |
Final
draft of paper due (term paper option: intermediate draft due) |
| |
Read: Hale,
509-583 (chapter 10); Montaigne, 1160-1172 (book 3, chapter 11). |
| Thurs.
5/9 |
Astronomy:
from the Revolutions of the Spheres to the Starry Messenger |
| |
Read: Reader,
580-611; Montaigne, 642-645 (from book 2, chapter 12). |
| Tues.
5/14 |
Summing
up; or, A portrait of an age? |
| |
Read: Hale,
585-592; Montaigne, 1207-1269 (book 3, chapter 13). |
| Finals
week |
FINAL EXAM
(in class, closed book, notes allowed)
Term paper option: paper due at the beginning of the scheduled exam
period. |
|
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