Postgraduate Courses

Religious and Political Controversies in Early Modern Europe*

 HT71120B

Content

This course examines some of the central debates that pre-occupied early modern politicians, theologians, revolutionaries, scientists and philosophers alike.  Subjects to be investigated within this culture of disputation and investigation include: issues of sovereignty and the divine right of Kings; republicanism; natural rights; the nature of virtue; the authority of the Bible; religious doctrines; predestination; the role of the Church and the Pope; the nature of the body and the soul. Students will be introduced to a number of important primary sources ranging from political treatises and religious tracts to philosophical meditations.

No foreign language requirement.

* subject to validation

Introductory reading

Secondary sources:
J.H.Burns and Mark Goldie (eds.) The Cambridge History of Political Thought 1450-1700 (Cambridge, 1991)
A.Pagden, The Language of Political Theory (Cambridge, 1987)
Quentin Skinner, The Foundations of Modern Political Thought (2 vols., Cambridge, 1978)
George Williams, The Radical Reformation (3rd edn., Ann Arbor, MI: Truman State University Press, 2000)

Primary sources:
Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince (1513)
Thomas More, Utopia (1516)