RLT3130

The reforming impulse, 1150-1600

Proposed to be offered next in 2000

P Howard

8 points - 2 hours per week - First semester - Clayton

Objectives Students who successfully complete this subject will have acquired a grasp of the considerable body of knowledge on the changing nature of religious reform in the period 1150-1600 and be able to evaluate it critically. They will have a knowledge of the ways in which religion interacts with social, cultural and political experience in specific contexts, be able to evaluate the various methodologies and the theoretical issues surrounding recent approaches to the study of religious reform, and be able to engage in critical discussion of the issues raised by the course. They will have acquired critical and analytical skills, and the ability to communicate their views verbally and in writing (coherently, economically and rigorously), in a way which is appropriate to the advanced study of religious discourse within an historical framework.

Synopsis Reform has been a constant, but one with many meanings, in the institutional life of the Christian Church. This subject examines the idea of reform and its diverse meanings at different moments of the Church's history as the interaction of institutional, social, political and intellectual circumstances. The impact of renaissance humanism and the emergence of an understanding of the idea of Europe and the dynamics of the formation of nation states will provide the context for an exploration of different programmes of religious change.

Assessment Literature review (1200 words): 20% Research essay (3000 words): 45% Two seminar critiques (300 words each): 10% Examination (1.5 hours) or optional essay (1500 words): 25%

Recommended texts

Bossy J Christianity in the west 1400-1600 OUP, 1985
Constable G The reformation of the twelfth century CUP, 1996
Delumeau J Catholicism between Luther and Voltaire Burns and Oates, 1977
Hale J The civilization of the renaissance in europe Fontana, 1994
Lindberg C The european reformations Blackwell, 1996

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