EARLY MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY 1450-1600
Teaching Staff: Nikolaidis Theodossios
Course Code: ΙΝΧ101
Course Type: Compulsory
Course Level: Undergraduate
Course Language: Greek
Delivery method: In the classroom
Semester: 3
ECTS: 5
Short Description:
The course deals with western and central European history from 1450 to 1600 and is divided into three units: (a) religious history, (b) political history and (c) history of the overseas European voyages.
Objectives - Learning Outcomes:
Οne of the main aims of the course is to help students capture the general characters of the period under study. By describing this period not as the end of the middle ages and the beginning of modern times but as the passage from Christianity to Europe, the course underlines (a) the importance of the religious factor and (b) its relation to the political history. The third unit deals with contacts between on one hand Europeans and on the other Asian and American cultures and the impact these contacts had had on the economy, the political organization and the European culture.
Syllabus:
Week. 1 Introduction Main characteristics of the period 1450-1660: From Christianity to Europe
Week 2 Reformation: Luther's doctrine
Luther, “Preface to the Letter of St Paul to the Romans”, Engl.tr. Αndrew Thornton, in M. Luther, Die gantze Heilige Schrift Deutch 1545 aufs neu zuerictht, επ. H. Volz και H. Blanke, Roger & Samp, Μοναχο 1972, 2ος τόμος: 2254-2268
Week 3 Reformation in Germany
Fusbrook, A concise history of Germany, Cambrigde U.P., Cambridge 1991: 40-50
Week 4 The French kingdom and the Reformation
Nikolaidis, Images of Machiavelli, Hestia, Athens, 2003: 22-59*
On the notion of order: Yiannopoulos, Cittadini: the snob of the Venetian Periphery, Papazissis, Athens, 2011: 20-31*
Week 5 Religious Wars in France
Week 6 Reformation from above: England and Sweden
Week 7 The Netherlands: from the Revolt to the United Provinces
Israel,The Dutch Republic. Its Rise, Greatness and Fall 1477-1, Oxford U.P., Oξφόρδη, 1995: chs. 3, 6 , 9 and 11
Week 8 Spain: from the union of Castille and Aragon to the reign of Philip II
Elliot, Imperial Spain 1469-1716 (1963) London, 1970 ch. 6 Race and Religion
Week 9 Italian peninsula I: Humanism
O. Kristeller “Humanism” in Schmitt-Qu. Skinner -E. Kessler (eds.), The Cambridge History of R/nce Philosophy, Cambridge U.P., Cambridge (1988) 2008:113-137
Week 10 Italian peninsula II: The Italian Wars and their consequences
Pagratis, History of Italy: from the treaty of Lodi to the Unification: chs. 2 and 4 . (www.kallipos.gr )
Week 11 The kingdom of Poland: counter example of centralization
Week 12 Overseas voyages I: the Portuguese: from the Reconquista to the Indian Ocean
Week 13 Overseas voyages II: America: slave trada - Columbian exchange
Week.14 The Europeans' perception of the “others”: Michel de Montaigne, “On cannibals” Montaigne, “On Cannibals” in Essays, gr.tr. Ph. Dracontaeidis, Hestia, Athens 1983: 272-287
Suggested Bibliography:
Students are required to read the following textbooks:
-Merry Wiesner-Hanks,Early Modern Europe 1450-1789, gr. tr. Hel. Kalogianni, Ελ. Athens 2006 , chs. 1-5 and 7
-Ε.Μ. Βurns, European History: The Western Civilization: Modern Times, gr.tr. Tassos Darveris, Salonica 2004 (4th ed.) 2006, chs. 2 and 3.
The textbooks are available at the university library. More study material is posted on the course's page in the Edmodo platform.
Additional bibliography for those who are interested in, is provided under the heading of each lecture.
Teaching Methods:
The course comprises lectures and seminars during which the tests taken weekly by the students are commented on.
At the end of the semester, the students are expected to be able (a) to draw the main lines of the period under study and (b) to grasp a number of concepts such as Humanism, order (estate) vs social class, Confessionalization, Reformation and Counter Reformation, central vs peripheral power, European state system, antisemitism vs racism and identity formation.
Evaluation Methods:
Evaluation is based on oral exams. The students who take the course for the first time are invited to participate in weekly tests. Their performances are taken into account for their final evaluation.
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